This was such a bingeable beach read for me this summer, but it will be the PERFECT spooky season read when it hits the shelves soon!!

Rating: 4.5⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 400
Publish Date: 10/3/23
By: @ashleywinsteadbooks
Author of: In my Dreams I Hold a Knife, The Last Housewife, & more!

What I liked:
- super unique thriller! As someone who reads a lot of thrillers, it is so exciting when you find a book like this that’s premise and characters are so different than others you have read before!
- I love when thrillers are full of drama, and this small town setting had tons of it
- some romance too!
- the twilight references made me laugh 🧛🏻‍♂️
- Super atmospheric. Had the creepy spooky vibes and seriously would be a perfect fall read.
- The theme of religion and power in a small southern community!!!!
- That ending 🤯

This book was such a delight to read with a building level of dread that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved how well-written this story was, but with a title like "Midnight is the Darkest Hour", how could it have been otherwise?

We follow young protagonist Ruth Cornier through different significant stages of her life that come together to form a poetic whole. With great twists along the way, although the reader is uncomfortably aware of where her story is heading at all times...

Ruth gets rescued from a would-be rapist by a dashing loner-outsider named Everett/Ever as she calls him and from there on the two of them are almost inseparable... Well, at least he always comes back for her... Well, maybe he has other motives too. It's complicated, but that's what makes this book so delicious. Is Ever all that he seems or is there something more to his beauty? His canine teeth? His pale skin? Ruth certainly thinks so, but is she right or is she wrong? Is her mind playing tricks on her and is it just wishful thinking? And what about the skull in the swamp? Or the weird signs carved into the trees? Or the disappearance of a certain town member? Or the involvement of her father in the discontinuation of a certain town newspaper? How are these things connected?

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It's long, but it's worth it. Especially for fans of 'Where the crawdads sing'.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Ashley Winstead for the gifted advanced copy of Midnight is the Darkest Hour!

It's no secret that I'm an Ashley Winstead stan so take that for what it's worth going into reading this review.

You will want to read this one if you are into:

-Twilight
-Whodunnits
-Pagan rituals
-Stories centered around religion

Worth noting: there is a list of trigger warnings in the beginning of the book, and one does deal with religious trauma. This isn't a happily religious book.

Be prepared for that ending, you will have big feelings about it! Midnight is the Darkest Hour will be on US bookshelves October 3rd.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC to read and review!

I’m new to Ashley winstead and I appreciate how she can write multiple genres.

This one is for fans of thrillers with religious tones, where the crawdads sing, and twilight. I also recommend reading the authors note at the end because it did change my appreciation for this book and what themes were included and why. Very creative execution.

I’m unsure if I enjoyed the female main character but she was so heavily influenced by her external world that it was sad for me. I found the beginning gripping and intriguing but her development almost gave me second hand embarrassment.

I did appreciate the grit. Content warnings include but not limited to death, domestic abuse and violence, mentions of abortion, and child abuse.

I think I’ll be in the minority so I do recommend checking this one out.

Wow. This was a superb page-turner with an excellent atmosphere -set in the Louisiana marsh lands south of New Orleans in a religious community rife with superstition and criminality. Ruth and Everett, the preacher's daughter and the local outcast, rumored 'Low Man" serial killer, are bonded together by a shared secret and their simmering desire. This was a spooky mystery with a very slow burn romance, but the chemistry between Ruth and Ever was burning up the pages. The ending leaves the reader with a lot to think about. Highly recommended. 5 stars. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS for a complimentary ARC copy of this novel!

There’s Everett, the rebellious outcast boy; and Ruth, the preacher’s daughter in the small Southern town of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. An unlikely bond forms between the two. There’s occultism and witchcraft under the ruse of a Southern Christian church. Strewn along are a few murders as well.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time finishing this novel. I finished it, but felt that is would never end. Just when I thought it would pick up, it didn’t. When I did finish it, the ending just left me feeling empty. I was expecting some big finale because most of the book did not have the thrills I was expecting. I have read this authors two previous works, The Last Housewife and In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, and thoroughly enjoyed these. But this newest novel did have the bang that the previous ones I read had. There were some surprises in the book here and there, but nothing to keep me on the edge of my seat.

This review is my personal opinion. Even though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, another fellow reader may thoroughly love it. So I still recommend and encourage the purchase of this novel. Available October 3, 2023!

While I didn't love this one quite as much as IN MY DREAMS...it was still incredibly compelling! It was gritty, dark, and wholly mesmerizing. If you're a fan of stories that explore themes related to cults and religious fanaticism, definitely pick this one up.

Ashley Winsteads books are my automatic buy. I truly enjoyed the book, and the small town vibes, the abuse of religion power and the characters pulled me in!

Definitely recommend if you’re into dark thrillers.

So far I would say, The Last Housewife was my favorite out of all her thrillers!

Thank you to Ashley Winstead and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Absolutely excellent. One of my favourite reads from the whole year. Ashley winstead continues to be one of my absolute favourite authors. I’ll read anything and everything she writes. This book was SO unexpected in so many ways; it’s a thriller, but it’s so much more. I don’t want to say much to give it away, but just know it’s best to go in knowing nothing. You won’t be disappointed!

PS; this is my all time FAVOURITE friends to lovers that I’ve ever read.

Thank you to Ashley Winstead and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved The Last Housewife and was so excited for this book, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. Honestly, I think I am just over the “religious man bad” trope in thrillers. It is predictable and boring and often leaves the plot lacking for me. I felt like we spent more time having expose on how awful the religious culture in Bottom Springs was than the actual thriller part of the book, which just did not have me pulled into the story at all. I hated Ruth. Like I was not connected or into her character at all. The Twilight references got old fast for me, and the fact that one of the big climatic moments was her trying to turn Ever into Edward Cullen just ruined her even more for me. I feel like from the very beginning we knew Everett committed the murders and that the Reverend was the big bad of the book, so the ending was a let down for me because I didn’t really feel like there were any twists. I also was not a fan of the open-ended conclusion to the story. I did feel like the action picked up in the last 20% of the book and was able to keep my interest better. I know a lot of my friends have enjoyed this one, so hopefully it will be for you, but it just wasn’t for me!

I mean, are we surprised? Ashley Winstead has become my queen and I will hear no words about it.

This book, ah this book, reignited the dark little corner in my heart that used to be a good little catholic girl but grew up to realize the church has no power over strong women made of words and iron. Every one of Ashley's works deals the reader with a new well thought out idea that challenges our way of thinking about the world and our place in it.the one thing that she showcases in every novel is how powerful women are and the lengths that women will have to go to prove ourselves and if that makes us rebels then so be it.

The lore, the friendships, the library as a setting but also a character itself, the atmosphere, the spooky vibes, the twilight references 🤣 and honestly the fortenot fishing wives gossip group made this whole book for me.

I look forward to more from my queen.

Also, side note. Listening to Paint the Town Red by Doja Cat on repeat while reading this set up the whole atmosphere.

This is a strange one to review or talk about because of just how much was going on in the story and how much came together to make the story work. And I think that may be part of the issue I had with the book. At its core, this is a book about religious trauma, people in power abusing their power, and young love that felt like Where the Crawdad's Sing mixed with Midnight Mass and the Hotshot community from True Blood.

Yeah.

I think this could have done with another round or 2 of editing before hitting the shelves (the whole potentially supernatural aspect because Ruth read "Twilight" when she was younger...cut it. Nothing really comes of it and it wasn't developed well) because I never felt wholly compelled to pick the book back up again after I would set it down for the day. While I was reading I was entertained, it certainly wasn't boring, but I have so little motivation to pick it up again beyond that and it's hard to pinpoint why. I don't know if there were too many plot lines, I don't know if it was too anti-climatic of a storyline, I don't know if it was just too...it's not exactly predictable, but each reveal/discovery that happens felt very "ahhhh yes. That makes sense" and opposed to shocking or unexpected. So like many thrillers this year, this almost felt safe.

Ranking among Winstead's other books: The Last Housewife, In My Dreams..., Midnight is...

My thanks to SOURCEBOOKS via Netgalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Midnight is the Darkest Hour" is a dark, twisty, bizarre thriller set on exposing the malicious underbelly of fundamentalist religion. The story is set in a small town in Louisiana, led by fire and brimstone preacher James Cournier. Everyone in the town fears and revers him, and head his caution against witchcraft. They are shaken by the finding of a crushed skull in a river and occult symbols carved into the nearby trees. James' daughter, Ruth, becomes connected to the case as well as her childhood friend Everett. The two go on a wild goose chase peeling back layers of secrets that threaten the Christian and pious image of their peers.

This book is exceptionally written and it all made sense to me when I read the author has a PhD in English. The plot itself isn't as bizarre and shocking as "The Last Housewife." The reveals are incremental and arrive with sufficient warning for me to not categorize this as a pure thriller. Key to the plot is the way that church communities, and especially their leaders', exert control. The lack of nuance and slightly caricatural depiction of religion in the South will be a turn off to some, but I saw it as the necessary backdrop to understand Ruth's character. She vacillates between Good Christian Girl and Pure Heathen, because she does not have the language to imagine a world that is not binary. She frequently refers back to the Twilight books, as they are her only gateway to a world where women transform and have power. I thought this was a brilliant move by the author as those books really tapped into a generation of young girls' desires. The ending is going to be very divisive: without spoiling it, not all of the readers' questions will be answered. It was a bit of a disappointment for me, but overall I found this to be a great read even if it didn't tap into the occult element the way I anticipated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark Publishing for sharing with me the ARC of Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead. I have loved Winstead's work in the past and this one was no exception. I think Midnight is the Darkest Hour will be one that strikes a cord in many and might even be polarizing in its reviews. Winstead brings forth a lot of discussion material with this one. I cannot say that it was a solid 5 stars for me, mostly because of its resolution, but the book kept me invested and thinking hours after the last page.

With a rollicking quick pace, an atmospheric setting, and a strong plot with lots of twists and turns, secrets and lies, this book sucked me in from the start and refused to let go. Not only was the story entertaining and fun to read, it also made me think about things like the push and pull of good versus evil in all of us and the true definition of justice, morality, and what is right. It also exposed the often deeply ingrained narratives women are told, or tell themselves, about how they should think, feel, and behave (and not just women, but anyone raised in or involved in a controlling, abusive environment). This would be an excellent book club read, likely to spark a lively discussion!

Thanks to #partner @netgalley and @bookmarked for the digital ARC of Ashley Winstead's Midnight Is the Darkest Hour. The book will be published on October 3!

For years, since her friendship with Everett began, Ruth has waited for their sin to catch up with her. Drawn together by their crime, Ruth—confined by her father’s role as her small Louisiana town’s judge and confessor—and Everett—an outcast whose fate was cemented by his father’s evil—find refuge, affection, and understanding in each other, which brings them comfort as they ride out the end of their teenage years together.

And then a skull is found in the swamp. Suddenly, the peril of discovery that has been looming over her life arrives at her doorstep. Everett now only visits Bottom Springs in the summer, so Ruth has sought refuge and her parents’ approval by stepping tentatively into their vision for her: no college; marriage to a hometown boy; a family; and a fundamentalist Christian lifestyle. But when Everett returns, Ruth feels pulled again to a different way of living.

As the investigation speeds up, Winstead reveals the truths of Ruth’s past and present in alternating passages, revealing some secrets she’s kept and some that have been kept from her.

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour was my first book by Winstead, and wow, was it compelling. I didn’t want to stop reading! The non-chronological structure of the novel creates twists and turns, solving one mystery only to uncover another. The role of books and reading in Ruth and Everett’s characters, and in their relationship, made my heart happy. Most of all, I loved watching Ruth work through her vision of who she wanted to be in the face of her parents’—and the town’s—oppressive expectations. What a satisfying read!

Winstead’s tale set in the small, god-fearing town of Bottom Springs, Louisiana is darkly gothic. Over the town lords Pastor James Cornier, a born-again fundamentalist Christian of Holy Fire Born Again Church. The Church has grown bigger and richer over time and now the pastpor’s all encompassing power holds everyone in its thrall, even the Sheriff and his deputies.

Ruth Cornier, the pastor’s daughter only survives by living a life in the shadows, toeing the line as the quiet, godly daughter, but leads an inner life through her love of books and reading. As a young teenager, she found and stole a copy of ‘Twilight’ banned from the Library, she became obsessed with Edward and dreamt of meeting a man just like him who would take her away from Bottom Springs. After finishing school, her father barred her from leaving home to attend college, stating ‘these places are Sodom incarnate’ and that the Bible teaches her everything she needs to know about self control, making a home for a husband and children and submitting to God’s will. Trapped in the town, she retreats to the only place she feels safe, becoming a librarian, but now in her twenties is now feeling the pressure of expectation to marry and bear children.

Ruth is not the only misfit in town lying low. Everett Duncan, the boy they call the Devil’s son, is the son of the outcast town drunk who is suspected of dabbling in witchcraft. Beaten by his father and reviled by all, Everett has survived only by hunting small creatures in the swamps he has come to feel at home in. Despite the town’s overt godliness, tales abound of a creature trapped in the deepest darkest swamps called the Low Man. Said to wake every few years, he searches for those with the most wickedness hidden inside and in a vampiric frenzy devours their souls.

Everett and Ruth became friends the night he rescued her in the swamp, when she was seventeen and in danger. The dark deed they committed that night has remained a secret between them, but one they are afraid will one day be revealed. Their shared love of books and poetry is what binds them and keeps their friendship growing, even after Everett leaves town, returning only in the summers to visit Ruth. Everett has always moved below the town radar, learning the many secrets and deeds of its inhabitants. Ruth also observed the strange behaviour of her father and his friends during her childhood without realising what it was they were doing. Between them Ruth and Everett they have the means to expose the hypocrisy and evil that has enveloped the town.

This deliciously dark tale is one of power and corruption, secret cults and ancient myths. It has atmosphere in spades, with the dark creepy swamp, ancient legends and hints of a witchcraft like cult. The novel is a slow burning tinder box of fear and tension waiting to explode and explode it does in a detonation that will be felt by all. It’s also a tender but heart-rending love story with an ending that will take your breath away.

4.5 stars

Holy moly!! Ashley Winstead does it again 👏

Her writing is phenomenal. I couldn't put this book down. I loved the FMC and MMC, Ruthie & Everett.

The religious aspect and small town worked so well. And let me tell you that ending 🤯

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Canada & Sourcebooks Landmark for advance copies in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of the book, but the characters were incredibly frustrating and flat, despite the drama. The conceit of the book kept it moving, but it all felt a little unbelievable. I also thought the ambiguous ending was a bit of a cop out.

Captivating Southern Gothic thriller that will leave you on the edge of the seat from start to finish - you're not ready for this one folks!