Three women on Long Island embrace magic that blooms only when their fertile years fade, finding mutual friendship and a craving for vigilante justice. Miller’s (“Kiki Strike” series) first offering for adults is a heady brew that overflows with female power and rage. Harriet’s foray into vigilante justice is simple—lightly terrorizing the homeowners’ association—but she soon grows deadly in her primal wildness. Jo, a straight-talking entrepreneur and mother, uses her inner fury at misogyny to fuel her workouts and channels that rage into incendiary hot flashes. From a multigenerational family of mediums, fellow mother (no maids in this coven) Nessa knows about witches but can’t soothe the ghosts who call out to her to rest without Jo and Harriet as back-up. Narrator January LaVoy has a near-magical gift for character voices and casts a spell over listeners through the action-packed ending.
VERDICT Though Miller offers a compelling power fantasy for anyone with a uterus facing change, her novel tends to equate menstruation with womanhood, a gender essentialist approach that may upset listeners. Good, but not mandatory.
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