Unfortunately, this wasn’t a very thrilling thriller. There was nothing about the story that really captivated me so it felt like I was forcing myself to read it. I thought the setting and themes were interesting, and there was so much potential at the start, but it became almost a weird Twilight fan fiction and the ending was a cop-out.

This may be my favourite Winstead yet.

I love how this author has evolved and really carved out this niche in the thriller genre with a real sense of place and feeling, lots of vibes.

This felt very much like something HBO would adapt into a limited series, dark and cinematic.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Midnight is the Darkest Hour releases October 3, 2023

This story is set in a small town in Louisiana called Bottom Springs, and is told in a then/now narrative.
The opening scene had us learning about a human skull that was pulled out of Starry Swamp by a trapper. With evidence of blunt force trauma, it’s clear that this was a murder.

Our main character, Ruth, is the daughter of the parishes pastor. Her acts of rebellion include working at the local library, where she’s able to find the few pieces of illicit material that manage to slip through by way of donations — among those, a copy of <I>Twilight</I>.
(of all the books in the world to significantly reference, why Twilight… *shudders* It’s 2023, are we that incapable of moving on from this series?)

The idea of a compelling murder mystery hooked me, but I was dumbfounded when at just 6% into the story, the entire murder was explained — who the victim was, how they were impaled on the head, and the identity of who did it.
I reluctantly read the remainder of the book, but I truly believe this early reveal ruined all the suspense and build up for me.

This story was definitely too religion heavy for me to fully like it, and I don’t like the sentiment that was shared in the ‘conversation with an author’ section at the back of the book in relation to the ambiguous ending, where she says “In that moment, the reader becomes God.”
Yeahhhh thanks but no thanks. Just make it plain or simple, do they live or do they die?! Don’t turn it into this whole higher power thing when the whole point was for her to get out of this fundamentally religious and toxic household.

cw: <u>very</u> religious, ableism: side character has Tourette's, physical abuse, substance abuse, sexual violence, wiccans/cults/gangs/drug rings

This is being comped to Verity and I think that’s wildly inaccurate.

Read if you like:
- Twilight
- outcasts
- religion
- serial killers
- ambiguous endings

You had me at "small town librarian". I've enjoyed a couple of the author's previous books so was excited for this one. Nothing is quite as sinister as overly religious folks in a small town with all sorts of creepy things going on. The premise was sound but, unfortunately the execution was disappointing - the characters all read as quite flat, the love story didn't grab me at all, and I didn't care for the ambiguous ending. There were also far too many Twilight references.

Ashley Winstead is one of my favourite authors and she did not disappoint! Always love the stories she writes and descriptions that catapult you into the story. If you love thrillers, you'll love her books. 4 stars but only because her other novel The Last Housewife was just too good to top!

You never quite know what sort of story you will be heading in to with Winstead, and that’s one of the things I appreciate the most about her writing styles! This one was great. Really enjoyed it!

This was my first Ashley Winstead book and I was very excited to get to read it as I had heard so many great things about her previous ones.
Midnight Is The Darkest Hour is the story of a small town preachers daughter Ruth and a boy from the wrong side of town Everett and the ways that they're lives are forever intertwined by a dark secret they share.
Split between the past and the present, the book tells the unlikely pairs backstory and then takes us through the incredible ways the past is coming back to haunt them.
I thought the book was an interesting look at religion, the occult and the things in our lives that we try to make save us.
For a more indepth review you can check out my spoiler free video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8h8vbafPE&t=409s

Okay I really enjoyed Winstead's previous work. This did not land for me. It was weird Twilight fanfic and the book was long and all over the place.

The writing is impressive and captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and location of the story. The characters were thoughtfully crafted, though I did have one minor concern, which was cleared up by the author's notes regarding the open-ended conclusion. Personally, I prefer a more definitive ending, and I was left wondering about the fate of the characters. Did she remain with him? Was he a serial killer? Nevertheless, the descriptive atmospheres were fantastic, and I would undoubtedly recommend this book.

This was a dark yet hopeful story with interesting characters living in an isolated community in Louisiana. Ruth is a wonderful main character and the story was told so well from her perspective as she unravels dark truths while trying to reconcile her beliefs. Her counterpart and best friend Everett is intertwined with Ruth’s life in ways that are so well-plotted and unpredictable for readers. After reading this book I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author.

When I saw on @NetGalley that Ashley Winstead had a new book - with this intriguing title and this gorgeous cover - I couldn’t have hit “request” fast enough.

I loved In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and The Last Housewife, so my expectations for Midnight Is The Darkest Hour were high… unfortunately I was let down.

Honestly, I was bored. I found myself rushing through just to finish it (and it was 400 pages, far too long). I didn’t like any of the characters. It was giving Where The Crawdads Sing and then hit some major Twilight fanfiction vibes - weird combination. And lastly, the male MC was named Everett, with the nickname “Ever”, which really bothered me for absolutely no real reason.

I guess I’ll give it a 2.5/5?

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
*********************************************************

For fans of Verity and A Flicker in the Dark, Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all . . . even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana.

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 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 on moonless nights to kill them. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into an uproar. And now Ruth realizes that only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the secret underbelly of the town in search of true evil.

A dark and powerful novel, the kind fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways in which we’ve come to expect love, religion and storytelling to save us; the lengths we have to go in order to take back power; and the monstrous work of being a woman in this world.

This book is not what I expected – it was so much darker and spookier than I thought it would be and quite disturbing at times and a little too feminist for my taste. But this book will appeal to a lot of readers so why does it matter if I like it? 😉 It wasn’t a" bad" book, it is just a deeply triggering book on so many levels: it is hard to explain without referencing a good half of the book but I will say that if you like the supernatural and books about it, this is a great pick.

This is my first Ashley Winstead book. Content warnings include child abuse, religious idealization, SA, gun violence, gang activity, and drug use.
This book follows the unlikely friendship formed between the preachers daughter and the town outcast in a tragic incident. I enjoyed the Louisiana small town setting. While I found the FMC to be so naive and annoying, I can recognize the trauma that might come with the strictest of religious upbringings. That being said, I found the mystery storyline to be compelling and dark. This book takes a very critical look at the kinds of abuse that happen in fundamentalist's religions and how people vastly loyal to these groups can allow these kinds of abuses to continue. The FMC's eyes are opened to brainwashing, lying, and betrayal. However, having these eyes opened and the light shed on this world, ultimately turns her into a serial killer and that just wasn't believable to me, though highly entertaining.

For fans of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and The Last Housewife, welcome back to Winstead's twisted mind.

This time, Winstead takes us to the Bible belt of Louisiana, where the word of Ruth Cornier's preacher daddy is higher than the law. Ruth has long felt like an outsider in her community and her friendship with Everett- the town's Edward Cullen (yup that is a Twilight reference and the book is full of them)- is the only thing holding her together. Ruth and Everett both have their secrets, but when the town's more sinister side start to come to light, it is apparent to Ruth that not all darkness hides in the shadows and evil isn't just a bedtime story to frighten little children.

Honestly, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it. All the different layers keep swirling around in my mind. It's dark and broody and atmospheric, and there are undertones of truly evil things a la True Blood- Satanism and the occult, vampires and blood suckers, and (literally and figurative) rattlesnakes in the grass.

As always, Winstead's thriller has deep roots in feminism and the expected behaviour of women, this time with some questions about all-consuming religion and the line between good and evil. She is also the queen of the anti-hero and the characters in this novel wear an especially prominent shade of morally grey.

This book is more of a slow build than her previous ones, but each reveal- quick little snake bites you don't see coming- had me reeling and sent goosebumps down my skin. And that reveal at the end will have readers gasping in their seats. A must-read thriller for fall (pubs Oct 2023)! 4.5 stars rated up to a 5.

Thank you to Ashley, NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced arc.

1.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Canada for the opportunity to read this ARC.

After loving In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, I was really looking forward to Midnight is the Darkest Hour. Unfortunately, I did not end up enjoying this book. The multiple timelines of this book seems a bit all over the place and confusing. The plotline didn’t grab my interest, and I found myself bored. I didn’t feel connected to the characters, and felt that they lacked depth. It felt like a mash-up of a bunch of plots that were all forced together into one book that didn’t really work for me. It left me feeling a bit icky, and I didn’t enjoy the ending at all.

To be honest, I’m not even sure where to start with this review. This book was extremely dark and I spent the majority of my time with it feeling very confused or very uncomfortable.

I felt that the plot was pretty confusing - there was a lot of moving pieces that I just kept hoping would come together in a way that would make everything click! Unfortunately, the twists were pretty predictable and the pieces felt very disjointed so overall I was left feeling pretty dissatisfied! The pacing of the story also felt a bit imbalanced - overdeveloped in some aspects but lacking in others. The past timeline was pretty dull until the last 20% and I think this was part of the problem as it prevented the plot from progressing at a steady pace.

The characters were all very interesting and complex, but they were pretty hard to connect to with there just being so many secrets preventing readers from understanding who they truly were.

Ohhh boy. I was not a fan of this book at all. Which is super disappointing because ‘The Last Housewife’ was my top thriller of 2022, it was incredible! Also loved ‘In My Dreams I Hold A Knife’ !

If I could describe this book in simple terms, it would be like a mash up of ‘Twilight’ and a story about a very religious community with some sketchy things going on behind the scenes.

There was soooo many twilight references that I literally wanted to gag each time another one came up.

There was no emotional aspects of the story that allowed me to connect with the characters or even believe in the love interest. Also the characters were so flat I wanted to cry 😭

The whole aspect of religion and Christian faith in the story was waaay too heavy for my liking.

Very small plot twists in the last 20% ish of the book that were super underwhelming. Also an open-ended ending that was unremarkable.

Blegh. I’m kinda shocked I sludged through the whole thing 🤦🏻‍♀️

I hate to say it because I LOVE Ashley Winstead.. but this one wasn’t my favourite. It did not pull me in like her books usually do. The dual time lines were so all over the place that I had trouble keeping up. The killer was very obvious from the beginning that I kept waiting for it to be a set up.. and it wasn’t. There was still a twist I guess but overall this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for this eARC!

WHAT DID I JUST READ. I’m reeling, hold this review while I go back and check what I just read to see if I got that right. This book has all the best part of the last housewife for me with a little less “ickiness” aka with a bit more recommendability from my end because sometimes I have to be careful who to rec the last housewife to because of the content.

When I say Ashley Winstead has RANGE. She has raaaange, I swear she could write any book. This one was much closer to The Last Housewife than In My Dreams I Hold A Knife. The ending pulled this one to a 4.5⭐️’s for me. I wasn’t sure what way it was going to go but the ending really had my eyeballs popping out of their sockets a lil bit. All the Twilight references had me 🤣☠️ though hahah.

I would classify this one as a “dad” thriller. A dad thriller for me means I can rec it to the readers in my life who like mystery thrillers that are about as far from YA thrillers as possible in terms of content, subject matter and writing style. I thought the way Ashley used the main relationship in this book was genius. I normally don’t like storylines based around one single friendship/relationship but this one produced so many other things as we confronted the relationship over time that I was engrossed the whole way.

DYING for this one to release so we can CHAT.

This was really quite good. Very intriguing, Winstead never fails to keep me captivated with her writing.