Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

45 reviews

rawan03's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I feel like the first 2/3 of this book were just dragging on. I didn't really feel that excited to pick up the book, I just wanted to finish it. The mystery was good but for a while, I was just kind of like "okay, and ??". It definitely picked up in pace and intensity in the last ~50 pages which I liked.

That last scene in the church had me dropping my jaw, I did not expect her dad to die like that tf. As he deserved though, men are so trash.

. There were some scenes where I was scared this was turning into a horror but I was glad that it didn't get too dark or graphic so very slay. Would I ever read this again? Probably not, but the only reason, I didn't rate this any lower than a 3.5 stars was the last few chapters. There were also some quotes in here that I thought ate up, so I marked those. Maybe my religious trauma affected my enjoyment because the monologues had me wanting to die but we got thought it. Also, my daddy issues were active and thriving while reading this because wow 😀.  It was good, just did not blow me away, which is alright! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault

jmkendall0218's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

quicksilver's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content

katherine_dc's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

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

mmhender2's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

This book wrestles with themes of morality and justice, religion and law, and gender roles. The plot kept me engaged. There were aspects of the writing I liked and others felt too heavy handed. I think the book would be better without the Twilight stuff, but the conversation with the author at the end of the book put that into a different perspective for me. If you want an easy crime thriller to read, you may enjoy this. 

Personal note: I'm over religious fundamentalists being the bad guys. I think it's too easy of a concept these days. Give me someone who is more nuanced. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

phoenixlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and Religious bigotry

ickijones's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

It was mid. I was listening to this while reading another book. I thought I would like this more over the other, but it turned out to be the opposite. My interest in the story waned in and out. Sometimes I would want to continue listening on and other times it was boring and I had a hard time paying attention. The ending was...fine. I sort of expected it at a certain point. I didn't really like either Ruth or Everett, but

I did like the insight towards the latter half that Everett, while some of murders benefitted Ruth, wasn't this endearing vigilante who just wanted to protect Ruth. He had his own agenda for killing people and, to me, it seemed almost like it was inferred outside of Bottom Springs that he would look for reasons to justify killing others. I also did think the whole chapter where Ruth asks him if he's some sort of vampire was funny. It seemed to indicate her naivete that she would truly think he was some sort of supernatural being rather than just being a killer.

While I wasn't fully interested in the story, I think Ashley Winstead does know how to paint a pretty pictures with words. Even if it's not to my taste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

gretareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

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