Thank you as always to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC!

I have read both of Winstead's previous novels and unfortunately both fell flat for me, but I did go into this one hoping that I would enjoy it. But I think, for me, I am unable to get into this authors work. I am in the minority here so please don't listen to my opinions! There are no issues with the book, I just can't connect with the characters and really struggled to get into it.

I really enjoyed this thriller it was gripping right from the first chapter. I enjoyed Ruth as a character and felt part of the story going along with her investigations with her. The story goes between the past and present, which is great for giving you insight into this town in Louisiana and the history of the people who grew up there. I loved every moment of this fun thriller and I highly recommend it to thriller lovers out there.

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead
Publication date: 12 October 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries Head of Zeus for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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A killer haunts a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts—the preacher's daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks—hold the key to uncovering the truth.
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Sometimes reviewing a book that you found middling can be tough because objectively, this book didn't do anything wrong but I don't think it did anything great either. It was fine, the writing was fine and I actually really enjoyed the atmosphere Winstead created.
However, this was also gratingly angsty and even though the two main characters, Ruth and Everett, are 23, they read very "teenagery" (not sure that's a proper word but I'm going with it!) with all the tedious drama attached to it.
The plot managed to be both convoluted AND obvious at the same time and some of the characters were stereotypical, to the point of caricature.
The premise was promising, but sadly, I'm not sold on the delivery.
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Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is the first book I've read by Ashley Winstead - but I'm sure it won't be the last! What a gripping, atmospheric, dark and twisty tale this was, and I loved it. I think the mood was very similar to True Detective, season one, which is one of my all time favorite TV shows, and that is a high praise in my book!

Bottom Springs prides in being a town with a close connection to God and worships its righteous and charismatic preacher. Ruth, the town librarian and the preacher's daughter, has always felt like an outsider - and has always been treated as such. Something happened years ago that brought Ruth together with Everett, another outsider, and now Everett is back. But there is also something sinister lurking in the Louisiana swamps and shadows, there are talks of the devil and the Low Man - and then a skull is found from the murky waters...

Not sure when my heart will start beating normally again, this book sure was a ride. And what an ending!

A wild ride in all the right ways and a great discovery!

My heart was in my throat the whole time and the book kept me on the edge of my seat. The writing is masterful, creating an incredible atmosphere and which just enough details to carry me inside the story. The build-up of suspense is so well done, and the twists and turns just kept me guessing the whole time. And that ending!

This book has it all: romance, mystery, religious fervour, myths, questions morality and justice, and horror the psychological type. I thought, in the beginning, that the book took place back in the 40s or the 50s with all the religious control, the talk of God and the Devil, and the control over women. It’s dark and throughout the story survival becomes imperative, especially after some ugly truths come to light.

A gripping, dark and mesmerising book that I can’t recommend highly enough!

I just become a fan of Ashley Winstead and I’ll be on the look out for her next novels. Fantastic!

A wonderfully written coming of age novel for women who are coming into their own and learning to stand their ground, interwoven with a nice little mystery.

This book was so much fun to read and perfect for fans of Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass, Twilight or even the Preacher’s Daughter album by Ethel Cain.

The mystery may have been a little predictable but I think the true wonder of the story was the protagonist, Ruth. Her story and how she develops and the struggles she goes through with her family and her faith and her feelings is the reason I devoured this book. The setting and the mystery was just an added bonus.

The story was wonderfully written and made me cry and ache for our characters and their love and loss. It truly was a fantastic book.

Midnight Is The Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead
I give this book 4.5 stars

My Thoughts
Wow what a book! Welcome to Bottom Springs a small southern town where we have …… religion,obsession,myths,a biker gang,corruption,evil,swamps,murder and romance. This twisted gothic tale is told from Ruth’s first person pov with a past and present storyline and shorter chapters to keep you turning the pages.The plot is dark and intense and multi layered, Ruth and Evers are complex characters and the setting is atmospheric. I absolutely LOVED the Twilight references,their bond/loyalty to one another and the journey they take between justice and morality. The ending was !!! (you need to read the authors note after)

Book Description
When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar and Ruth realises only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.

With thanks to Netgalley,Ashley Winstead and Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus for my chance to read and review this book.

Did not finish. I have a very love/hate relationship with Ashley Winstead’s plot and characters.

It’s definitely more a ME thing.

This is a good story, I don't know if it's a story for me.

The story is really interesting and it has a unique plotline in that it includes cults and occults and small town brainwashing but it was extremely slow-paced. I found myself getting restless and it was only the last 40% when I really got into it.

I think what was most jarring was the back and forth between the present and the past. I don't think we needed so many jumps between the two timelines. I think it could have been done in a smarter way as I felt going back to the past so often was a tad bit unnecessary and often took me out of the present storyline.

Also, sometimes chapters would end and start in exactly the same scene as if it was one paragraph flowing into another. That's a minor issue I had but it threw me and got a bit annoying a times.

Bottom Springs is a beautiful, Southern rural town, with expansive stunning skies, and wildlife aplenty; but Bottom Springs is also a God-fearing town, in a fire and brimstone style. A place of opposites, contradictions, paradoxes, the beauty of the natural world, blended with the ugliness of humankind, in the name of a higher authority. The sort of place I would fight tooth and nail to escape.

We have two main characters, Ruth and Everett. I could liken them to other pairs of literary characters, but that would give an inkling of the plot away.
Ruth Cornier, shy, lonely; the only child of the great Reverend James Cornier, pastor of The Holy Fire Born Again. Someone who has been trained, schooled, bullied into obedience, servitude, submission. All her life she has tried to please her parents, to be loved and to feel good enough. She wants to read, to learn, to have a free mind, but her path as a wife and a child bearer await her.
Everett Duncan, what a character. A soul who has only known pain, both mental and physical. Is he dangerous and damaged, an inevitable product of his parents? Or is he the most honest person in Bottom Springs, able and willing to see through the veneers others show to the world? The answer depends on who you ask.

Suspicion and folklore featuring evil spirits are rife. The Low Man preys upon sinners, seeking his own brand of justice after dark. The residents are so brain washed, so afraid of legend of The Low Man, they don’t see who they truly should be scared of.
This book is full of that Deep South vibe, that made my skin crawl.
Vengeance, entrenched beliefs, Hell and eternal damnation are constant repetitive themes.

The further the story progressed, my unease amplified, the more invested I became. The constant, heavy heat, matches the dripping, oppressive tension that runs through the pages. There are so many issues covered, so please read the author’s trigger list before starting to read.

This book is about hate, control and fear, filled with dark intensity; but I choose to view it through the lens of love, and the sacrifices made for true love.
5 twisted ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.

I don't know if I've ever said this, but I'm obsessed with anything by Ashley Winstead. And Midnight is the Darkest Hour did not disappoint. The book follows Ruth Cornier, the pastor's daughter in a small Louisiana town where religion (or rather, the pastor's religion) rules all. Ruth is a quiet, unassuming teenager in every other chapter, striking her own small flames of rebellion with an attachment to Twilight (and God, did that bring memories of being a teenager in the Twilight era), and she's a quiet, unassuming adult in other chapters, facing the internal consequences of actions she and her best friend, Everett, the town outcast, committed as children. The book explores the fundamentalism that religion brings, especially in such an insular society, but doesn't shy away from the dark underbelly that religion often hides. There's secrets and lies and sins hiding in all the corners, and Ruth's attempts to uncover the corruption was monumental fun, as well as contend with her fraught but tender relationship with Everett and her attempts to free herself from the yoke of her abusive, controlling parents. I couldn't say enough good things about this book. One of my favourite reads of all year!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour is Thelma and Louise meets Midnight Mass meets Twilight and it dragged me by my hair out of the depths of my reading slump. From the first page I struggled to put it down. Having been a fan of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, I was shocked that I loved Midnight just as much (maybe even more). I loved the Twilight references, I loved the Southern Gothic elements (which is something I don't normally gravitate towards), I loved the background romance and learning about all the secrets of the town.
I would personally go into it expecting more of a thriller than a mystery and I can foresee the ending being quite divisive. Definitely a fun thriller to pick up in the sacred month of Halloween!

I enjoyed this book, it did pull me in. not too much sadness ore suspense, a happy ending (i think!)

I dove into "Midnight is the Darkest Hour" courtesy of NetGalley and was pleasantly surprised! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book takes you to a dark, mysterious world where two outcasts the life in a religious cult-like town amidst a murder mystery.

At first, I felt the author revealed their cards too early with a major event, but as the story unfolded, it became clear that something much bigger was at play. The dynamic between the two main characters against the world was captivating.

While I did predict some plot twists, it didn't diminish the overall experience. However, my only gripe (warning, slight spoiler) was the open ending. I personally prefer tidy conclusions.

Overall, "Midnight is the Darkest Hour" is a compelling read that keeps you hooked, even if you're not a fan of open endings.

This is the third thriller from Ashley Winstead and they are all so different from one another, but I have loved each of them. This one is a gothic psychological thriller - heavy with religion, the occult, paranoia, and tension. I loved the building up on tension and escalating hysteria within the town, it was palpable and I could feel it simmering below the surface with each new discovery or incident. This was a very atmospheric read, at times uncomfortable and it felt claustrophobic with how small minded the towns people were and how controlling the people in power were. I loved the supernatural vibes in this one - it made you really consider if the bigger evil was some sort of demon/devil or if man was the true evil.

Thank you to NetGalley and SourceBooks for my digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The quote from the top of this book definitely describes it- it’s a bit of “where the crawdads sing” as well as “Thelma and Louise” and thriller.

This is targeted as an adult book but I’d say YA just due to the writing style- it felt more aimed at teens.

I wanted more about the cult and maybe a bit more darkness and thriller than what I was served- but altogether an interesting read!

3.5 **^

Well after this book I am convinced. I will read anything Ashley Winstead writes, even her grocery list.

In the little town of Bottom Springs fear is growing among the God fiering residents. When a body is discovered in the swamp they are sure the stories are true. The Low Men, a demon is coming for the soul of the town and all who inhabit it!

Our main character Ruth is quite something. Local librarian, twilight fan, but most of all daughter of the popular preacher. Besides that she is best friends with Everett, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. A boy they call the devils son... not a good name to have in a town were God rules and fear is at the rise.

I fell in love with Everett from the very first minute. And the atmosphere in this book is just off the charts. The mystery, the touch of horror and the cross over with Twilight. So so good! Go read it! Go Read it now!

Another amazing book written by Ashley!! I loved this book, definitely give this a read when you have the chance to!

Ashley Winstead is an author whose work has been on my TBR for so long and I’m thrilled to finally have started my Ashley Winstead journey with this one!!
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A mystery SO perfect for an October release that if you’re reading anything else this time of year, truly what are you doing!? A thrilling ride that leaned into the supernatural and folk lore side of things that I love!
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Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the early copy!!

I was really looking forward to reading this book, unfortunately for me it did not deliver. This was a Southern gothic thriller which left me feeling flat and I hated the main character. They were so annoying and I soon began to lose interest. The book did not flow and was too long. This book would have been better as a novella.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.