Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

19 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m an Ashley Winstead superfan (ever since reading The Last Housewife! Maybe my favorite thriller ever?) so it pains me that I really didn’t love this one. I found the pacing and narrative too slow and too local — the main character seems almost willfully naïve, both in the flashbacks (which, fine, teenage kid raised in a bigoted evangelical church, I get it) and, more irritatingly, in the present. The setting is vivid and the characters are interesting! But I felt over and over like this could have been considerably shorter — edited for less repetition, for hemming and hawing that, even if it perhaps felt necessary to Winstead for character building(??), wasnt always the same. I think this book somehow gets a little stuck between trying to be beautiful in the language and world-building and leaning into Winstead’s huge skill as a craftsperson of plot, tension, and thrill. There was a really exciting crescendo for a bit toward the end (though the end itself…..huh?), so I bumped it up to 3 stars — but the majority of the book felt like a 2ish-star slog to me. I thought Sarah Welborn’s southern-accented audio narration was really well done, even if it somehow also underlined the things about this book that didn’t really work for me (repetition, fluffy/insubstantial inner dialogue, etc.). I will still pre-order and read Ashley Winstead’s other books (I’ve read all but one romance from her backlist — her romance writing is really good!)! But this one was not a fave for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

aggbutterfly's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Wow 🤩 I loved seeing Ruth and Everett’s interactions, I also fell in love with him. How could I not love Ruth, a girl addicted to reading and Twilight (also love that she’s a Percy Jackson fan). I really felt for her and loved seeing her grow as a character. 
“That had to be the worst kind of prison - the one who’s bars were buried under your skin, invisible cages around your heart and mind”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence

alabooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

       You may not like this book if you are a fundamentalist Christian, as it deals with some of the hypocrisy of a fictional pastor, I'm sure modeled after some real ones. It also deals with an incorrectly labeled fictional Wiccan sect which was much more Satanist than true Wicca.
    That being said it was an excellent book, in my opinion, very dark, but a good romantic thriller. However, the end left me unsatisfied. I'd have liked an epilogue of what happened to the town after, and if the MCs made it through.
    I found the journey enjoyable, and it had some unpredictable twists. Overall, an excellent book.
 
 Narrator Rating:  4.25 stars
   Well the narrator did a good job, she didn't do enough tonal shifts for different characters' voices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

The graphic animal cruelty & animal death were not too drawn out and at the start of the book. The other animal death wasn't on the page, just some parts with talk or one of the characters having a dead animal (snake and deer).

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction and Sexual violence

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Setting the Scene: 🇺🇸 Nestled in a small Louisiana parish wrapped in a bayou

POV: We’re following a young adult grappling with the effects of their sheltered religious upbringing as they try to branch out on their own in adult life. 

 

Mood Reading Match-Up:

-Romantic suspense with coming-of-age friend crushes, will-they-or-wont-they, and unrequited loves

-Literary fiction meets dark cozy mystery + melancholic drama with depth

-Southern Bayou atmospheres, character driven narratives, and multiple timelines in an unhinged town with a sprinkling of supernatural

-Themes and exploration of hypocrisy, the many faces of good and evil, morally grey situations, protection, loyalty, platonic and romantic love, escape, healing, introspection and self-discovery, belief, nature vs nurture, tragedy, and longing. 

 

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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕

 

🗣️ Tale-Telling: The first-person narrative pulled us into our main character, Ruth’s, mind. We were privy to her innermost thoughts and feelings…it’s like she was whispering secretively to us then going off on tangents in her own little world and other times rehashing things. I think it was a purposeful part of her character development and personality rather than a writing flaw though.  

 

👥 Characters: Ruth is a complex character, but can be annoying, which I think is to be expected for someone who has grown up so sheltered, abused, and repressed. She’s navigating her identity, clouded by her fixation on fictional worlds and romance (like ‘Twilight’) and the struggle to break free from and recognize trauma. 
(I don't think there was a Twilight obsession here or that it was overdone. It seemed immature at Ruth’s age that she was still  using it sometimes to learn about herself and navigate her life by drawing parallels between herself and Bella. But it makes total sense since she wasn't given room for healthy self-growth and identity as a teen. )

 

🗺️ Ambiance: The Bayou setting was rich and palpable, and it was threaded throughout the story, so the atmosphere didn’t die out over time. The town and its inhabitants were as much a character as Ruth, adding layers to the setting in a kind of over-the-top, but believable way. 

 

🔥 Fuel: The core of this story was the romantic tension and exploration of girlhood and adolescence. The murder ‘mystery’ is more about if the cases will be solved rather than what happened, and it takes a backseat to the romance and literary exploration of the other themes. 

 

🎬 Scenes: The pace to me was slow, often delving into Ruth’s introspection and struggles with trust and love. But for romance enthusiasts, that may translate to depth and be a great read. If you’re going in expecting a mystery or thriller, it could feel like a drag. The romantic scenes seemed well crafted and cinematic though. I’m not a romance reader (no yucking yums, it’s just not for me), so this felt long, melancholic, and a little overly dramatic. 

 

🤓 Random Thoughts: This  is a literary fiction romantic drama with thoughtful commentary on how we judge young girls and their interests as cringe, silly, vapid, childish, stupid, or sinful. It also happens to have some murders in it...
This is not the mystery thriller it has been marketed as. It’s a deep, even beautiful story, but I think that’s getting lost in the frustration of readers who aren’t used to this genre (me) or who weren’t interested in reading that when they picked this book up (also me). I don’t regret reading it, nor did I want to DNF, but I  felt a certain frustration in the moment, like I was tricked a bit into investing in the story. 

 

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Content Heads-Up: Physical child abuse (descriptive, on page). Sexual child abuse (recalled, discussion). Mental and emotional child abuse and neglect. Attempted rape. Adult/minor relationship (grooming). Murder. Corruption (institutional, religious). Drugs and organized crime. Alcoholism. Religious abuse, rituals, and trauma. Repression. Fire (injury, building). Sexual content (first experiences, fantasies, consenting).

Rep: White American. Pale and dark-skinned characters. Cis-gender. Heterosexual. 

 

👀 Format: Library Digital

 

“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Sexual content and Murder

rtruscot's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

yell4danielle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

jmusil44's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion