Like most readers that are drawn to this book, I absolutely loved Coldest Winter Ever. I loved Midnight even more. However, I feel that the writing is dangerously out of touch with today’s culture. I had to DNF.

I was really excited to get into this book. I had really looked forward to it since I had read The Coldest Winter Ever. I was really dissapointed that I DNF'd this book I just could not get into it.

I had no idea this was planned or even due for release! So we jump right into Winter’s recovery. As well as how she seems smothered and how she has everything but it nv seems to be enough. I feel very strongly that although she is older she still has the mindset of a teenager, which I am sure happens more often than not when she was locked up so young. She suffered a lot of trauma from a young age as well as barely becoming an adult and suffering even more trauma on top of that. She does draw from her experinces with death but really not using the common sense she swears up and down she has! I will say that she is a character with a lot of layers. As I recall from earlier parts of her story( as well as Midnight s) I think she put her parents on way too high of a pedastool and she sees them as just her parents but not actual people or human beings themselves. This especially has done way more harm than good. For the life of me I could not remember which one of her friends shot her but I know it was mentioned and maybe theres lot s more pieces to the story that have yet to be revealed yet. I was hoping we would see Mercedes s wedding to Mightnight s son. I love love love that Midnight s twin daughters are all grown up and it s a full circle moment! I also think that there is so much more to the story that needs to be discussed for Winter to have a true happy ending.

This is the 3rd book of the series and just like with the 2nd book, I am disappointed. I read the Coldest Winter Ever in High school and reread it as an adult (in my 30’s) I was so excited to know that the author was giving us book 2 after two decades. Used my Christmas Barnes gift card to pre order and everything. The book was underwhelming . I believe the author took the feedback we gave for book 2 and messed with us with the same concept in book 3. To me, it seems as if the author is afraid to evolve. With time, things change. With change, we adapt and I feel like the author has not. This book was disappointing for me. But I would highly recommend others try it from themselves.

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC! In my opinion, this is a highly engaging and entertaining novel. The storyline was great and I can see more sequels coming because it so entertaining and has twists and turns and leaves you wanting more. The only issue I had with this novel was the transitions, it seemed ideas weren’t always finished and made you wonder if you missed something. I would recommend this book for an engaging read.

Redemption! Sister Souljah has brought Winter back to life. Literally. And she has crafted a readable tale, in the process restoring her credibility in the literary space. I’m not going to revisit her last effort, let’s stay focused on this new novel. Winter is back, fresh out of a coma, and she is still the foul-mouthed narcissist she has always been. However, Winter is now profiting from her new found celebrity and trying to make serious money moves and establish legitimate businesses. So the story centers around Winter navigating her celebrity while trying to come up in the business world.

Souljah manages to mix several themes while consistently dropping social commentary throughout Winter’s struggles. It is a great redemptive work for Souljah, although the ending was very weak and will be the cause of some consternation and confusion. I think there are more Winter episodes to come, and I’m here for it. Welcome back Sister Souljah! Thanks to Netgalley and Simon&Schuster for an advanced DRC. Book will be available Oct. 8, 2024

I have to admit after reading Life After Death I was highly disappointed and definitely on the verge of not reading another Sister Souljah book. But she kinda redeemed herself in this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Like many who will be drawn to this book, I enjoyed The Coldest Winter Ever and had read some of Sister Souljah’s follow up books set in the same world, but had been eager for one focused on Winter (I did not read the first return to Winter book as the plot didn’t seem to my tastes). Love After Midnight focused on Winter as she gets back into the world she ran as a Brooklyn princess in her teens, complete with her father by her side, and I was eager to see if she had grown during her time in prison.

While Sister Souljah writes Winter in the same style for the character I got to know in The Coldest Winter Ever, the general writing and story felt disjointed and at times confusing. While some of that may just be my own tastes (as an example the first chapter opens with writing that seems to emulate the rhythm of a song, but it just didn’t work for me), others would apply for any reader (the last few chapters). On the positive side, I would view this as the promise of a good story emerging about Winter’s childhood friends betraying her and her continued shallowness despite a near death experience. Ultimately though, some of the chapters (see previous notes) just didn’t work for me and this felt very surface level throughout. Perhaps this is getting the reader ready for the next book (we end on a bit of a cliffhanger) which will dive deeper, but with so many places Love After Midnight could have taken me, I felt there was more than enough story available that could have been developed more deeply in this book alone.