Reviews

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

rosiekerber'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

4.25

thesustainablebookshelf's review against another edition

3.0

A story about a girl who, raised in a strictly hellfire and brimstone, has grown into a shy and obedient daughter. With her father as the pastor and one of the most prominent townsfolk, it seems impossible to achieve a life outside Bottom Springs... until one fateful night when she's saved by Everett, the class pariah. We watch as they come closer to both each other and to unraveling the town's hidden secrets.

The most important part of my review is that - (IYKYK

m_f2510's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

horrorfan95's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rennegade's review against another edition

2.0

I enjoyed [b:The Last Housewife|59349100|The Last Housewife|Ashley Winstead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649778403l/59349100._SY75_.jpg|93510806] even though it was dark and distressing as fuck, so I was excited to dive into another novel by this author. This book, unfortunately, did not work for me.

The biggest let down was the main character. She was aggressively stupid, to the point where being in her POV the entire novel was very annoying. I straight-up cackled when she

Spoiler

basically plagiarized Twilight to accuse her best friend of being the Low Man.

There were all kinds of twists and turns in this book, but it did not feel well-paced, and the ending was ridiculous.

This was a miss for me, but I'd still be willing to try more by this author.

meggervais's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

no1ne's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

cmkoscheka's review against another edition

2.0

I feel like I’m being punked – not because of the abundance of positive reviews, but because of the lack of negative ones. This is my second 2-star read this week that everyone else gave 5-stars though so it must just be me. First off, Ashley Winstead is undoubtedly a talented author, but I feel like there have to be other people out there like me that this story just did NOT work for. The whole thing ended up feeling juvenile to me. That being said, I think I would have loved this if I had read it as a teen or even in younger adulthood.

I do admit, I went into this blind and had no idea it was essentially Twilight fan fiction sprinkled with Thelma and Louise/Natural Born Killers. I read Twilight as a teen when it was first released and loved it, but I haven’t read it since and only ever caught bits and pieces of the movies, so I think a lot of the references ended up going over my head, which, honestly is probably for the best.

I understand there were a lot of deeper themes being presented in this novel, but I felt like they ended up getting bogged down by the cheesy childlike romance. I guess part of it has to do with the character essentially being a child, but yeah, just not for me. Also, I hated the ending.

But anyway, don’t listen to me. Listen to all the other people who loved this book.

books_by_the_bottle's review against another edition

5.0

Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider in her small hometown. As the daughter of the town’s preacher, she has spent her whole life under pressure to behave a certain way. That includes hiding the books she enjoys reading, because according to her father, they are full of sin. The only person she can be herself with is the town’s outcast, Everett, who she met when she was in high school. Everett has long ago left their little town but he returns home every summer to visit her. When a skull is discovered in the swamp, along with strange symbols carved into trees, Ruth and Everett set out for the truth about what secrets lie in their town.

How is possible that every book Ashley Winstead writes is better than the last?! “Midnight is the Darkest Hour” is deliciously spooky, with the eerieness of the woods radiating off the pages. The people in Bottom Springs considered themselves God-fearing Christians, while tiptoeing around the folklore of “the low man” who haunted the woods. Winstead took a unique approach in fusing the themes of Christianity and the Occult throughout this story. Each belief system was presented respectfully, with Ruth drawing certain parallels between the two and forging her own path as she and Everett searched for truth. The twists in what they uncovered just kept coming, and I was on the edge of my seat by the end! I related a lot to Ruth, in how she was quiet and found such joy in books! In particular, she loved Twilight and that took me back to my college days. Everett was like a boy from a fairy tale, a loner who didn’t care what people thought of him and would do anything for Ruth; he may possibly be my new favorite book boyfriend!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Celadon for the ARC! “Midnight Is the Darkest Hour” releases October 3, 2023!!

lyndsayreads's review against another edition

2.0

the ONLY reason this is getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because i did think some of the mystery elements were clever.

also highly DO NOT recommend the audiobook. the fake southern accent was PAINFUL.