Thank you Sourcebooks for the new Ashley Winstead. This is a really like read for me, which is good but a bit less of a loved it a lot feelings that I had for The Last Housewife. So... if the last housewife wasn't for you but you are wondering about this one, it might be for you, it's little less dark (but still dark) and for me it was less intense, though the ending is a bit wild (I loved the ending but I suspect others won't).

What did work: a strong female lead who finds ways to survive and fight a dangerous community, even when it means giving up all she knows. A love for education and books (even if it was Twilight...... the themes on books being important was nicely done). A slow burn sense of violence and danger (though it was a bit too slow burn for less than a fully satisfying payoff). A wild ending that felt for me where I wanted to really see what happens so... please give me a sequel somehow that goes into where the book ended. I would be all in for a follow up revenge type story.

This is a recommended read for fans of the author, just don't go in expecting quite the level of wtf that you got last year with the last housewife, be here more for the simmering darkness of religion and small town southern vibes.

Loved the themes woven into this story. A powerful look at the oppression of women and the institutions that bind society. The author’s notes at the end were thought provoking and insightful.

Ruth and Everett become inseparable after an even that changes Ruth’s life as a teenager. Now, as adults, things that have been covered up are coming to the surface.

This was a slow-burn with so many different layers. I’ve only read one other book by Winstead and it was a completely different genre, which blows my mind! I really liked how Winstead unveiled more about the characters, their pasts, and their place in Bottom Springs.

A great thriller about right and wrong, good and bad. Instead seems to honor the Twilight series through her story, and I liked the different timelines through Ruth’s and the reader’s discoveries. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you, net galley and Ashley Winstead for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! I read the Last Housewife earlier this year, and instantly became an Ashley Winstead fan. I was SO excited to get my hands on an early copy of this! I couldn’t put this one down. I loved the creepy vibes, the unreliable characters, and the edge of your seat storyline. I loved this one so much and it was the perfect kick off to October!

In the swamps of Bottom Springs, Louisiana, lives a mystical vampire creature, the Low Man, known by the locals to kill the worst of sinners. When 2 skulls are found, the town fears he has awakened. Two people know otherwise. Ruth and Everitt hide a deep secret.

Ruth, the daughter of the local Reverend Cornier, is obedient before the Holy Fire Baptist Church, but beneath her shell is a dreamer. She is now the librarian in a library where the community has banned books. In her defiance, she hides the books that are worthy of reading. One such book is Twilight. She is captivated by the character Edward and hopes one day someone like him will rescue her from this town. Everitt is that person. He is socially ostracized and has an overt desire to protect Ruth. In defiance of the laws, which the church says is good and bad clashes with what is right and moral. Their definition is accepted even by the local law.

The two of them are compelling characters against some evil immoral people that commit violent and ruthless crimes but the law protects them and what Rev. Cornier proclaims. Severe discrimination against women becomes morally and socially accepted. It becomes a mob mentality, witch hunt and drug rings against anyone objecting.

The writer does an excellent job challenging the reader and escapes from the confines of abnormal society rules. The transcends into defining justice and is different through each character. Wow!!
I loved the connection to Twilight and the resurrecting of her love for Edward/Everitt. Very impactful!
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark! Ashley Winstead, you truly have some of the best books written In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and The Last Housewife!

Ashley Winstead does a great job creating an atmosphere in this book from the first page. Southern Gothic is not usually my thing but I read one of this author's romance genre books so I was excited to see if there was any crossover. (Ultimately, this book kind of makes fun of girls who get too into "romance" books like "Twilight.")

But I didn't like this book for 3 reasons:

1- Main character. The story flashes between Ruth growing up and Ruth as an adult, but there's no difference between the two in how naive and helpless she is. This seems particularly odd for someone who is described as an "avid reader" (often of forbidden books) and someone who has experienced trauma that supposedly opened her eyes to the dark side of her community. I found it frustrating how long it took her to grow up. The arc toward opening her eyes took too long, for me, considering we don't get there until more than 80% into the book.

2- Lack of nuance. I'm all for an anti-religion book, but it was never clear what kind of religion they were facing. It was generic protestant because the church referenced being "born again," but the pastor also sounded Calvinist. Details here are important to ground the cliches of "bad Christianity."

3- Tone. This story teeters on the line between realism and horror and doesn't quite tip into "supernatural" until the end. I think it needed to make a decision earlier about how creepy it really wanted to be.

Clearly this book gave me a lot to think about, even if I didn't enjoy the read.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the review copy, all opinions are my own.

I think I would ready anything this author writes! I loved this one, and totally recommend!! 5 stars!

This book was a slow burn that never quite developed a flame. I know the setting was meant to be dark and creepy, but it just seemed pathetic and dismal. I could not get into the plot or connect with the characters. However, I thank Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

OMG this book was BEYOND words! This book was totally something I wasn't expecting from Winstead! I loved her previous thrillers, but this one truly stood out. It had gothic, atmospheric vibes, as well as fantasy! She is truly the queen of genre bending and she does it with such finesse and ease. The characters were so relatable and the plot totally sucked me in. I loved the dual timeline and all the twists!!!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour || Thank you, Sourcebooks, for the gifted audiobook {partner}

Genre: Mystery/Fiction
Format: 🎧📖
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆
Pub Date: 10.3.2023
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

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

If you’re familiar with the author of this book, Ashley Winstead, you may be aware that she has dabbled a bit in every genre. She is not afraid to tackle complex (and uncomfortable) subjects. I finished reading The Last Housewife earlier this year and was so disturbed by the book that I had to break it into sections as I couldn’t handle the graphic nature.

While reading Midnight is the Darkest Hour, I was prepared for the same experience, but this was way more tame than The Last Housewife. However, it was not for me. I found the story predictable, challenging to follow, and drawn out. The characters were one-dimensional, and the romance felt very young adult. The book had all of this build-up to some big moment, but when the moment finally arrived, it was rushed. I was completely let down.

🏘️ Small town secrets
🤫 Forbidden love
🙃 Rushed/Predictable ending
🙅🏽‍♀️ Avoid the audiobook
🐌 Slow

❌ substance abuse, family violence, sexual violence, child abuse

As always, I’m not trying to prevent anyone from reading Midnight is the Darkest Hour; I am solely sharing my opinion of the book. I plan to read Winstead’s future books as I think she has a lot of talent as a writer. This one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

ashley winstead knocks it out of the park again!

one thing i love about her books is the atmosphere. she makes the setting so chilly and creepy. it completely sucks you in.

her writing is fresh and great prose. i felt on the edge of my seat the whole time. the characters are so morally gray, you don’t know who to root for.

loved this one!

I was a bit disappointed with this book. It seemed like the author just wanted to toss everything into this story. Unrealistic characters. Not for me. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead follows Ruth Cormier, the town librarian in the tiny community of Bottom Springs, LA. Ruth's father is the preacher at Holy Fire Baptist Church and the townspeople just love his fire and brimstone sermons and good versus evil. About the only thing the townspeople fear more than the Devil is the Low Man, a vampire-like creature who, according to legend, steals into sinners' bedrooms on moonless nights and murders them. Although Ruth has been raised to believe all of these things too, she still just feels like an outsider in her town. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to some strange carved symbols, the superstitious townsfolk are sent into an uproar, convinced that evil is among them.

Ruth isn't convinced that the evil is quite what the townspeople think it is and she partners up with Everett, an old friend from the wrong side of the tracks, to find the true evil that is plaguing their community.

This is definitely what I would call a slow burn thriller. While it wasn't an action-packed read that kept me on the edge of my seat, it was an engrossing read with unsettling sinister vibes that kept me turning those pages to uncover the truth. The story also explores powerful themes such as religion, the occult, abuses of power, child abuse, and so many more. One that I found especially compelling was what we see in both Ruth and Everett, the struggle between trying to grow up and find your own place in the world versus just blindly trying to please your parents.

I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoilers, but If dark, unsettling thrillers with southern gothic vibes are your thing, this is the book for you!

I alternated between the ebook and the audiobook and thought both were great. Sarah Welborn does a phenomenal job narrating the audiobook and bringing the characters to life and fully immersing me in the southern Gothic atmosphere of the story.

Thanks so much to @tantoraudio and @bookmarked for the gifted review copies!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour was a great book. It can be compared to Where the Crawdads Sing but in my opinion was so much better! Winstead does a fantastic job of keeping the reader on their toes and keeping you guessing. I will be recommended this to fans and no fans of Where the Crawdads Sing as a better story.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Wow! What a trip! I had no idea they way this book would turn out. Although it was a little out there, it was still a fun and atmospheric read-a great October book. Ruth lives in a southern small town and is the daughter of the church's pastor. When a skull is found in the swamp, the town is turned upside down as secrets are uncovered and Ruth learns that people aren't really who she believes them to be. The town has a powerful Christian church, stories of witchcraft, and passed down story of the Low Man-a vampire like creature who will kill you in your sleep on moonless nights. This book hit the the mark for a spooky, thriller book that contains a bit of romance and also has some cult like topics.

Whoa. What. An. Ending.
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is my second read by Ashley Winstead. I adored The Last Housewife and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book.

Initially, I was utterly annoyed by Ruth's apparent need to please her parents instead of being her own person. But as the story progressed and more things were revealed, I understood why her annoyance was so important.

In the last 25% of the book, my jaw was just permanently open, and I legitimately screamed when things came together.

The mix of pop culture (go team Edward) and movie classics was such a fun take on this book, and I’m glad I didn’t let Ruth annoy me to the point of dnf’ing.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and it’s a great spooky time thriller!

This book was everything you want out of a thriller and Ashley Winstead continues to demonstrate her ability to dig into her characters.

I loved every minute of this book. It was such an interesting exploration of our deeply held beliefs, the way we see our loved ones and communities, and the way fear can be exploited.

I was biting my nails as the story barreled to a close and my jaw was on the floor for a good 5 minutes after I finished.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions, bitten nails, and dropped jaws are mine.

🌙 Midnight Is the Darkest Hour - Ashley Winstead

3 ⭐️ - Ugh this pains me. I wanted to like this more than I did. I’m in the minority for this book. I liked some parts and some parts I just didn’t.

Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider in her God-fearing folk town of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. The people of Ruth’s town only fear two things more than God; The Devil and The Low Man who is a mythical creature that folks believe come into sinner’s bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found in a swamp in town, Ruth, and her only friend Everett, realizes that they are the only people who can comb through the towns secrets to discover the true evil.

So, I wanted so much more than I got out of this one. This sucked me in from the beginning. I was hooked and determined to try to figure out where it was going. In the middle, it lost me. It felt so farfetched and honestly, I felt confused. The end was mindblowing. I was torn on how to rate this one. The parts I liked, I really liked. The parts I didn’t like, well, I didn’t like. Due to that, this one lands somewhere in the middle for me.

BUT please keep in mind, some books aren’t for everyone and this one has been getting a TON of fabulous reviews. It just didn’t click for me. On to the next! Definitely add this to your spooky season TBR and give it a try.