For lovers of: Practical Magic & Beautiful Creatures.

The Deep South is deeply in love with their traditions, religion and values. When Ruth Cornier doesn't quite fit in, she has nowhere to turn but inwards. As she grows up and discovers freedom within the walls of her local library, she is allowed to believe.

Ruth has a chance encounter with the resident bad boy, Everett Duncan. Their fates become entwined and the two are inseparable.

There is something dark and deadly in the Louisiana swamp, and it is seeping into Bottom Springs...

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I Loved, capital L, no, uppercase word, LOVED, "In My Dreams I Hold A Knife" and "The Last Housewife". I was not prepared for a different style of writing. The last 1/3 of the book was more of what I expected from Ashley Winstead. and I am glad that I finished the book because it was well worth it!

Thank you to the publisher and the NetGalley for this ARC! It took me a little bit to get into this one but once I did I was invested. I enjoyed the twilight-esque landscape and the references didn't feel too heavy handed. I think the pacing was a little slow initially but overall a unique book!

I absolutely love a good gothic Southern thriller and Midnight is the Darkest Hour did not disappoint. It is set in rural Louisiana with an unlikely duo of outcasts. Ruth, the preacher’s daughter, who has never fit in even in her own family, and Everett, who has lived a challenging life, form an unlikely friendship in their teens. Together, they’ll examine the history of their small town and it’s secrets regarding murder, religion, and love.

Every time I picked up this book, I was immediately sucked back in to the story no matter where I left off. Winstead is excellent at creating both unique and compelling plots combined with an immersive setting. She is one of my favorite authors I’ve discovered recently, and I cannot wait to see what unique work she has in store for the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Deeply creepy.

This was my first jaunt into an Ashley Winstead novel. Me thinks it won't be the last. Winstead knows how to set up a scene that will be embedded in your mind for a long time. She brings out all the stops here with young love, creatures of the night, over-the-top religious fervor, and a town entrenched in its own questionable past.

Our main focus is on Ruth Cornier. Ruth is a twenty-three year old town librarian who has been exposed to more havoc and mayhem in her young time than a barnyard dog with fleas. Not easy to shake off. And she sits in the surround sound of small town Bottom Springs, Louisiana. Her daddy just so happens to be Pastor James Cornier of the Holy Fire Born Again Church. He certainly doesn't spare the rod when it comes to Ruth. He keeps the flames lit right by her feet.

That is until Ruth is reunited with her childhood friend, Everett. Everett and his father have always been the town's outcasts for being unchurched and also drunk in the case of his father. Everett and Ruth will have a secret encounter unplanned one evening. It will end in a tragedy in which the two of them must hide the evidence of a crime.......a big crime. And it will haunt them when a skull is retrieved from the swamp. Just whose skull might that belong to?

Ashley Winstead adds a bit of woowoo in the likes of Low Man. Low Man is a vampiric figure who will sneak into your bedroom on a moonless night and leave you without a soul. But are these latest situations in Bottom Springs blamed on ol' Low Man or has it been left to the human kind?

Clearly a well-planned and well-developed storyline with highly unusual characters. Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is a curious romp into Booga Booga Land.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and to the talented Ashley Winstead for the opportunity.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

"Midnight is the Darkest Hour" by Ashley Winstead is a Southern gothic thriller that serves up a satisfying mix of suspense, mystery, feminism, and emotion...and I couldn't get enough of it!

Set in a small Louisiana town, the novel is filled with well-developed characters who were easy to get attached to, especially Ruth and Everett. Their deep bond and complicated love story kept me invested all the way through. The story's atmosphere, brimming with mystery and the supernatural, was so tangible that I could almost feel the chill of the eerie swamp mist and hear the rustling of trees and thunderclaps in Bottom Springs.

Winstead's references to "Twilight" and the meticulous crafting of Ruth and Everett's relationship, loaded with intense feelings, added an extra layer of intrigue. The setting, steeped in nature and the bayou, came alive under Winstead's skilled descriptions, making the town itself a complicit character in the story. It's a slow-burning narrative, which might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it satisfying and perfect for the small-town story's unfolding.

The only things keeping me from giving this a full 5 stars are the story's predictability, and the pacing, which, at times, I wished was faster. The "twists" didn't quite catch me off guard, but that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the story.

Despite a few slow patches, however, this book was a captivating read that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys dark thrillers and intense relationships wrapped up in a heavy atmospheric setting.

Ruth has always felt like an outsider in her small, hyper-religious Louisiana hometown. Her only friend Everett, another town outcast, is haunted by his father’s nefarious reputation. When a skull is found in the swamp, surrounded by mysterious, carved symbols, the townsfolk fear the Devil, while Ruth and Everett worry a secret from their past has caught up with them. Once again, I found Ashley’s brain to be absolutely dazzling, and the Twilight fan in me was delighted.

This book is truly for the girls who were introverted with religious trauma, who always ALWAYS fell for the bad boys and disobeyed every rule ever given to them (even though you still felt guilty because you know…religious shame).

Oh yeah and the girls who like really loved Twilight. Aka me.

Ashley Winstead did it again. This book had me flipping pages SO fast. From the very beginning sentence I was hooked. I love a dark thriller and this one was exactly that. There was a lot of timeline jumping but it felt like I was following Ruth’s thought processing in the present and that made it really work for me. The tension between Ruth and Everett was magical and the parallels to Bella and Edward (or if you’re a Vampire Diaries girl- Elena and Damon) were SO GOOD. And every bit of the small town flew off the page. It was so easy to picture this dark, swampy place and all its secrets. It was just so incredibly good.

While I do feel like I guessed the twist in this one early on, it did not deter me from loving it. Instead Ashley threw an ending at me that literally had me flipping back through the pages saying WAIT out loud. 10/10 big squealing screams.

And as always, her main character is a nod to issues and problems that girls face. I highlighted so many paragraphs that resonated with me deeply. Ashley’s writing is just SO SMART and SO CREEPY.

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead is a phenomenal ride into the heart heart of backwater Louisiana. The ending will get you!

Okay, ya;ll: this book was crazy good!

I know I bragged on Ashley in my post the other day…but I must do It again!

This entire novel was so incredibly thought provoking and the imagery? CHEF’S KISS PERFECTION!

This was one of the most unique books I have ever read!! The underlying theme of religion was so beyond compelling – the way Ashley incorporated Twilight into this story was so insanely clever and added an extra layer of depth to this already phenomenal masterpiece

While this novel was a slow burn, I personally loved the pacing because it allowed us to truly get to know Ruby & Everett on a deeper level

The parallels were meticulously placed and Ruth’s character was so well written – she was quite the underdog but you couldn’t help but root for her

This novel intertwined a love story – I love how it was *unconventional* and forbidden -but I also loved Ruby and Everett together - the morally gray aspect fascinating!

While ambiguous endings are very hit or miss for me- Ashley is the freakin’ QUEEN of writing conclusions that truly make you stop and think – which is oh so powerful - i will forever be thinking about that ending

this book is SO hard to give my complete thoughts without spoilers…but this was hands down one of my favorite books of the year!!

thank you to @sourcebooks @netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

If there's one thing I like about books written by Ashley Winstead, it's that I feel like I'm reading a new author over and over again as she reinvents her writing style each book. I'm always amazed how she can go from a cult thriller such as The Last Housewife (a personal favorite of mine) and then next publish a rom com featuring fake dating politicians, executing both rather fabulously!

🌙🧛🖤

The first note I left on my buddy read with @abbysbookadventure on StoryGraph was the quote from the book, "And then I found Twilight" and wrote every bookworm has some kind of awakening with this book. I'm slowly starting to think there's some kind of revival of that series going on this year because this is not the first new book I read that references Twilight!

Beyond the Twilight references and "are they or aren't they a vampire" subplot sprinkled into this story, this was once again a thriller that had me absolutely scared for the main character. Somebody do a wellness check on Ashley and make sure she's alright, because these thrillers are going bonkers. 😂 I was not prepared for this to be a religious cult story and as I said before, I was deeply concerned for Ruth and the awful upbringing she had. In all my notes I made while reading I kept saying "oh wow, this person is awful" or "the fact that there are people out there that live their lives this way is mind blowing!" I'm definitely left in a thriller book hangover after this one. 😤

I'm excited for more people to read this as October creeps on closer, because the ending reallllllly makes you wonder. Ashley reveals in her notes why she made such an ambiguous ending and I absolutely love that. This is going to be perfect for spooky book club this Halloween season and I bet there will be a ton of different opinions on how we think the story played out beyond the last words on the page.

This book was way different than I was expecting it to be and I think that was solely due to the fact that I went into it blind. I suggest you do the same! The Last Housewife remains the reigning champ of Ashley's thrillers, but Midnight is the Darkest Hour now holds the title of prettiest covers from her! 🌙🖤

I was really looking forward to reading this book since I liked the authors previous works but this just wasn't for me. I never connected to the characters. They felt emotionless. The story was very long and I needed more to happen to keep me interested.

Ashley Winstead has a way with her writing. Not only does she write mystery, she writes romance and whether or not you have read one of her books, there is always a twist and just a little bit of a love story, if you can call it a love story. This book definitely surprised me. When you hear about religion and witchcraft and murder and a small town in Louisianna combined into one, your mind spins in all different directions trying to picture what it could all add up to. It turns out that it all added up to something amazing and definitely worth the read.

Ruth Cornier is the preacher's daughter. She has big ambitions, while her parents want her to stay home and be the wife and homemaker that they raised her to be. Her place is behind her husband. Ruth has different plans. As a teenager, Ruth meets Everett and together they form a bond that is unexplainable to the others in town. Everett is considered an outcast. The devil's son.
When a serial killer is discovered in Bottom Springs, Louisiana, fingers are pointed and a witch hunt begins. Secrets will be spilled and the truth just may haunt you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead and being given the chance to read a must read book.

I am a huge Ashley Winstead fan, so I was super excited to get approved for Midnight is the Darkest Hour. I stayed up all night finishing this one, and it was so good! I don't want to say much and give anything away, but it was the perfect, atmospheric thriller. The setting and premise were creepy, and I absolutely loved the Twilight references. And WHAT AN ENDING! I literally kept tapping on my kindle trying to see if there were more pages. I loved it!

Midnight is the Darkest Hour comes out on October 3rd, and will be the perfect thriller for spooky season! Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the arc!

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour is an atmospheric southern gothic that left me unsettled and never let me get my feet under me. Set in the small town of Bottom Springs, Ruth is the daughter of the towns beloved pastor. But growing up, she felt like an outcast and dreamed of leaving town for a fresh start. Her only friend was Everett, who was the town scapegoat and fellow black sheep.

This story has a lot of layers and utilizes zealots, the occult, and a local legend to create a dark and tense atmosphere. With the discovery of a skull in the swamps and strange tree carvings, Ruth and Everett work to try and figure out the murder before their own deep secret is exposed. Of course they aren't the only ones with secrets. The story got under my skin and I had a sense of unease while reading. There was so much to uncover, and I was wary of everyone.

The author has created a great thriller and the ending was fantastic. If you are a thriller lover, I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced reader copy.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book because I had never read any of this author's books before. The summary of Midnight Is the Darkest Hour did not do the book justice. I enjoyed every minute of it and it captured my attention and kept it from the first page to the last.

That’s it, it’s official. Ashley Winstead is one of my FAVORITE thriller authors 👏🏼 (I know Ashley has written more than just thrillers, I just haven’t read them yet! I absolutely will be soon though!)

After reading and absolutely devouring The Last Housewife last year, I was ecstatic to receive an early copy of Ashley’s newest novel. Midnight is the Darkest Hour is the PERFECT book to add to your fall TBR this year. It has mystery, it has all the great elements of a thriller, it has cult-y small town vibes, and it even has an almost paranormal feel to it- think Twilight!

When I first finished this one I gave it a 4.5 star rating… but as time went on, I’ve found myself continuing to think about it and I think it deserves 5 stars. And really, that’s what a 5 star read for me is all about- I can’t stop thinking about it. It was just so good.

And can we talk about that ENDING?! Actually, no. Let’s not talk about it because y’all just need to read it for yourself when this baby publishes in October. My jaw DROPPED. I sat in my chair for a good 5 minutes just thinking about it.

A genre bending read filled with religious zealots and people behaving badly that just didn't work for me despite my love for this author's previous work.

Ruth Cornier is the pastor's daughter in a small Southern town where it's either fall in line or be an outcast. It's made for a lonely living, but she's found friendship in Everett, a town outcast that lights up her heart with their conversations of poetry and life outside of this town. However, when a slew of murders become revealed with all signs pointing to Everett, what is Ruth to do?

I truly struggled with this read. For a premise that had so many interesting concepts: southern christian fundamentalist giving cult vibes, a supposedly morally grey male main characters, a female main character who loves to read and gives us allll the Twilight references, and a murder mystery or two...what's not to love!?

However, all together it struggles to come together until the very end in a way that feels unsatisfactory and obvious.

What I Struggled With:
- The Main Character: The character felts underdeveloped and static. They didn't feel like real people, but only caricatures of what people like this may be like. Ruth was aggresively naive. Everett was ridiculous cryptic. And I didn't buy into their friendship outside of their love for poetry. And their constant miscommunication was tiring.
- Pacing/Length: This book felt too long. Nothing really happens until almost 70% in. It is a ton of exposition dump and Ruth ruminating on things that feel totally obvious.
- The Plot Twists: There are quite a few "reveals" in this book; however, all of them feel obvious by the time they are revealed, which given the length/pacing feels like FOREVER. If they had been revealed earlier, it would've made for a more exciting and thought provoking read versus a matter of fact one.
- The Ending: The ending is a two part-er in a sense. First is the final confrontation. It was so rushed my head was spinning. All of these connections were made but it felt almost jumbled and far-fetched. Ruth was conveniently given all of these clues right before that add up to truly a crazy scenario. And the second is the kind of epilogue - and it is open ended in a way that feels ridiculous. I don't feel like we left any of the character we were supposed to care about in a better place than we found them. It made for a truly unsatisfying feeling after having invested so much.

Unfortunately Midnight Is The Darkest Hour fails to give me the magic In My Dreams I Hold A Knife did, but I think some will enjoy it just for the shock value and twilight reference and hey, who am I to judge?

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've loved everything Ashley Winstead has done, and this totally felt like she was going back to her roots with a very atmospheric creepy thriller. More than just the plot, the setting and details of this book really stood out to me as unique and kept me interested.

Bottom Springs,Louisiana is a place full of contradictions. An unlikely friendship is born between the preacher’s daughter, Ruth, and the devil’s son, Everett. The bond between them is unbreakable, after a real devil tries to hurt Ruth. She and Everett managed to walk away, unscathed on the outside, but with numerous inner wounds that no one else can see. Years pass, but when a skull is found in Starry Swamp, Ruth fears what secrets will be revealed, and how she can justify what she has done with her belief in doing the right thing. By the time they have uncovered most of the town’s secrets, the final question remains, what will they do now.
This is a story that makes you question everything and when I thought I knew where it was going, it often went 180° in the other direction. I wish I could talk about the ending but spoilers lie in the swamp. At the end of the story, there’s a conversation with the author that was very interesting and informative. Don’t skip this part! It’s fascinating.

BOOK REVIEW // MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)
Pub Date: 10/3
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Suspense

I'm an Ashley Winstead fan through and through. If she writes it, I'll read it and she's back with another banger of a book. Her ability to write across genres is unmatched & deserves ALL the recognition. Every single one of her books delivers. Get ready to add MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR to your 2023 favorites stack at the end of the year!

What I love most about Ashley Winstead's writing style is that it's smart and demands your attention right away. Every single detail is carefully calculated and her characters are so deeply developed. In a religious small town in Louisiana, a preacher's daughter and the town's bad boy outcast form a very unlikely friendship. After a skull is discovered in a nearby swamp, these two take it upon themselves to dig below the surface and bring to light the town's more sinister side. The dark, broody, edgy, twisty vibes are relentless as they uncover truth after truth and expose lie after lie. This one has you questioning the line between good and evil and wanting to live in the morally grey areas of life.

What you'll find in this book
-Edward Cullen/Twilight references
-Slow burn, but completely bingeable
-Atmospheric, enchanting, haunting settings
-Obsessions and religious cults
-Shocking ending

Comparable books: A Flicker in the Dark (murder/serial killer vibes), Where The Crawdads Sing (swampy rural southern vibes), A History of Wild Places (religion and cult vibes)

Mark your calendars for October 3 so you can see for yourself!!