<b>"What did it feel like to become a warning?"</b>

This is a truly haunting and surreal, visceral read. It's wonderfully taunt, expertly crafted, and deftly imbued with some elements that always make you feel just that little bit off kilter -- is there some supernatural realism at work? Is there something of the occult transpiring in Ruth's reality? Who are the real villains and what is the real justice?

<b>"Why should we have to love and obey a world that doesn't love us back?"</b>

Winstead's latest is certainly different than your usual crime fiction or thriller. It feels slower while at the same time sharper. It begs a lot of philosophical questions, challenging readers to examine their own internal narratives, their own ethics, and pushes the boundaries on our traditional senses of crime, justice, love and even freedom.

<b>"But what about what children sacrifice? What about the courage it takes to right our parents' wrongs, course correct the mess they've left us?"</b>

There are several heavy themes, most especially religious zealotry and cultism, that might give you the impression this is another dark underbelly telling like Winstead's previous works, but this actually takes on so much more. There's a constant push and pull as Ruth chafes against her town and family, but finds herself beholden to it. As events unfold, you can feel her cognitive dissonance transpire off the page and insidiously creep into your own perspective. As the hidden depths of the swamp and the town surface, you're experiencing all the same challenges to the things you've been taught like Ruth. You're pushed again and again to reconsider what a crime is, who a villain really is, and what costs you would pay to set yourself free, to define your freedom and grasp it.

It's hard to really dive into this further with specifics without spoiling any elements, and truly I think this is one best enjoyed going in blind or with your own specific notions to see how Winstead challenges and surprises them. While the overall 'twists' might not be surprising by the time they come, the journey and unravelling there is worthwhile and downright addicting. Readers be warned that the ending goes out with a bang with maybe not with everything neatly tied up, but to me, it was perfect because I know how it ends in my heart and I love that Winstead gives the reader the ultimate power in the end.

<b>"Midnight is a piece of crime fiction that I hope asks: Is justice also written by the winners? That is, what's considered just determined by who's in power?"</b>

While there are some outright zany elements and scenes, this is a striking story that feels timely while also eloquently documenting issues as old as time: misogyny and the subjugation of women, the abuse of power and the boy's club, the power of religion and its perversion, criminality and villains, and love that borders on obsession and madness.

Don't let mentions of Twilight -- yes that Twilight, in reviews deter you because the way Winstead uses that as the first of many rebellions for Ruth demonstrates a keen analysis of what is it that makes those stories so alluring and even…dangerous to power systems. It's brilliant and I think the authors notes at the end really help articulate this. Truly, Winstead shows herself to be a formidable writer with a mind that delivers equal parts hope and inspiration, along with nightmares and darkness. It's an intoxicating cocktail and I can't wait to see what narratives and stories Winstead brings next.

Not to be missed and also absolutely fabulous on audiobook, I highly recommend this.

📖 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫
✍🏻 @ashleywinsteadbooks
🎁 Thank you @bookmarked for the advanced copy!

💭 Ashley Winstead is back, baby. And this time with a new thriller that is perfect for spooky season. Ashley is an autobuy author for me. Her romances are just as good as her page turning thrillers. I am FASCINATED by religious cults so when I found out this story had one in it, I was an immediate YES I NEED TO READ. The setting is Louisiana which adds to the creepy vibes. There were mentions of Twilight and a bit of a romance that I adored. Ashley's thrillers always have you saying 'ONE MORE CHAPTER' because you need to know how the story ends. And let me tell you, this ending? SO UNIQUE. And so dang good.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

Well, this one hurts. I’ve loved her other thrillers so I had high hopes this one would also blow me away. Unfortunately, it felt forced and predictable. The premise had possibilities but the execution just wasn’t there for me. If you try this one, I would suggest reading or at least listening to a sample of the audio first because the accent the narrator uses was distracting at times.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

Bottom Springs is a small southern town in Louisiana. Most people belong to the Holy Fire Born Again church. Ruth Cornier is the daughter of the great pastor of the church. This is one of the things that sets her apart from everyone else. The other is her best friend, Everett Duncan, called the Devil’s son. The people outside their friendship think they are a strange pair.

The book starts with a skull being found. Ruth has been dreading this day for years as she and Everett killed a guy who was raping her when she was a teen.

However, it is the skull of a different man, and this starts the uncovering of several murders and a whole bunch of secrets. People think evil has just come to Bottom Springs, but it has been around for years. If the first skull had never been discovered, the evil probably would have continued to go on for years.

This book goes back and forth from now to different times in the past when Ruth was younger, and each time, more of the back story related to the events of now are revealed.

I will say that parts of the end were predictable. It wasn’t a total shock. I still enjoyed the book very much and will recommend it to others.

🌙 Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead 🌙

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
⚠️ TWs: SO MANY - please look up before reading because it touches on sensitive topics

💭 Thoughts:
I wanted to love this. I absolutely loved The Last Housewife by Winstead last year, and I thought this one would be a similar, cult-like thrill with a Southern backdrop. However, this was more reminiscent of It Ends with Us but in a church. The pacing was the biggest issue for me, and it took me weeks to read it because it felt slow. I know this is a hot take because SO MANY love this book! I think if you go in with these expectations, you will like the book more than I did!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a DNF for me. Too many twilight references for me, I really just couldn’t get into it. I’m sure there will be the right audience for it but it wasn’t me.

This book is supposed to be entertaining and scary, but it is just not for me. I have tried reading it many times now and just can't get into it. Hopefully it will find its right audience.

Another incredible thriller by Ashley Winstead with timely social commentary & a compelling love story. Where the crawdads sing meets the last housewife with twilight girlie & religious trauma vibes. A must read!

I really wanted to love this. Ashley Winstead is one of my favorite authors and I've loved the other four books of hers I read. but this one did not do it for me. I think there was just a little too much going on. I'd rather it just focus on the religious fundamentalism/Southern culture without the attempt at pretending this is a vampire book. I think the ending was the best stylistic choice but it made me MAD (in a good way). I'll probably recommend to people who are looking for something specific but I'm not looking to add this to my collection.

Wow! This was a wild ride! I loved it! Bottom Springs is a God-fearing town lead by Reverend Cornier. Ruth, the daughter of the reverend, has never fit in until she befriends Everett, the son of the town drunk. After a skull is found in the swamp, the townspeople start to suspect the Low Man, a demonic creature who feasts on bad people. This book was full of twists and turns. I couldn't put it down!

Genre: Thriller

Format: E-book

5🌟 - I loved it!

Thank you @bookmarked and @netgalley for the #gifted E-ARC!

@ashleywinsteadbooks does it again 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. She’s quickly become an auto-buy author for me and her newest thriller truly delivers!

This one is for the girlies with religious trauma who loved Twilight 🧛‍♀️.

The ending had me 🤯🤯🤯. I was so invested in the setting, cultish vibes, and the Bonnie and Clyde moments.

I was engrossed in both timelines and seeing it all unfold. I love how she always has a romance subplot happening in her thrillers and this one is just wild!

It’s giving Crawdad’s vibes but unhinged! Can’t wait to see what she does next 💃🏼

DNF at 19%. I also had the audio and could not get into. The pacing was off for me and there was too many Twilight references for me. At one point, I questioned if the male MC was a werewolf or a vampire. 😬

Following a fanatical love between two people, between a pastor and his followers, and men and money, this thriller was a wild ride.
The first 70% of the book felt like several stop and starts, but when the characters committed to their sins and leaned into their desires, I could not put it down.
I really enjoy Winstead's thrillers. She makes the twists feel twisty and not just tacked on for shock value, and her characters are always complex. This may fall at the bottom of my Winstead list, but it's still high on my thriller list.

Book Review: Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is a dark and atmospheric gothic fantasy novel by Ashley Winstead. The story follows Ruth Cornier, a young woman who lives in the ultra-religious town of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. When a skull is found buried in the swamp, Ruth and her boyfriend, Everett, a mysterious outsider, set out to investigate.

The novel is well-written and suspenseful, and Winstead does a masterful job of creating a dark and atmospheric setting. The characters are complex and well-developed, and the plot is full of twists and turns.

However, there are a few things that I didn't love about the book. First, the pacing was a bit slow at times, especially in the first half of the book. Second, some of the red herrings were a bit too obvious. Third, the ending was a bit too over-the-top for my taste.

But the biggest problem I had with the book was the romance between Ruth and Everett. The relationship felt rushed and underdeveloped, and I didn't really believe in their love for each other.

Overall, I think Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is a good book, but it's not without its flaws. I would recommend it to fans of gothic fantasy and dark atmospheric fiction, but I would advise them to be patient with the slow pacing in the first half of the book and to keep their expectations low for the romance.

I think Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is a book with a lot of potential, but it ultimately falls short of its promise. It's a good book, but it's not a great book.

Winstead strikes again ⚡️ with another winner for me!!

✨past and present timelines
✨Twilight 🤝 Where the Crawdads Sing 🤝 Bonnie and Clyde 🤝 Sons of Anarchy
✨preacher’s daughter + town outcast
✨extremist religious practices
✨toxicity of power
✨small Louisiana town with a gothic feel
✨good and evil, heaven and hell - is it all so black and white?
✨without the Twilight references this could easily be a book set in the 50s and you wouldn’t second guess it
✨the “Low Man” who sneaks around in the dark and kills sinners

I’m not sure why this one has such mixed reviews because I was THOROUGHLY entertained 🌙 and really really enjoyed this!!!

Rating 4.5
I have come to terms with the fact that im an immersion reader, and I prefer this style of reading for comprehension reasons, but honestly, I enjoy stories better this way. So I waited for this audiobook, and I liked this Winstead story better than her last. Yes, to the suspenseful plot and the small-town murders. I deducted half a star because Ruth annoyed me, and I wanted more page time with Everett. Also, the story felt YAish at times, and IDK if it was because of the mention of one of the most popular YA vampire stories, but we could have left Twilight at the door.

When a book begins with a trigger warning about religious fundamentalism, substance abuse, ableism, colonialism, familial violence, sexual violence, child abuse, and murder, you know you are in for something interesting. Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead is both dark, filled with twists, and compelling. I read an advanced readers copy courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.

The book is the story of a young, 23 year old librarian, Ruth --the daughter of the fundamentalist preacher, who dominates the small south Louisiana town of Bottom Springs, in the . Ruth is the outsider, who has been sheltered by her fire and brimstone father, but wants more. She has one true friend, another outsider, Everett, who we learn befriended her as a teen. But "Ever" and Ruth have more than friendship in common. They have a dark secret, one which has defined her adulthood, and which has kept her in fear. The secret threatens to come out when a body is found in the swamp; or I should say,a. skull is found. The book uses a present and past motif for its chapters, in which we slowly learn what happened to Ruth and Ever, and as the story builds, we learn more and more -- and there a twists that caught me off guard.

Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a story of anti-heroes, or as the author says in a interview included with the book, "moral outlaws." It is a story of justice, a story of murder, indeed maybe serial murders. It is a book that will give you much to mull over and think about. Read it.

Ruth and Ever are the town outcasts. Ruth is the daughter of the local fire and brimstone preacher. Ever is the son of the local drunk. Together they find a local network of crime, manipulation, witchcraft and cultism. Can they survive their town and their families? Creepy gothic Louisiana tale of murder and young love.

Some aspects of this book I loved.. the twilight references, the dual timelines + the atmosphere, but it wasn't a favorite for a few reasons. I felt like the plot became a bit repetitive + I easily predicted all the "plot twists." I will always love Ashley Winstead's writing this one just wasn't my favorite by her.

Absolutely OBSESSED with this one. Perfect for anybody with religious trauma and grown-up Twilight girlies.