I was fortunate enough to review an advance copy of Ashley Winstead's In My Dreams I Hold A Knife last year. I found moments of real brilliance in that book, and waited on tenterhooks for the follow up. There are a multitude of trigger and content warnings for this book, so please pay close attention to those and only proceed if comfortable. I must admit, my threshold for what is "dark" is considerably higher than what is warned against in this story. I think perhaps The Last Housewife tries so hard to be shocking and twisted, that it loses sight of the humanity in the story. This book has a tendency to tell rather than show, which lessens the impact. I have to say the story of the secret sex cult was certainly compelling, but the background podcast episodes drag on and the pace suffers. I thought the ending was rather flat, there was opportunity there, but it just kind of fizzles out. The Last Housewife will be perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover's Verity, and B. A. Paris. For me, I give it a solid 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the chance to review this advance copy. The Last Housewife is available for purchase everywhere you buy books now!

Twisty, thoughtful, entertaining, and terrifying, this is a thriller with the patriarchy at the core of its evil. Definitely recommend.

Sex trafficking cults meet true crime in Ashley Winstead’s sophomore novel, which has all the trigger warnings ever.

A podcast to solve a murder reveals dark (and graphic) secrets and leads to an attempt to take down a horrific trafficking cult (a la NXIVM).

This is a four star thriller for me that does have some pacing issues, but will have thriller fans on the edge of their seats with anticipation.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.**

All the stars for The Last Housewife!! Having read and enjoyed In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, I was thrilled to find this one just as good. Highly recommend adding this to your TBR.

☕️ 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 ☕️

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚋𝚢 @ashleywinsteadbooks
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛
𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎: 𝚙𝚘𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝, 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗲… 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁? 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗱?”

OH MY GOD. THIS. BOOK. 🤯

As we all know, I’m obsessed with IMDIHAK and so obviously I had to read The Last Housewife as soon as it was released and my god, what a ride.

First of all, I love the pacing. It was impossible to put down and so you know what I did? I also got it in audio so I could continue listening to it during the day lol

This book is so powerful. As a woman, I respect and appreciate the guts it took to write this masterpiece. I love it so much. This book is a little heavy to read, especially if you’re a hardcore feminist. It is dark, dark, dark. So please proceed accordingly. You are always welcome to DM me for trigger warnings.

Ashley writes these amazing characters that brings out just so many emotions from you. I seriously despised some of the characters from this book. 😂 I love the podcast element to this as well.

This is so worth the read, friends!

Cult stories are a little difficult for me to read but the brainwashing element of the cult culture was written really well here.

I would recommend going into this blind! But please check the TWs!

From the author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, comes another disturbing thriller that deftly worms under your skin. With the hook of a true crime podcast, this novel follows a former victim as she tries to solve the mystery of what happened to her college roommate while simultaneously dismantling the cult in which she was groomed. Ashley Winstead is frighteningly realistic in her creation of the cult leaders and members.

I really liked, "In my dreams I hold a knife", so when I saw this author had a new book out, I was super excited. This one was such a disappointment. I'm not a fan of cult stories, let alone about sex cults with young woman, so the book had that working against it. But also, the main character was just not likeable and somehow was able to put herself in multiple dangerous situations and then just easily get out of them.

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

Read this if…you’re curious if the hype is real. (Psst! It is!)

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Shay is shocked when she hears about the apparent suicide of her best friend from college on a true crime podcast hosted by Jamie, a boy she grew up with. She hasn’t spoken to either in almost a decade, but that doesn’t stop Shay from heading back to her former college to help Jamie investigate. Like Jamie, Shay doubts Laurel would have killed herself, but the cops refuse to take their concerns seriously. With few options, Shay agrees to put her safety in jeopardy in exchange for answers by walking in Laurel’s shoes, only to find herself in the belly of a dangerous beast.

I devoured this book in a day and I’m all sorts of emotional about it. It was difficult for me to read at times, not because of the dark content, but because it transported me back to a time in my life when I was as vulnerable and lost as Shay. At times, the MC’s visceral reactions were a bit too real for me. I think a lot of readers who identify as female will see bits of themselves in the MC’s struggles.

This novel further cements my belief that Winstead was always meant to be an author. This story could have easily turned into man-hating propaganda in less capable hands; instead it is a deep look into gender inequality and how perpetuated misogynistic beliefs make some women more vulnerable to manipulation. As a woman, I am reminded daily of my place in society’s hierarchy. While some of the events in The Last Housewife might seem extreme, I think they’d fit right in with the highly publicized scandals that seem to pop up so frequently these days. Thank you, Ashley, for writing such a timely and empowering novel!

I can absolutely say whole heartedly, this is my favorite Ashley Winstead book. I fell in love with everything in this book, even though I really shouldn’t. But it was fast, dark, daring and just amazing.

First, let me quote @ashleywinstead “Wow, that is dark.”

The book mixes Eyes Wide Shut (Nicole Kidman/Tom Cruise movie) and Nxivm sex cult, so it will not be for everyone. The trigger warnings are listed in front for a reason. Please review those before you decide to read. This book is challenging to review because the material is so disturbing. Instead of a traditional review, I will list some thought-provoking topics I loved discussing.

Personally, I thought the book was brilliantly dark. Winstead shines a light on so many issues.
Here are just a few:
🔸patriarchy - the deep-seated roots they play in our society, education, and religion.
🔸consent - I had a great discussion with @_itsliz regarding this issue. This book triggered discussions surrounding whether or not consent can be misguided if you’ve been mistaught or if a “lesser” group can honestly give consent when there’s an imbalance in power.
🔸Woman’s sense of self/feminism - Shay straddles the lines of a feminist, a victim, and a savior throughout the novel and not always successfully.

Bookstagram made me do it and it was definitely worth the hype!

Yikes! I went into this book just knowing that it’s content was dark and let me tell you, I was glad that was all I knew.

At the beginning of college, certain events bring Shay, Laurel and Clem together. They form a tight bond and become the best of friends until Don comes into their lives and disrupts everything they know. Without their knowledge Don manages, almost immediately, to identify and tap into what makes each girl vulnerable. Manipulating them one by one.

Fast forward to present day, Shay is listening to a popular podcast, hosted by her high school friend Jamie, when she learns of Laurel’s death. With Jamie’s help, they embark on a path to get to the bottom of what happened but they quickly discover the journey leads them right back to the life she left all those years ago.

Cults have fascinated me in a strange way. It boggles my mind how easily people get manipulated without having a clue of what is happening. How validation and self-worth are a huge part of why these types of things happen. While reading this book, I often took a step back and asked myself would I ever get to a point where something like this could happen to me. Do you even realize what is happening when it's happening? Would I stay because the fear of leaving would be worse than what you already know? Would I seek revenge? What turns men into misogynists?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!

This book would make a great book club selection as there is so much to dissect here.

The psychological warfare the characters had with themselves, especially Shay, sucked me in and kept me returning to the book any chance I got. It was interesting, and equally disturbing, seeing their struggles with liking some of the sexual violence of the cult. I found the book to be well written and well-researched. I would definitely recommend if you are looking for a psychological thriller.

Tons of trigger warnings, so make sure you read them at the beginning of the book.

Thank you @netgalley @bookmarked for the #gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Entertaining , dark and twisted. I loved this female revenge story. I could not put it down . I think I read this book in one sitting . Each chapter intrigued you more and more. Fantastic

title: the last housewife
author: ashley winstead
genre: thriller
pages: 400
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🧠 my thoughts:
H O L Y. what in the heck did i just read!!!!! this book was an absolute masterpiece of culty-ness, suspense, and darkness. i was excited for this book & had high hopes based on the reviews i’d been seeing - this lived up to the hype. this book was SO FREAKIN GOOD - i plan to listen to the audiobook next bc i need to read it again. this will certainly be one of my favs of 2022 👌🏼

👍🏼 what i liked:
my two favorite book topics (as of late) were combined into one book - a cult and a podcast. i loved the way that a man with a podcast wants to uncover the truth about things, and won’t rest until he does - even when his producers tell him it’s a waste of time. i also love how he worked side by side with shay (the MC) and we were shown her present day life throughout, and her past life through her story telling for the podcast. the plot felt so unique, fresh & was completely jaw dropping. this book will take over your life and you will not be able to put it down (or sleep at night). ashley did such a good job portraying this story and laying out the timeline/details, that this all felt so real. i felt like this was something that actually happened & was in the present day news. ok i could go on & on so the moral is - read this if you can stomach it!!!!!

👎🏼 what i disliked:
not a dislike but a warning - there are about 799 trigger warnings so i’d look them up before! (ashley mentions them on one of the first pages of the book, g bless her) but this book def isn’t for the faint of heart.

✅ RECOMMEND?: YES! 100x yes!! if you want a book that is so dark and twisty it will keep you up at night - this. is. for. you. hunni 👏

summary:
pinned in the comments

While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay's built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death—delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader—she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive, and the predators more dangerous than ever.

Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shay's obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened, she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning. But in a world built for men to rule it—both inside the cult and outside of it—is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?

After binge reading, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife (fantastic title) by Ashley Winstead, I was so excited to get my hands on The Last Housewife. Like her debut, I also read this in one sitting late into the night. Due to the trigger warnings, I was a little hesitant when I started but can confidently say every reader will be left in a state of awe. Have never read anything like this before.

The story follows a past and present storyline with our main character, Shay. Two of her college friends (Clem and Laurel) are dead (suicides or murder?) and she teams up with her childhood friend Jamie who facilitates a true-crime podcast called Transgressions to discover the mysteries behind Laurel's death and their past.

All I can really do is mimic many other reviews at this point! It's DARK, scary, heartbreaking, frightening, and will definitely give you chills. I can tell Ashley Winstead did a lot of research on sex cults/abuse/secret societies - every scene was so graphic and well-detailed. Similar to IMDIHAK, Ashley does a remarkable job of weaving the past into the present and kept me engaged from start to finish! Can't wait to read what's next!

Trigger warnings: suicide, rape, physical and sexual violence, self-harm, drug use, gender dynamics

The book world is abuzz with this novel and I was so excited to dive in. Before I read it, I heard things like "messed up" "so twisty" "I can't stop thinking about it" so I was intrigued to say the least. Then when I heard it took place in Upstate New York (where I was born, raised and still live) I was sold. Luckily, this book lived up to all of the hype. I really enjoyed the culty aspect of it and while some of it was hard to read, I was truly riveted and could not put it down. This is a book I will be stewing over for a long time and recommending for even longer.

This is my first Ashley Winstead book, and I must say it did not disappoint. While a truly dark book (trigger warning for physical abuse, sexual abuse, and suicide), there are so many themes to be discussed. This would be a perfect book club book. A solid 5/5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead.

When Laurel, from Shay's past ends up dead, she knows that she's about to have to go digging to find answers. With the help of her friend, and also the podcaster who broke the news of Laurel's disappearance, she dives back into the dark world that she once lived in. Afterall, Laurel isn't the only one from Shay's life that has died...

Girl, grab your teddy bears, this is daaaark! So enjoyably depraved, which is a phrase I should probably discuss with my therapist.

Anyway, I was hooked immediately and had no clue what to expect turning every corner. It mashes a whole bunch of modern issues we are facing today and makes one hell of a story.

😍Loved: The alternating first person narrative with a podcast transcript, Winstead is able to capture a reader's attention quickly and her writing style works for me.

😀Liked: This book was definitely intense! There are a lot of twists which I didn't fully see coming. Plenty of discussion points with the really difficult subject matter.

😐Lukewarm: The trigger warnings list is long with this book and I often felt very uncomfortable reading it - so much so that I had to take a lot of breaks. I found some of the plot repetitive with the "let me tell you about it" phrase used often.

🤯Jaw dropping moment: There is a scene nearing the end where my jaw hung open and my internal monologue was "Oh no, she won't. She couldn't possibly..."

While a lot of emphasis is on empowering women, I had a hard time seeing past all of the abuse. I know for many, this was a bingeable read. For me, not so much and maybe cult books are not my style. While I didn't like this one as much as Winstead's debut, I'll still read everything she releases!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: thriller / suspense
Author: Ashley Winstead

My Instagram is now a Ashley Winstead stan account forever. As if it wasn’t solidified before, this book has done it. I closed this book, stared at my wall for a few minutes, and thought to myself: “what the f did I just read”.

This book was TOUGH to read at times but honestly that just speaks to how incredible Ashley is at writing seriously dark subject material. The execution was absolutely incredible and seemed very well researched and thought out. This book had everything from cults, secret societies, true crime podcasts, and some pretty big twists. All in all, this is the PERFECT book for spooky season.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ashley was born to write thrillers.