Sometimes a book isn’t entirely plausible, but it is beguiling. Case in point, Ashley Winstead’s The Last Housewife, a novel about taking down a dark and subversive branch of the patriarchy.

Shay is an abused woman. Caught in a web of masochism and dominance, Shay escaped the dangerous man who had total control over Shay and her friends when she was in college. Now many years later, Shay finds herself returning to the source of her pain when her best friend Laurel turns up dead. The police think it was a suicide. Shay says different.

When Shay begins to investigate Laurel’s death alongside her childhood best friend turned podcaster Jamie, Shay uncovers a sadistic underground society with roots that go much deeper than anyone could have imagined. As Shay entrenches herself into this society in her quest to discover the truth, she finds herself falling into old traps and patterns. She escaped with her life once, but will she get so lucky a second time?

The Last Housewife is one of the darkest and most disturbing books that I have read this year. This novel is definitely not for the faint of heart or for anyone who is easily triggered, as the secret society at the center of this story knows no bounds when it comes to human decency. However, if you possess an iron stomach, read on, as this novel is very easy to get absorbed in as it unfurls toward a tumultuous end.

Reminiscent of the Handmaid Tale, in which a society keeps women squashed under the thumb of nefarious men, The Last Housewife is about taking back your power and standing in it. It is not about a white knight coming into save you, but about you learning how to save yourself.

Thank you for the opportunity to review - this was startlingly original and unexpected. Really interested to keep reading her titles. This will stay with me, it's so thought provoking.

This book was dark and twisted and not in a good way. A group of college girls become caught up in a sex cult that requires human sacrifice. If that isn't bad enough, we are fed conspiracies that go to the highest level of government that infuse some Handmaid Tale's level dystopian nonsense. It doesn't even make sense that these intelligent, feminist women would have joined this cult to begin with. There was nothing to draw them in, no incentive, no slow process. Just some weird man saying, hey, come hang out with me while I denigrate women and convince you all that you are trash meant to serve me. They were just like, okay. This book was a hot mess express. Nothing about it rang true. Skip this one.

The last housewife is like a book I truly never have read before. The deeper I got into the story the more horrifying it became. Highly recommend to any thriller lover that wants a new read about a horrifying cult.

DNF - could not get into the story at this time. Enjoy this author's other works but was uncomfortable with the subject matter being so heavy and needed to put the story down. Will definitely give it another try in the near future.

I adored the setting in this book. This thriller was everything I'd hoped it would be. The subject matter was a bit much, but I think it worked for this book. Cults, abuse, depravity.... don't read this if those topics affect you deeply. Her writing is incredible and I can't wait to read more.

I was so immersed in this, she took me on the ride, and the twist at the end was perfect.

Per usual, Ashley Winstead has completely blown me away. The Last Housewife has earned her the title of “Cult Queen” and I will literally read anything she writes. Twists, powerful writing, and an ending I couldn’t get to fast enough! Cannot recommend this one enough!

This one was dark. I thought I appreciated dark and while there were aspects of this one that I did like, there were several other instances that haunted me.

The ending brought it down a star. I really dislike when books have ambiguous endings. It was still really good though but please please please check trigger warnings!

Well, the book was well written the subject matter was very disturbing. I’m not really sure why I requested this book as it’s not my type. I look forward to more from the author, because it was very well written.

From my blog: Always With a Book

I absolutely loved Ashley Winstead’s debut thriller, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and knew I would be reading anything and everything she wrote. I actually read her debut romcom, Fool Me Once, and quite enjoyed it. If Ashley writes it, I’m going to read it! I was thrilled that my IRL picked this one to read last month…it had been on my list since it came out last year but I just never got around to it.

This is an extremely dark and twisted book and I cannot tell you how much I loved it…but I think knowing I was going to be discussing it with my bookclub was incredibly helpful. This book begs to be discussed once you read it, or even as you are reading it. There is so much going on and while I could get into it, I think that would definitely spoil quite a bit of the book, so I’m just going to say I loved both the podcast elements and the cultish elements of this book, and I loved how the book pushed every boundary it could and then some. There are so many trigger warnings, and they are listed right at the beginning of the book. Now, I’m not usually one to mention these as I tend to think they are spoilers themselves, but in this case because of the nature of the book, it is worth mentioning. This book definitely isn’t for everyone, so if you are worried, check them out.

I found this book to be a compulsive read and even though there were tough places to get through, the writing is incredible, the story is powerful, and this book further solidified my love of this author. She is most definitely a must-read author…I would read her grocery list if I could. I love her books and cannot wait to get my hands on her 2023 release, Midnight is the Darkest Hour!!!

The Last Housewife was compulsively readable but I felt horrible the whole time I was reading it. There were so many terrible people and things within these pages that I constantly felt icky while reading and would have quit the book if it wasn't a netgalley read. On top of the disturbing subject matter, the writing style did not work for me. The end of each chapter was jarringly abrupt and the beginning of the next chapter never seemed to pick up in a place that created a smooth transition. There wasn't anything thrilling about this book at all. I do not think it should be labeled as a mystery or a thriller or even suspense. It should be categorized as a disturbing psychological drama.

A quick read thriller with twist and turns. My first book read by this author but defiantly not my last ! Fast burn !

Winstead knows how to shake you down to your core with a bone chilling, women centric thriller. She always manages to freak me out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange for honest feedback.

A propulsive and shocking story of a college cult and the women's lives that it destroyed. This story will stay with you long after it finishes.

This was a DNF for me. I'm probably just not the target audience for books like this. It's just trying too hard to being dark and twisty and just making me uncomfortable for the sake of doing it. I'm not into that. I want to connect and grow.

This thriller felt messy and forced. A lot of details were brushed over and there were inconsistencies that detracted from any believability. It seemed like the author really wanted to write a book inspired by both Larry Ray and NXIVM at any cost, even if the story and characters weren't particular strong. Most disappointing, the opportunities for suspense were mostly replaced with sexual violence, which resulted in, for me, a thrill-less thriller. There was ample warning about the violence, so my issue isn't that it was included - it just isn't a replacement for thrills or suspense for me. It's not clever or engaging, like I prefer a thriller to be. I do think that this book will land for those who like a ripped-from-the-headlines story. However, I'd still prefer to recommend the actual non-fiction accounts.

Shay Deroy feels unfulfilled in the life she thought she wanted- married, wealthy, living in the suburbs, taking time off from work to focus on her writing. But when she learns of the death of an old friend, she feels compelled to return to her college town and uncover what really happened. She reveals the horrors of her past to uncover the truth and take down a powerful network of abusers.

First of all, there are a million content warnings to be aware of. Suicide, sexual assault, self harm, etc. As heavy as the content matter was, I didn’t find it to be particularly graphic or explicit.

If you’re a fan of true crime, this book is for you. Shay unlocks her best detective skills to find the truth, going so far as to infiltrate the system she believes is responsible for her friend’s death. It kept me guessing the entire time and has a couple huge twist endings. The truth turns out to be even more dark and twisted than I imagined. The network of abusers and misogynists Shay uncovers is so deeply ingrained in systems of power, it was unsettling in a dystopian, Handmaids Tale-esque, “it’s fiction but not too far fetched” kind of way 🥲

Shay Deroy has a dark past, and when one of her college friends associated with that past dies of an apparent suicide, she joins her childhood friend who runs a true crime podcast to investigate the death. As Shay becomes more and more sucked into the cult she escaped from, she realizes the way to save herself and others is by making some sacrifices and facing the danger.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this book, but Shay’s story is the type that makes your skin crawl. Add in a few twists and a shocking ending and you have a great summer thriller if you are up for some uncomfortable content along the way.