by Donna Huber
Julia Pritzker loves her new life as a wife and mother in beautiful Tuscany – except that she misses her best friend Courtney, back in the States. One night, Julia calls Courtney and reaches her as she’s arriving at her grandmother’s farm in Pennsylvania.
Then the unthinkable happens.
Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.
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| July 2026; Grand Central Publishing; 978-1538770030 audio, ebook, print (400 pages); thriller |
Book Overview & Premises
This Changes Everything by Lisa Scottoline, the paranormal thriller follow-up to The Unraveling of Julia, is an uneven genre mashup that long-time Scottoline fans may find hit-or-miss.
Scottoline has been dabbling in a few other genres lately, and last year she returned to the gritty thrillers she is known for, but with a supernatural twist. Her main character, Julia Pritzker, has psychic abilities. While Scottoline became one of my favorite authors for her ripped-from-the-headlines legal and domestic thrillers, the addition of the paranormal didn't bother me. I loved The Unraveling of Julia, so I was really excited to read the sequel.
An Uneven Tone: Cozy Mystery vs. Gritty Thriller
I struggled with a few pieces of this book, primarily because the tone was uneven. At times, I was reading a dark, dangerous thriller (which I loved), but at other times, the narrative felt more like a cozy mystery, which pulled me right out of the story.
While I enjoy cozy mysteries, realistic fiction has always been my favorite. There were moments in the plot - particularly aspects of the legal system, the jail/prison, and police protocol - that didn't feel realistic. While I might overlook these gaps in a cozy mystery, I expect more accuracy in a realistic thriller. I felt like the author sacrificed realism for quick plot fixes.
ARC Polish vs. Continuity Issues
Then there were the continuity issues. I read an Advance Reader Copy, so I'm used to typos and the occasional grammatical error, but I always wonder about the continuity issues. Do those get corrected during the final phase of editing? It wasn't a constant problem, but at one point, it felt like there were two different ways Julia could recognize a character, and both versions accidentally made it into the draft text.
Julia’s Evolving Psychic Identity
If you read the first book (you don't have to, as This Changes Everything is very much a stand-alone novel), you know that Julia didn't want to believe that she had psychic abilities. This book is set sometime after The Unraveling of Julia, and she hasn't had a vision since her husband's murder was solved. But suddenly she has one while on the phone with her best friend.
This book is as much about solving a crime as it is about Julia coming to terms with her identity. She has to learn to accept that she is a medium. She embraced her Italian blood in the last book, but in this book she is back in the U.S., and her Italian family also has to understand that she has an American identity too. This is a very subtle subtext, and perhaps it will come up in later novels if there should be any more.
A Surprise Rosato & DiNunzio Cameo
I typically stick to Scottoline's stand-alone novels, but I have read a couple of the books in her popular Rosato & DiNunzio series. It took me a minute to recognize the lawyer Julia calls - Bennie Rosato. It probably wasn't until the mention of her partner DiNunzio that I put two and two together. But fans of the series will love this Easter egg.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the book was Scottoline's signature captivating thriller. It did have a few hiccups, but they were few and far between to be just minor annoyances. Even though Julia is an amateur sleuth, it isn't a cozy mystery with the inclusion of sudden on-the-page violence, darker themes, or explicit thriller elements.
Buy This Changes Everything at Amazon
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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