Honest review incoming… this book was not for me. Which is soul crushing because I raved about The Last Housewife last year - it was in my top 10 for 2022!

My explanation for why I didn’t love this one is below and includes minor spoilers. I won’t spoil major plot points, but I do say a little more than what you get in the book description.

⚠️ Minor Spoilers below! ⚠️

✨ The Good: This book is like if Where the Crawdads Sing was crossed with Twilight and a little bit of True Defective season 1. For a lot of people, that’s going to be a huge selling point! For me, the first two would be a con because I’m not a fan of either of those.

This book is an atmospheric read! There’s legit praise from me!

✨ The Bad: I just cannot deal with male characters who are way too fictional, and female main characters who are too naive. This is a personal hangup that’s hard for me to get past! Both of these characters felt like caricatures of stereotypes that didn’t feel real. Ruth is just too naive for me to root for. Her childhood obsession with Twilight makes her seem so much younger than she actually is, and it was cringy. Then her best friend Everett is too fictional - he reads and recites poetry, he has the fierce protectiveness over Ruth, he doesn’t own a cell phone or a watch, he could immediately smell that another man had been in Ruth’s house (what was that!?). It felt way too unrealistic for my taste.

✨ The Ugly (here’s where I get a little more spoilery): For the love of everything holy, take Twilight out of this book!! If I never have to think of Twilight as a book again (or as a time of day!)… it would be too soon.

⚠️ I understand you were supposed to wonder if Everett was a vampire, but I never once wondered if he was a vampire!! It’s just not that kind of book! Now take Twilight out of the plot and make us wonder if Everett is the Low Man instead - now that would be SO much more compelling! ⚠️

There are a ton of good reviews for this one, so you might love it even if I didn’t! Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Creepy and complex, this book is everything I wanted in a southern gothic novel for spooky season. A must-read.

When a skull is found deep in the swamps around Bottom Springs, Louisiana, it only validates both the fire and brimstone preaching of the local Baptist minister and the local legend of the Low Man- a vampire-like monster said to haunt the swamps and kill the less than righteous in their beds. Luckily for Bottom Springs, local librarian Ruth Cornier (daughter of said Baptist minister) realizes that if this mystery is going to be solved, she needs to be the one to do it. With the able help of her friend Everett, who has untapped mysteries of his own, Ruth sets out to find out what exactly it is that lies at the heart of this mystery- and this town.

I love a cultish theme and this one hit with the religious plot. I have read Winstead's romances, but this was my first thriller. I will definitely pick up her others. & that ending!!

no one is more distraught than me that I didn’t love this book.

for me there was too much mystery and not enough thrill, I usually struggle with stories that have a flawed religious system at its core and this was no exception.

however the last 30% was absolutely incredible, if more of the story was paced like that this rating would be much higher! because this story was incredibly interesting don’t get me wrong, the reverends daughter learning about the corruption in her small town and tearing it all down, but I struggled to get through the first half.

that ending absolutely shattered me! incredible and devastating in equal measures.

I would recommend this book but it is my least favourite Ashley Winstead book.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

Ruth Cornier nurses a rebellious heart beneath her placid exterior as a good preacher’s daughter. Growing up restricted and practically friendless in Bottom Springs, Louisiana, she sought escape in books, occasionally snagging a contraband novel despite her father’s efforts to cleanse the local libraries of “sinful” titles. When she’s fourteen, she discovers Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. In its pages she reads about the kind of love she’d never imagined, prompting her to open her heart eagerly to novelty and danger in the cause of romance.

This, alas, has the unfortunate consequence of putting her in the path of newcomer Renard Michaels only three years later. Inexperienced with men, she willingly goes along with his suggestions until they turn into a nightmare. Her classmate and fellow outcast Everett Duncan rescues her, forging a bond that only grows stronger as they grow older. They make an unlikely pairing – she the town librarian, he the tearaway unironically called the Devil’s son – but their connection is undeniable, even when he finally disappears one heartbreaking summer that has Ruth prostrate with grief at the thought of having lost his friendship.

At twenty-four, Ruth figures it’s time to move on. But then a trapper dredges up the skull of a murdered man from the swamp, setting the entire town ablaze with fear. The townsfolk naturally turn to Ruth’s father for comfort:

QUOTE
This is Southern Baptist country, and people are prone to unease, apocalyptic and overly associative, seeing holy warnings in the smallest of things, like the pattern sugar makes when spilled across a counter. My father is where you’d expect him, in the middle of the crowd, the tallest person here, thick, tanned, and already gleaming in his cuffed white dress shirt. As the sheriff speaks, the hands of the townsfolk find my father, until he looks like a massive sun radiating spokes of people. They lay their palms on his shoulders and forearms as if he is an anchor, his holiness a shield to protect them from the coming news. I cannot recall ever touching or being touched by my father that gently.
END QUOTE

As terrified as she is that her guilty secret will be exposed as the investigation into the skull continues, Ruth can’t help but feel relieved, if not ecstatic, at Everett’s sudden return in the wake of the discovery. After all, he had just as much to do with the skull in the swamp as she did. He, however, is less thrilled to learn that in his absence, she’s begun a romantic relationship with a sheriff’s deputy, a relationship that just so happens to have been rubber stamped by her religious parents. Ruth argues that her romance with Barry is the perfect way for her to get behind the scenes information about the on-going police case. Besides, she and Everett are just friends, aren’t they? But as the best friends scheme to keep their involvement with the skull a secret, they realize that the many feelings they’ve tried to hide over the years just won’t stay buried.

I’m not sure whether I would have reacted so viscerally to this novel were I not in a very sympathetic frame of mind to Ruth’s at the time of reading it, but I do know that that ending was one of the best pieces of writing and meta-commentary I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing as a thriller reader. Ashley Winstead imbues what could be just a very fun, surface-level contemporary Southern Gothic with both thoughtfulness and poignancy, inserting a surprisingly essential postmodern dialog with the reader into a heartstopping narrative of desire and belief. She dissects why people make fun of teenage girls and their interests in such a way that even a Twilight-skeptic like myself is convinced to give the property a second thought, with passages like these where Ruth muses on the appeal:

QUOTE
<i>This all-encompassing love for all the wrong men–what’s in it for you?</i> The truth was, I longed to kiss people like Edward Cullen, vampires and heartbreakers who could hurt me, kill me, men who walked the knife’s edge of life, because what I really wanted–what I’d wanted from fourteen, even before I had the language to describe it–was to suck the marrow out of them and carry it myself. Forget puberty, forget growing up into a woman. I wanted to drink their threat, hold that volatile substance in my chest. Swallow their danger and become the danger myself. Vampire, viper; all that power, mine.
END QUOTE

Teenage girls are one of society’s easiest targets for mockery. Ms Winstead argues that this is because of the way people would rather banish and ridicule their own softest feelings rather than admit to caring and hurting and being weak. It’s a shockingly strong thesis on which to build a gripping work of Southern noir that grapples, thoughtfully and profoundly, with questions of justice and morality and love. I adored Midnight Is The Darkest Hour, even as it broke my heart.

When I read In My Dreams I Hold a Knife - I was in love with this author! Ashley Winstead knows how to keep you up all hours of the night saying one more chapter. Always writes a winner!

Thank you for allowing me an advanced readers copy for an honest review!

So thankful that I was able to receive an advance reader copy of Midnight is the Darkest Hour! I have always enjoyed Ashley Winstead’s writing.

This story was great! A small town, corrupt people in high places, and a lot of secrets unfolding.
I loved how the story goes between past and present. I thought the book was interesting and it kept my attention.

There are a lot of themes I find keep popping up in my reading this year, and one that I find especially compelling is religious trauma and reckoning with identity post religious oppression. This one was probably the best entry into that theme that I’ve read so far. I absolutely loved this book. I loved it so much. Ruth and Everett are such complex and compelling main characters, and we follow them growing up in a strict religious small town where they both find themselves on the fringes. The pastor’s daughter, Ruth spends her whole life in her father’s shadow, trying to navigate an identity for herself. And Everett is the son of the town drunk, placed on the outside of society by everyone by his family name. Of course they find solace with each other. Years later, tensions in the town are escalating, and Ruth and Everett team up once again to try and solve a dark mystery haunting the entire town. I can’t recommend this book enough. I read it SO fast, and it’s still stuck with me.

My review is posted on my Instagram- @boozehoundbookclub

“A gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts―the preacher's daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks―hold the key to uncovering the truth.”

Personal review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Woah, can I say, my favorite Ashley Winstead novel to date! Someone described this as Where the Crawdads Sing meets Twilight meets Thelma and Louise, and I just loved that description! First off, it’s set in a small southern town in the Louisiana swamp, with big beliefs about eduction, women, books, and even bigger secrets. Ruth was a great leading character in her quest for the truth from a young age, but also wanting to please her parents. Her relationship with Everett, was an easy one to cheer for, as he shook up the small town norm of boys worthy of dating and marrying. I loved the folklore of Low Man in the swamp killing people and the genuine fear from the townspeople. Like any good southern gothic tale, this one was full of suspense, small town drama, thrill and other unputdownable qualities!

Synopsis: In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar―and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book! I’ve loved a lot of this author’s books (both romance and thrillers) but this book was just okay for me. I liked the premise, the twilight references, and the creepy cult-like church and found that these things all added intrigue to the story. But I found that overall it was quite predictable. By the end. I was yelling at Ruth to just put the pieces together a little bit faster because I felt like it was so clear who was the culprit of all these murders and what her dad was hiding. I still had a good time reading the book overall, but it just felt too predictable and I wished the ending had been a little less open ended.

Ashley Winstead does a fantastic job of creating the world of Bottom Springs and the perplexing characters in it. Perhaps by design, Winstead had me going back and forth between a world of fantasy or realistic fiction. I struggled to connect with the characters through the main part of the book, but did appreciate the parallels drawn between real-life applications to following your own heart and thinking for yourself outside of your family and the surrounding community. I was left on edge as the last page turned and I so willingly wanted the characters to find their true escape!

“My mother always told me night was when the world became the devil’s playground.”

I don’t even know what the heck I just read, but like I didn’t hate it? The story seemingly was a bit predictable; it was at times hard to follow but, nonetheless, I pushed through, and it turned out to be enjoyable. Sadly, I predicted the end before it was going to happen and thus is how I’ve come to my 3.5-star rating. Had it not taken me by surprise I would have given it 4 stars. Overall, the author does a great job at creating an atmosphere that is not only creepy, but one that is so perfect for spooky season.

Round of applause for Ashley Wintsead! This story was phenomenal and dark making the perfect October read.

Readers definitely need to make sure to read the trigger warnings before picking this up. One reason I love Ashley's writing is because she does not hide away from including controversial topics in her books. In my opinion, it truly elevates the story. I was hooked from the very first chapter and really enjoyed watching the story slowly develop. It never felt rushed and the reader really gets to get to know the characters. One of the things I enjoyed the most is that were parts in the story where I thought I had it all figure it out and the BAM a dark twist! The story just kept getting better and better. This book just blew my mind. Totally would recommend to my thriller and horror lovers.

Thank you netgalley and Sourcebooks for my e-galley. I really enjoyed reading this book.

This book has it all:

Religious trauma,

A naive church girl realizing she's in a cult.

A cryptid monster known as the Low Man

Murder & mayhem

Mystery

A little romance Edward Cullen?!

an Ending that will leave your jaw agape

If none of those are enough to make you want to read Midnight... just know that I loved it! Librarian Ruth (who's also the Preacher's daughter) coming into herself finally with the help of her bff Everett (the dirty pagan from the wrong side of the tracks) and uncovering the mystery of who's murdering folks was everything I wanted and didn't know I needed in a book. The fact it's a little bit of Twilight fanfic definitely helped and cracked me up at even some of the darker parts.

Vibes are Twilight meets Bonnie & Clyde with a lil Anne of Green Gables.

Read this for the writing style if you are not tempted by the story line - the author has a real way with words and is able to bring every scene to life. The story is a dark gothic tale which touches on some truths about the role of organised religion and its impact. A very interesting book which will appeal to many.

This was very different from Winstead's past novels. I did enjoy it and it had me hooked honestly. It's all about morality I feel. Good and evil, heaven and hell. Is it truly black and white or morally gray? We follow a morally gray character you can't help root for. This also talked about Twilight alot and about how much it shaped our main character's life when she read it as a teen. As someone who read Twilight also during my formative years I related to this.
Overall it wasn't quite a 5 star for me but still interesting and definitely not as dark as her last thriller.

What a difficult book to rate. We follow Ruth, a pastor's daughter, when a skull is found in the swamp and secrets and misteries envolving her and her best fried, an outcast called Everett, begin to unravel.

Although not thrilling and with a slower pace, I could not put the book down. I really wanted to know what was going on in the city. It's like that disaster that is beneath the veneer of a well-polished community that when it comes to light everyone wants to know more about. So, the atmosphere and the unveiling of the secrets were gripping.

However, I didn't care for any of the characters and the big villain is pretty clear early on. I was never captivated by the story more than a morbid curiosity of what was going and when the people doing all kinds of evil would be punished.

To be honest, when I saw the reviews mentioning the ending being insane, I was waiting for something more. So, maybe I set myself up for failure. And there's a comparison that is being made that is really spoiler-y for the main plot point and for the ending (spoilers ahead): <spoiler> the Bonnie and Clyde comparison already tells the reader that Ruth and Everett are the killers, that they will end up together, and that they'll die together fleeing the scene </spoiler>.

By the end, I think the book was just ok to me.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

I think Clare Mackintosh hit the nail on the head with her synopsis… “Where the Crawdads Sing meets Twilight meets Thelma and Louise…” This book left me saying WTF! That ending 😫

You can’t help but fall in love with Everett Duncan. He’s the bad boy with a good heart. He’s been dealt a rotten hand in life but is trying to make the best of it. Ruth Cornier, the preachers daughter, befriends Everett and her daddy is none too happy about it. She’s overly sheltered in small town, holier-than-thou Louisiana.

When a skull is found in the swamp, Ruth and Everett may have to make a run for it. When they find out the skull doesn’t belong to who they think it does, lots of stories start to come out.

This one had me guessing. The author crammed all sorts of tropes into this one- witchcraft, possible vampires, drug rings, best friends to lovers, condemning churches, serial killers… she put it all in! I didn’t love this one but I did enjoy it. 4 stars overall.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! Sadly, this book did not live up to the hype or Winstead's other thrillers. I did not enjoy the stereotypes of the South or the religious fanaticism portrayed in this one. I did not feel like this had a twist moment, and it just wasn't as engaging as I expected. The ending left a lot to be desired.

I will still pick up Winstead's thrillers, but this one just didn't hit the mark for me.