This book came highly recommended by a blogger I follow. I was really excited to dig into it as it was sold as a horror that was perfect for spooky season. I was extremely disappointed by the end of this. It started off ok, and the writing and story wasn't bad...but where was the horror? Where is the thriller? The MC was annoying, her relationship with "Ever" (I hated this nickname so much) was ridiculous, and the stupid choices were just never-ending by them both. For friends, they sure did keep a lot of secrets from each other. And that end was not great - a bit rushed and just blah.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC. I loved this book and would highly recommend. Perfect for this spooky season upon us. Small town, religious zealots, mysterious deaths, This is my first Ashley Winstead book but it definitely won't be my last and I'm looking forward to read some of her previous books. Read this Book!!

Ruth is the daughter of a preacher…the preacher of the biggest church in Bottom Springs. When a skull is found in the swamp, Ruth seeks out her friend Everett in fear of something that had happened years before. This story is told from both current day and flashbacks to the time when Ruth and Ever first became friends…and why their bond is unbreakable.

Ashley Winstead always amazes me with what she squeezes into her books. This book is some romance, some thriller, some mystery, all woven together seamlessly. There were so many things that surprised me, all the way until the last line. I am definitely a fan of her writing and she is an auto buy for me for sure!

Ruth Cornier grew up in the Deep South in a community ruled by her preacher father. Her best friend is the "bad boy" from the other side of the tracks. When bodies start showing up in the swamp, all eyes are on him! Ashley Winstead weaves a dark, disturbing tale that the reader can't put down.

Ruth Cornier is a naïve small-town preacher's daughter entangled in a web of unsolved murders. 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. Then a skull is found in the nearby swamp. The story alternates between the present and various points in Ruth's childhood and teenage years. This is a dark tale that attempts to tale several big topics such as religious zealotry, abuse, and corruption, and perhaps the author was overly ambitious in her attempt to incorporate so much into a short novel. There are many morally gray characters and several downright evil ones, and I didn't connect with a single character. The author is rather heavy-handed in her attempts to hammer home the moral message of the novel, which detracted from the flow to the story. There is some closed-door romance. I absolutely hated the ending of the book. This is the first Winstead novel I have read so I can't compare it to her other works.

Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of from Sourcebooks via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ashley Winstead can do no wrong in my eyes at this point. This book was wonderful! Kept my attention and I would definitely recommend to others.

This was sooooo boring. The story was all over the place. Was I read a religious book, a drug dealer book, or a small town romance?

WOW, all i can say is WOW. ashley winstead is the queen of page turners that leave you guessing until the very end and keep you thinking for a long time afterwards. this book felt like season one of true detective had a baby with twilight and i couldn’t get enough.

Enjoyed but didn't love. Dark mysterious and somewhat disturbing, it was interesting enough to keep me reading but wasn't all that suspenseful or thrilling. Would I recommend it to anyone? Mmmmmm probably not, just wasn't a favorite for me. My thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Great characters and unique story. It hooked me early and didn't let up. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Ashley Winstead has stepped it UP! The writing in this was so good, I reread so many lines purely because of the writing. I went into this book blind and let me just say, I LOVED the vibes. It’s gothic, it’s mysterious, it’s downright infuriating at times. The conversation around religion, especially the extreme religion in this town, was so well handled I loved it. And let’s be honest, the Twilight love was great! There were parts I didn’t feel as connected to and the ending took me by surprise in a way I didn’t really enjoy but overall I enjoyed the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

I’m really happy to see others enjoying this so much. I just could not get into it. I’m not sure if the whole preachers daughter trope wasn’t for me or if it was just too slow. This is not my first work by this author and I’m thinking it’s just not for me.

In the little town of Bottom Springs Louisiana, fear spreads among the God Fearing residents. A vampiric figure known as The Low Man, is killing sinners on moonless nights, or is it really a flesh and blood neighbour of Bottom Springs?

Librarian, Ruth Cornier, daughter of the local fire and brimstone preacher, Pastor James Cormier, of the Holy Fire Baptist church, finds herself at the centre of this mystery when a battered skull is discovered in Starry Swamp, surrounded by mysterious carved symbols.

Ruth has become involved with Everett, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Everett has a dark past, and Ruth’s daddy warns her to stay away from him, but it’s not going to happen, because these two have found in each other, their true soulmate.

Ruth and Everett delve deep into the town’s many secrets to attempt to solve the crime, but it will set them against some surprisingly evil townsfolk and put their lives at risk.

This novel is so atmospheric, and has a feel of Bonnie and Clyde, mixed with a touch of horror. On the surface, Bottom Springs appears to be a pious, God Fearing community, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that evil reigns supreme. You’ll never know who to trust or what’s coming next but I doubt you’ll be bored. The ending is something you’ll either love or hate! I thought it fit the storyline perfectly. Recommended.

3 stars

Not great.
I wanted to love this, I loved Winstead’s other books, but struggled with this one quite a bit. I felt no connection to any of the characters. Another issue I had was the pacing was inconsistent. One minute I was really into it, the next I didn’t want to pick it back up. I’m ok with a nice slow burn or a fast paced thriller, but this just didn’t work for me.

This might be my most devastatingly disappointing books of all time. I honestly DNF'd at 40% because I felt no attachment to the characters and the plot was dry. The audiobook didn't even help either.

A thriller read that follows small-town librarian, Ruth and her speckled past. When her past comes knocking on her door, she must look deep into everyone she knows and trusts and finally work to seek the truth.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

I went in to this “Midnight is the Darkest Hour” blind and I think you should, too. The way I love Ever and Ruth! There is so much longing in this story and the author does a beautiful job writing it. She also nails the way society views teenage girls, growing up in the swampy south, and an ultra-religious upbringing. I was thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it. I personally did not like the very end, but still 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for providing this ARC.

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.