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czoltak's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Never thought I’d read a thriller of Bonnie and Clyde meets Twilight
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Blood
rustlngpages's review against another edition
a myriad of reasons but i have a specific trigger for fundamentalists that makes me physically agitated & anxious, and the twilight undercurrent was ridiculous. i was just too stressed to keep reading. it was written just fine but if you have issues with fundamentalism and extreme misogyny… maybe give it a pass.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction and Sexual violence
alindeman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wow. Just wow. It’s only January but this may just be the best book of 2024.
Every aspect of this book is so fucking compelling. The investigation, the cult that is Christianity, the impact of patriarchy, Ruth’s war within herself, Ruth & Ever’s relationship, and most importantly, the discussion around morality.
This is executed with *immense* skill and thoughtfulness. Ashley Winstead is an incredible writer and storyteller. I especially liked her responses to the q&a at the end of the book, it’s a great reflection on the overall message and themes of this book. This book reflects on the chains of patriarchy, the control religion wields, and the hypocrisy and cruelty and selfishness of men.
I think this book is so special to me because it reflects the development of my own worldview- that morality is not synonymous with legality and certainly not synonymous with holiness. I loved getting to see Ruth come to this conclusion and the battle that occurs within herself to arrive here- all she has to reject and unlearn. I also loved Everett. The quintessential morally grey antihero. (I hardly consider him an antihero personally tho) He sees himself as this monster the town has painted him to be, this force of evil, when in reality he is removing evil from the world. He talks of the voice in his head, this voice for violence, that is truly a voice for justice. The great criminals of this story are truly the great heroes.
Incredibly powerful, compelling, and inspiring book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.
I can’t wait to read the rest of her works!
Plot summary (spoilers) for when I forget:
This story takes place in an ultra religious, ultraconservative backwards ass miserable ass town in Louisiana. The story follows Ruth, daughter of the town’s pastor. Naturally, he is an awful, awful man who rules his house (and town) with an iron fist- and wooden cane. Ruth is never good enough, never holy enough for her father. Why? She has dreams. Aspirations. Emotions. She finds refuge in a stolen hidden copy of Twilight. God- what it would be like to be loved like that!
Well she *is* loved like that, not that she knows it. Ruth & Everett’s relationship begins when he saves her from an awful evil man trying to rape Ruth. He attacks him, but the man overpowers him and begins choking him to death. Ruth hits him in the head with a rock to save her savior. He is still alive, but Everett finishes the job, citing a mercy kill. (Was that really the motivation?) they chop his body up and dump him in the swamp for the gators.
Since then, Ever has moved away and returns every summer.
This summer that he returns, a skull has been found in the swap. Ruth is terrified their crime is going to be uncovered. But it turns out the skull does not belong to the man they killed, but the owner of the massive fishing company that employs half the town, that went missing a while back. There are also weird witchy symbols on trees in the swamp.
Then they find the skull of the rapist.
Everett tells Ruth of a local gang called Sons of Liberty that runs drugs, a scheme that Ever’s dead father was a part of. They go into Ever’s dad’s mechanic garage and break into his safe and find a deed to the rapist’s mom’s house, collateral he left to prevent him from stealing the drugs they were running. Ever comes up with a plan to plant this deed at the Sons of Liberty’s den, call in an anonymous tip, and hope the cops would piece together that the gang killed him and they would be off the hook.
They succeed with the plan but no arrests are made. Clearly the cops are covering for the gang.
Ruth goes on a quest to discover the truth of the town. It turns out- everyone is fucking evil, especially her dad. All the men of the town had a little witchy ritualistic thing going on, which involved beating the shit out of Ever. So fucking holy are they. All of this is because there was a big drug scheme. They funneled drugs from the local hospital and the fishing company trafficked them. The rituals were to promote success with this “business endeavor”. All so the reverend could have money for him and his church- something he is “entitled” to as a messenger of god. Puke.
His father even protected a pedophile who was actively abusing children so he could stay in the good graces of his rich ass super powerful father, the owner of the hospital. Who, upon his death, willed the entire hospital to the reverend. SUS.
Ok what else.
The deputy Barry, her supposed to be fiancé, tells Ruth that Ever killed his father, Fred the fishing dude, and the rapist. He’s a serial killer. Well first of all Ruth knows he didn’t kill his dad bc -surprise- Ruth killed his dad to save Ever from his relentless and brutal bearings. Good for her. Unfortunately she’s been bearing this secret and living swamped with guilt, chaining herself to her miserable life in this evil swamp as penance.
She runs to ever and tells him this secret, in exchange for his own. He tells her he knew and he could never hate her for it, she was protecting him. She suspects his secret is that he’s a vampire. Lol. I kinda thought that too ngl. He’s kind of hurt that she put this fantasy onto him. While he isn’t a vampire, he tells her that he is a monster in his own right.
Ever tells her he did kill Fred and the “accidental” death of the pedo wasn’t an accident after all. He is actually the serial killer they’ve been saying he is. Ruth decides this does not make him a monster. The real monster is her father, and justice will be served.
The town is a mob waiting to hang Ever without trial. They make a plan. They walk to the church, where they spot Ever and he leads the mob on a chase into the swamp. Ruth enters the church, where her parents and the fisherman’s wives are. She carries a torch and, as one last test of her fathers goodness, tells him to answer her questions truthfully or she’ll start a fire. She starts questioning him about everything. The drugs. The pedophile. The rituals. The child abuse. He denies it all, tho the fisherman’s wives are scandalized and the damage is probably already been done. With each denial he lights something on fire. She lets the woman go because she decides they shouldn’t be collateral damage. With her last move, she lights the will to the hospital on fire. He begins to choke her and she lights him on fire. She tosses the burning will over the bannister (they’re on a second floor) and he jumps to rescue it, falling to his death. Her and her mom leave the church. The mom lives or whatever but she fucking sucked too. She was a victim but she let her child be abused so fuck her. Anyways- the church is burning to the ground. “The Holy Fire” Baptist Church. How wonderfully symbolic. She escapes to a meeting point where Ever arrives in his car. They are going to escape and be in love and maybe every once in a while kill some bad guys. A few hours outside of town they are pursued by cops attempting to arrest them for arson and murder. They approach a bridge on the Texas border and the cops are raising the bridge. Ruth and Ever decide to brave the jump and hope the car lands on the other side. I like to think it did.
that’s how it ends! So abrupt I was shook.
Every aspect of this book is so fucking compelling. The investigation, the cult that is Christianity, the impact of patriarchy, Ruth’s war within herself, Ruth & Ever’s relationship, and most importantly, the discussion around morality.
This is executed with *immense* skill and thoughtfulness. Ashley Winstead is an incredible writer and storyteller. I especially liked her responses to the q&a at the end of the book, it’s a great reflection on the overall message and themes of this book. This book reflects on the chains of patriarchy, the control religion wields, and the hypocrisy and cruelty and selfishness of men.
I think this book is so special to me because it reflects the development of my own worldview- that morality is not synonymous with legality and certainly not synonymous with holiness. I loved getting to see Ruth come to this conclusion and the battle that occurs within herself to arrive here- all she has to reject and unlearn. I also loved Everett. The quintessential morally grey antihero. (I hardly consider him an antihero personally tho) He sees himself as this monster the town has painted him to be, this force of evil, when in reality he is removing evil from the world. He talks of the voice in his head, this voice for violence, that is truly a voice for justice. The great criminals of this story are truly the great heroes.
Incredibly powerful, compelling, and inspiring book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.
I can’t wait to read the rest of her works!
Plot summary (spoilers) for when I forget:
Well she *is* loved like that, not that she knows it. Ruth & Everett’s relationship begins when he saves her from an awful evil man trying to rape Ruth. He attacks him, but the man overpowers him and begins choking him to death. Ruth hits him in the head with a rock to save her savior. He is still alive, but Everett finishes the job, citing a mercy kill. (Was that really the motivation?) they chop his body up and dump him in the swamp for the gators.
Since then, Ever has moved away and returns every summer.
This summer that he returns, a skull has been found in the swap. Ruth is terrified their crime is going to be uncovered. But it turns out the skull does not belong to the man they killed, but the owner of the massive fishing company that employs half the town, that went missing a while back. There are also weird witchy symbols on trees in the swamp.
Then they find the skull of the rapist.
Everett tells Ruth of a local gang called Sons of Liberty that runs drugs, a scheme that Ever’s dead father was a part of. They go into Ever’s dad’s mechanic garage and break into his safe and find a deed to the rapist’s mom’s house, collateral he left to prevent him from stealing the drugs they were running. Ever comes up with a plan to plant this deed at the Sons of Liberty’s den, call in an anonymous tip, and hope the cops would piece together that the gang killed him and they would be off the hook.
They succeed with the plan but no arrests are made. Clearly the cops are covering for the gang.
Ruth goes on a quest to discover the truth of the town. It turns out- everyone is fucking evil, especially her dad. All the men of the town had a little witchy ritualistic thing going on, which involved beating the shit out of Ever. So fucking holy are they. All of this is because there was a big drug scheme. They funneled drugs from the local hospital and the fishing company trafficked them. The rituals were to promote success with this “business endeavor”. All so the reverend could have money for him and his church- something he is “entitled” to as a messenger of god. Puke.
His father even protected a pedophile who was actively abusing children so he could stay in the good graces of his rich ass super powerful father, the owner of the hospital. Who, upon his death, willed the entire hospital to the reverend. SUS.
Ok what else.
The deputy Barry, her supposed to be fiancé, tells Ruth that Ever killed his father, Fred the fishing dude, and the rapist. He’s a serial killer. Well first of all Ruth knows he didn’t kill his dad bc -surprise- Ruth killed his dad to save Ever from his relentless and brutal bearings. Good for her. Unfortunately she’s been bearing this secret and living swamped with guilt, chaining herself to her miserable life in this evil swamp as penance.
She runs to ever and tells him this secret, in exchange for his own. He tells her he knew and he could never hate her for it, she was protecting him. She suspects his secret is that he’s a vampire. Lol. I kinda thought that too ngl. He’s kind of hurt that she put this fantasy onto him. While he isn’t a vampire, he tells her that he is a monster in his own right.
Ever tells her he did kill Fred and the “accidental” death of the pedo wasn’t an accident after all. He is actually the serial killer they’ve been saying he is. Ruth decides this does not make him a monster. The real monster is her father, and justice will be served.
The town is a mob waiting to hang Ever without trial. They make a plan. They walk to the church, where they spot Ever and he leads the mob on a chase into the swamp. Ruth enters the church, where her parents and the fisherman’s wives are. She carries a torch and, as one last test of her fathers goodness, tells him to answer her questions truthfully or she’ll start a fire. She starts questioning him about everything. The drugs. The pedophile. The rituals. The child abuse. He denies it all, tho the fisherman’s wives are scandalized and the damage is probably already been done. With each denial he lights something on fire. She lets the woman go because she decides they shouldn’t be collateral damage. With her last move, she lights the will to the hospital on fire. He begins to choke her and she lights him on fire. She tosses the burning will over the bannister (they’re on a second floor) and he jumps to rescue it, falling to his death. Her and her mom leave the church. The mom lives or whatever but she fucking sucked too. She was a victim but she let her child be abused so fuck her. Anyways- the church is burning to the ground. “The Holy Fire” Baptist Church. How wonderfully symbolic. She escapes to a meeting point where Ever arrives in his car. They are going to escape and be in love and maybe every once in a while kill some bad guys. A few hours outside of town they are pursued by cops attempting to arrest them for arson and murder. They approach a bridge on the Texas border and the cops are raising the bridge. Ruth and Ever decide to brave the jump and hope the car lands on the other side. I like to think it did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Rape, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia, Abortion, and Pregnancy
bukworm345's review against another edition
This book was TERRIBLE. The main character is insipid and obsessed with Twilight. The driving force of the book is secrets- not mystery, just secrets. Ruth and Everett could have figured a lot of shit out if they stopped keeping secrets and started working together. There’s drugs, religious fanaticism, satanic rituals, pedos, corruption, and on top of all that mess there’s Twilight obsessed Ruth starting to think Wverett is an actual vampire/monster. Skip it. It’s not even a so bad-so good scenario because the characters are so dumb.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
brandilovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is a book about the fine line between good and evil.
Ruth is the daughter of an extreme minister in coastal Louisiana. She has one friend- Everett, a boy who saved her from rape. She dreams of leaving her small town and going to college.
Everett teaches her to climb trees and savor nature. He is a reader like she is. They read together and talk about books.
When Everett moves out of town, Ruth is forced to stay. He returns after staying away for a year.
A skull is found in the swamp. Ruth and Everett are worried the skull will point to them.
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is told in two timelines- the summers beginning when Ruth was 17 and now.
It is the story of two people making one shady choice after another while they try to avoid the truth coming out. This is the first book I've read where you know the MC committed murder in their past.
As the book goes on, they learn that evil in the most unexpected places. Power in their small town means some people are above the law.
I almost put the book down a couple pages in. Ruth has an obsession with the book Twilight and idolizes Bella. I was not a fan of that character- I found her annoying and weak. I decided to keep reading because I understood why a very sheltered minister's daughter might see something in Bella.
This book is a train wreck. You can't look away. Ruth and Everett continuously make bad decisions. Everett convinces Ruth that committing small crimes is okay because the person is bad. This continues as the crimes get progressively worse.
About half way through the book, the tempo really picked up. It was hard to put the book down.
Ruth and Everett are lovable in the same way you love a stray animal. You can't fault them for their issues because of the damage inflicted on them in the past.
I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator had a perfect southern accent. Listening to dialog was much better than the Midwestern voice in my head could do.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes reading about moral grey areas, sheltered girls and the bad boy, or southern small towns.
My content warnings- lots of fire and brimstone preaching, murder, attempted rape, child abuse, an unhealthy obsession with Twilight, sacrifice, old fashioned beliefs that women should be obedient, cursing (but appropriate and no F words).
The romance is closed door.
Ruth is the daughter of an extreme minister in coastal Louisiana. She has one friend- Everett, a boy who saved her from rape. She dreams of leaving her small town and going to college.
Everett teaches her to climb trees and savor nature. He is a reader like she is. They read together and talk about books.
When Everett moves out of town, Ruth is forced to stay. He returns after staying away for a year.
A skull is found in the swamp. Ruth and Everett are worried the skull will point to them.
Midnight is the Darkest Hour is told in two timelines- the summers beginning when Ruth was 17 and now.
It is the story of two people making one shady choice after another while they try to avoid the truth coming out. This is the first book I've read where you know the MC committed murder in their past.
As the book goes on, they learn that evil in the most unexpected places. Power in their small town means some people are above the law.
I almost put the book down a couple pages in. Ruth has an obsession with the book Twilight and idolizes Bella. I was not a fan of that character- I found her annoying and weak. I decided to keep reading because I understood why a very sheltered minister's daughter might see something in Bella.
This book is a train wreck. You can't look away. Ruth and Everett continuously make bad decisions. Everett convinces Ruth that committing small crimes is okay because the person is bad. This continues as the crimes get progressively worse.
About half way through the book, the tempo really picked up. It was hard to put the book down.
Ruth and Everett are lovable in the same way you love a stray animal. You can't fault them for their issues because of the damage inflicted on them in the past.
I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook. The audiobook narrator had a perfect southern accent. Listening to dialog was much better than the Midwestern voice in my head could do.
I recommend this book for anyone who likes reading about moral grey areas, sheltered girls and the bad boy, or southern small towns.
My content warnings- lots of fire and brimstone preaching, murder, attempted rape, child abuse, an unhealthy obsession with Twilight, sacrifice, old fashioned beliefs that women should be obedient, cursing (but appropriate and no F words).
The romance is closed door.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
noble_editorial's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This one sounded promising, but it turns out it really wasn't for me. The story feels contrived and relies too heavily on tropes—it just doesn't feel fresh. The MC is incredibly frustrating, the romance doesn't feel authentic, and the ending borders on ridiculous. It has a beautiful setting, though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pedophilia
morethanmylupus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I liked this one ok. It's a classic story of the evil mankind, and men in particular, can cause. Particularly in the name of religion.
The plot pacing is weird. Dragging with unnecessary details at times and skipping too fast to tell the full story in others. I found the MC, Ruth, to be incredibly naive - more than she should be given how much she reads. Her clunk love story with Ever was too angsty for adults and dragged down the plot. This is especially true in some scenes that showcase things like weirdly erotic first aid (why?).
And, as a final point, the story is entirely too reliant on the Twilight saga in lieu of writing new metaphors.
The plot pacing is weird. Dragging with unnecessary details at times and skipping too fast to tell the full story in others. I found the MC, Ruth, to be incredibly naive - more than she should be given how much she reads. Her clunk love story with Ever was too angsty for adults and dragged down the plot. This is especially true in some scenes that showcase things like weirdly erotic first aid (why?).
And, as a final point, the story is entirely too reliant on the Twilight saga in lieu of writing new metaphors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
samisreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
braveprincess11's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Drug use
Religious trauma Abusive parents