I loved this thriller! It was so twisty, dark and captivating. The perfect thriller to read on a long road trip. Looking forward to what ashley writes next!

✨Unpopular Opinion✨

I was so so excited to read 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒 by Ashley Winstead, the reviews on goodreads are so hyped up and there’s lots of 5 stars. However, I found this to be super reptitive, boring and to be frank I just didn’t enjoy it.

I finished this up a few days ago and thought after a few days of processing the story it might grow on me, but unfortunately no. There are tons of triggers in this book, which usually dont bother me but the continuous, over and over extreme dominatrix scenes were just too much. It totally dimmed all the really important concepts that the author was trying to portray.

The storyline had potential for sure. I enjoy thrillers revolving around cults but this fell flat. I felt there were loose ends regarding Shays relationships with both her soon to be ex-husband and with podcaster Jamie.

As said before this story holds every trigger possible, so go in prepared. SADLY, one of my main thoughts were I totally could see this actually happening in the real world with all the grimy politicians, especially NY state🤷🏻‍♀️!

SYNOPSIS: “While in college in New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay's built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death—delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader—she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever.”

QOTD: did anyone else feel that this was a let down?

Wow, this book was intense. I liked that it was unique, but did feel that a lot of it was unrealistic. I can't imagine a group like this existing without people being checked for wires, for example. I do think the book brought up really interesting questions about one's like and preferences and how they can be fundamentally harmful. As well, bringing up critiques of faux feminism that isn't truly liberatory.

Honestly, cannot decide between 3 and 4 stars.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝.

Stunning, disturbing, dark, and depraved are just a few of the adjectives I've seen to describe this book, and those just barely scratch the surface. Winstead has painted with heartbreaking precision a deeply troubling portrait of casual misogyny that is alive and well in every corner of the world.

When Shay Evans, a Texas housewife, hears on a true crime podcast that her dear friend from college is dead, she is immediately catapulted back to her college years when another friend died in a similar fashion. She is positive the deaths are connected, and with barely a word to her husband, she packs a bag and leaves her comfortable life to face some of the most vile demons that she thought had been long exorcised.

Getting answers is not easy. As a naive college student, Shay thought she was being seduced by an older man, eager to show her the ways of the world. While she thought he was helping her break down her inhibitions and embrace her power as a woman, she had no idea he was destroying her self-confidence and conditioning her to accept humiliation.

This is a powerful exploration into what it means to be a woman and always questioning the roles of predator and prey. When this releases on August 16, 2022, a copy will most definitely have a place on my shelf.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

One day, Shay is sitting in her fancy home, listening to a crime podcast, when she hears a familiar name.

Her best friend from back in college is dead.

As she listens to the details, she can’t believe it- the case sounds eerily similar to how her other best friend died back when they were all in college.

The three of them were involved in something dark, harrowing and traumatic, that Shay barely escaped. She has been trying to bury it for the past 8 years, working hard to build a perfect life and put that terrible time behind her.

Now, she is certain that her friend’s death is related. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her friend. But… that means returning to the very thing that she has run from for so long, the thing that terrifies her to the core…
________________________________

This book is twisted, abhorrent, triggering, depraved and pitch black…. But you won’t be able to stop reading it. It’s so good.

Winstead is such a gifted author, her writing is polished, impressive and unparalleled. She’s definitely one of the most talented out there today.

AMAZING!! Absolutely loved this plot and the writing was fantastic. The main character definitely was made for this type of storyline. Excellent thriller and I was hooked the whole way through!

Wow! All the stars! Dark, disturbing, twisted and genius! This book will go right to my favorite thrillers bookshelf as soon as it releases!

Ashely Winstead is now an auto-buy author for me! I binged and loved both this one and In my dreams I hold a knife! I can’t wait to see what twisted shenanigans Ashley cooks up next!!!

Make sure to Preorder now! (First, check Trigger Warnings if needed.)

An absolutely BANANAS, dark, bad-ass, feminist novel, Ashley Winstead has done it again!! Coming in August, The Last Housewife is a bit of a departure from In My Dreams I Hold A Knife but also a must-read!! This one is full of triggers, which I won't go into, but worth doing some research if you have any. Like I mentioned earlier, this one is DARK - which is music to my ears - but if cults & BDSM are the tamer parts...

Winstead has absolutely shown her range with IMDIHAK, her romance novel in between and now, The Last Housewife - she has cemented her place on my must read list, and I can't wait to see what she does next!

✨𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄✨
📚 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗳𝗲
📝𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

𝗠𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:
What the 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 did I just read? Such a traumatic book full of triggers and will not be for the faint of heart. I warn you now. I have listed the triggers above instead of at the bottom because there is a lot of them. I haven’t ever read anything so dark, tops 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. ⚠️ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 ⚠️
This book is full of dark, spooky pasts that will haunt you for the rest of your life. It is SO good, you guys. After IMDIHAK I didn’t think she could top it, yet here she is. The most fascinating book of 2022, by far. There has been so much research and care put into this book, she gets 5⭐️’s just for that. Ashley’s writing has always pushed the boundaries but we aren’t just talking about a murder mystery at a college anymore you guys, we are far passed that point. Ashley dives into how society views woman, how WOMAN view themselves and phew, it’ll have you questioning. I am beside myself. The writing was as usual, beautiful, I found myself living inside this book with every page I turned. I couldn’t get over how captivating it was. How captivating the MC, Shay, was. She has enough mystery surrounded by her to keep you guessing the entire book. I highly suggest you read the trigger warnings, then pick this one up if you’re, idk… 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 😂

I think this is somewhere between 4-4.5⭐️ for me. This story is really unique and it’s brilliantly written. I love how the story is told through an interview style as well as it follows along the present timeline. The ending was great.

If you like cult stories, this is definitely a read for you. I also think this would make a fantastic book club book because there is SO much to discuss in this book.

The story definitely didn’t scare me, but it was disturbing. I also appreciate that Winstead gives a trigger warning at the beginning of the book!

I found myself not able to put this book down for very long. Between chasing my toddler ,cleaning and going to workI snuck in some reading any chance I could get. I would recommend this to fans of Rachel Dawkins, Gilly McMillan, Riley sager Etc

Read this if you:
•like dark thrillers
•like cult vibes
•thriller meets sexual tension
•want a book that will speak to you
•like true crime podcasts

This book was absolutely fantastic. It was dark, it was twisted, it was at times hard to read, and yet I couldn’t put it down. I read it in a matter of hours, pretty much in one sitting. This book hits on a *ton* of hard topics, so definitely check out the TWs beforehand- Ashley has been a fantastic advocate for mental health & being in the right mindset to read this book. This book was absolutely beyond amazing. Just sitting here waiting until I can get my hands on a physical copy!

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: Aug 16

This book was extremely offensive, disturbing, and unfathomable. I loved In My Dreams We Hold a Knife so I was extremely disappointed to have this reaction to The Last Housewife.

First of all, the book covered some grotesque topics. There was the beating of women, selling of sex for money, infidelity, cults, and a scene where someone's head was cut off with an ax. All of these things were described in sordid detail. I felt dirty and ashamed reading it.

I only liked one character in the entire novel-Jamie. I even had a hard time liking him at the end because he was a participant of infidelity and was trying to justify a murder.

I do have to say that there was a twist at the end that I didn't guess, so bravo to the author for that. She also certainly knows how to write a novel that keeps the pages turning. I just didn't really like what I was reading on those pages.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to my friends or family. It makes me embarrassed just thinking about offering up a book like this to my mom.

I was really interested in this one because it seemed inspired by that Sarah Laurence cult, and I have to admit, I read so many stories about that. I liked the true-crime podcast connections and the duel timeline to build suspense, just in case the cult wasn't suspenseful enough. This novel was a lot pornier than I was expecting, though. Without spoilers, there are a couple coincidences in the story that felt like a big stretch. Still, suspenseful cult investigation overall..

This book turned patriarchal power structures into a thriller, and that fascinated me. However, I wished it had a bit more information about the women featured, rather than focusing on the abusive men and their actions as the main driver of the plot. I thought it landed a little flat, despite the neat premise.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ The beginning was really intriguing and had me hooked for the first couple of chapters.
◘ I loved the mystery surrounding their past... up to a certain point at least.
◘ This book definitely tackles a subject that you don't read about every day.
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ The ending.
⁣⁣⁣⁣◘ Shay was not so bright.
⁣⁣⁣⁣◘ Some parts felt like I was in a history lesson instead of a thriller. It wasn’t 𝘣𝘢𝘥, but it got to the point where I rolled my eyes a lot because it felt too in your face about the “issues” discussed.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
★★★☆☆
I almost DNF'ed at 35% because I was so sick of Shay saying "I have to tell you a story", but you’ll get said story in teaspoon-sized versions. I started skimming the parts where it got too deep and philosophical because I was not vibing the preachy dialogue. I do think the author definitely did her research, but it felt self-righteous. I was warned this would be insanely dark and disturbing. And while it is, I think I expected... more?

This book really took me by surprise, it was extremely dark and gripping, and was not at all what I expected it to be. I read this very fast, there were so many twists and turns that I found it hard to put down, I just had to know what was going to happen next. It had its faults, I felt in some parts the believability dropped, the characters didn’t stand out, and the romance felt kinda thrown in and unnecessary, but the ending really got me. I thought it really brought everything together. I also really enjoyed the use of the podcast transcripts, not only was it a creative delivery but it also made a lot of sense and worked with the story. With the rise of true crime podcasts and youtube channels, it didn’t feel like a random addition at all.
While I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone, I think for people who enjoy thrillers that cover dark and serious topics, especially around women’s issues, then you should definitely check this out.

Whew. What a wild read! This is a DARK book. The subject matter is heavy and the characters are seriously screwed up. I couldn't put this one down and found it both entertaining and thought provoking. While the plot itself is fast moving and keeps you guessing, the bigger theme of submissiveness and control really stay with you long after the story itself ends. I definitely recommend this one, but be sure you read content warnings beforehand. This is maybe along the lines of Karin Slaughter in terms of dark themes, but maybe not quite as graphic in descriptions.

ALL THE STARS!!!! ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I could not put this one down. I suggest blocking off a day where you have nothing to do and you can read this in one sittng. I went in blind, but I appreciated the trigger warnings right off the bat. This is an extremely intense and dark read so go in prepared. Ashley has done such an amazing job advocating for mental health on her Instagram with the arc launch of this book, and if you are not in the right headspace, she wants you to skip over this one for now.

This is a hard one to review, I have not read anything quite like it. I think Ashley did such an incredible job sharing Shay's story and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. You guys there is so much to unpack but I also do not want to spoil anything! I love that this is a thriller mixed with a little forbidden spice and not to mention the cult vibes. SO GOOD. I cannot stop thinking about the twist and turns in this book and I am not sure what I can read next because I know it will not top this.

This was the first book I have read by Ashley, and I cannot wait until this one is out so I can purchase a show of my support. Come August 16th everyone (who is able) should read this book IMMEDIATELY.

Eight years after graduating college, Shay returns to the small upstate New York town to investigate her roommate’s death that occurred under mysterious circumstances. I won’t reveal more of the plot than that and would avoid reading the publisher’s summary for the story’s full impact. This is one of the darkest, most disturbing mystery-thrillers I’ve read, so brace yourself accordingly. A sharp, violent turn even from Winstead’s 2021 debut novel. I simultaneously couldn’t put it down and needed to take a mental break. All aspects of the plot don’t unfold and resolve perfectly, but there’s plenty to think about long after it’s over — gender roles, power dynamics, coercion, wealth, revenge. I’m rounding up to 4 stars due to its originality, but keep in mind execution is a bit uneven.

I graciously received an advance copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark in exchange for an honest review.