Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Change

This book was sooooooooo good. Its numerous pages (almost 500! 🥵) included elements of several different genres, and I did not find myself bored even once! Three women unexpectedly become friends and discover that menopause has lovingly provided them each with special powers: intuition 🔮, advantageous rage 🔥, and a knack for all things green 🌿. When their powers guide them to a lone trash bag, tied with a fancy bow and containing the body of a young girl, the women begin to investigate… and they will stop at nothing to find who is responsible. Miller gracefully tackled sexual harassment and abuse, shitty menstruation cycles, and chauvinism, to name a few topics. Even though I guessed one of the big twists near the end of the book, I was STILL blown away. Now that’s some good writing. I’m very curious to see how the television series will come together. I will be recommending this book to all of the strong women in my life!

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lilifane's review

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this!
This was a lot more fun than I expected it would be, although there are some dark and difficult topics as well. Since I still don't read book descriptions, I didn't know what this would be about and was completely surprised.
I knew it was a female rage book, but I had no idea about the plot or themes. So this centers around 3 middle-aged women at the beginning of their menopause who discover a dead girl at the beach as well as some supernatural powers within themselves. With these powers, they try to solve the murder that no one else seems to take seriously and generally help out other women and take revenge on men, basically.
I did not expect a murder mystery to be part of the story and since I love those, I was pleasantly surprised. Thought, the mystery is kind of in the background of the plot for most of the time and is more of a plot device. I think it was rather predictable too, but I didn't mind because I cared more about the characters, themes and messages of the book.
I loooooved the characters. Not only the 3 protagonists but also their families and their dynamics. The way they talked to each other, to their daughters, to anyone around them really. The way they just stopped giving a f*** and took control over their lives. Amazing.
The plot was often interrupted by background stories of the women involved which showed how they were wronged by men in their lives one way or another. Usually these kinds of tangents would make me impatient or bring me out of a book completely, but I was enjoying the whole experience way too much here and couldn't put the book down. The misogynistic microaggressions also made me SO angry, because they felt so real. And it might feel like a lot or even extreme, but is it though? The way feminist themes are portrayed here is very on the nose, but it's also refreshing how unapologetic and direct they are handled.
I'm a peaceful person and I believe in peaceful solutions. But I get there are situations where peaceful doesn't accomplish anything. And it felt so good and cathartic to see these women reclaiming their power and taking revenge in such a satisfying way.
Loved the writing, loved witchy vibes, loved the humor. And the audiobook is excellent.

Content Warnings