Kirsten Miller: Change (2022, HarperCollins Publishers Limited)
English language
Published Sept. 16, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers Limited.
Kept me engaged and there was a lot to love here, but I called it from like, the first third of the book.
Given the 4+ average on this, I’m surprised how disappointed I was! This is maybe 2.5 stars, I did enjoy parts of it.
My major complaint is the way this story lays it on thick. Subtlety, who? I think there’s an audience for a story like this (4 stars indicates as much), so it’s not necessarily a flaw. But it’s definitely not what I prefer. And for me it does a disservice to the real life situations like this.
It feels super White women feminism. It doesn’t come across as especially intersectional, and the White women of the story (who are also rich and educated) come across as unaware of their privilege. The way they interact with police speaks volumes.
I really don’t know what to think about Nessa, but I certainly question how she was written. The fact that she was introduced as having a big butt made me …
Given the 4+ average on this, I’m surprised how disappointed I was! This is maybe 2.5 stars, I did enjoy parts of it.
My major complaint is the way this story lays it on thick. Subtlety, who? I think there’s an audience for a story like this (4 stars indicates as much), so it’s not necessarily a flaw. But it’s definitely not what I prefer. And for me it does a disservice to the real life situations like this.
It feels super White women feminism. It doesn’t come across as especially intersectional, and the White women of the story (who are also rich and educated) come across as unaware of their privilege. The way they interact with police speaks volumes.
I really don’t know what to think about Nessa, but I certainly question how she was written. The fact that she was introduced as having a big butt made me cringe. Maybe other aspects of how she was written are fine, but I’m not the one to judge that.
I did have fun at the beginning with the women getting their powers. I think I was hoping it would play more of a role, but it was pretty light on that. Harriett I think gets the most to do with her powers, and poor Jo is reduced to an anti-climactic moment that could have been achieved as easily with a match.
The mystery wasn’t much of a mystery and largely pretty boring. One of the more effective bits for me was when Jo realizes Rosamund might be using another locker - I thought that was clever. And while I did see the twist with Leonard coming from the moment he appeared in the story, I did not guess the twist with Claude. Having her as a Ghislaine figure was really interesting, and if anything I’d like to have seen more reckoning with the way women hurt women.
I was disappointed with the message which seemed to be “desensitize yourself to violence, murder all the baddies, and all will be better.” But I can respect that the author was probably trying to push back on the way women are often shown in film/tv as cowardly or hesitant to be violent to defend themselves. I can also get behind the idea that the justice system isn’t going to help, so we have to take things into our own hands. But the book seemed to think it was a good thing or possible to feel nothing (and not be traumatized) while committing violent acts. It didn’t feel like the book attacked the real problem (power). Plenty of stories take this simplistic revenge/vigilante justice approach, of course, so it’s not a flaw in and of itself. I think it bothered me here because this book was trying so hard to SAY something.
Overall a disappointing read, but in an interesting way.
If you're looking for a book that's kind of like feminist revenge porn meets Witches of Eastwick, this is a solid pick. Even beyond the magic it's a bit over the top, so if you pick this up, treat it like a Halloween beach read. You'll need to forgive some gaps when it comes to character and plot, but if you can paper those over and imagine it as a movie, you'll probably have a good time.
