Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

5 reviews

judyhagan's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Misogyny, and Murder

teganbeesebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Classism, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

ariana3's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I surprisingly liked this! There's nothing exciting about the story, but I couldn't put it down and read it quickly!

About the daughter of a reverend (religious fundamentalist that's abusive) and her friend (outcast, son of an alcoholic, known as Satan's son) and their relationship. Her friend, Everett, has killed people he wanted revenge on or to protect her, Ruth. She didn't know it was him so she feels like her adult childhood was a bit of a lie. Her father is a crazy religious preacher, was abusive, and ringleader of this town-wide drug circle which is why they have all their money. Ruth and Ever uncover it together and runaway together (now romantically involved...finally - it was teased the ENTIRE book), but do they survive?!?!?!?! The ending is ambiguous - I have hope that they did

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Animal death, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying and Abortion

rtruscot's review

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

meeklovestoread's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

 The Queen strikes again! Honestly, I was pretty nervous about this book. I had read this author's other two thrillers and enjoyed both of them. One of them was even a five-star, however, as I was reading this the writing felt different (I was reading as an audio read along with the physical copy in hand and the voice actor was Southern; after I got adjusted the southern accent just added to the atmosphere, I recommend the audio of this book if you're interested). From what I noticed it seems that Ashely changes her writing to match how her character would view their circumstances so it really puts you in their head (but this is just an assumption; I could just be reading into things). But anyway I'm not gonna lie it took me a while to get into this book (not too long though, probably around the 25% mark), but once I was in it. I was IN IT! It was soooo good! I was eating it up and was loving every minute of it. I always hear people talk about getting "immersed into a world" when they read and I had trouble relating because I don't think I've ever felt that, but with THIS book as soon as I started reading it with each sitting it felt like I was in their world every time. There weren't that many descriptions in this book, however, I feel like the dialogue and the course of events that took place in this book really set up the atmosphere and the tone of this book. I applaud Ms. Winstead because that's not an easy task to convey the overall setting of your book through dialogue. I really enjoyed my reading experience with this book and most importantly I enjoyed Everett. He's highkey a psychopath, but I loved him.  He's become one of my favorite thriller book boyfriends (I don't condone his actions at all; he is a fictional character and I enjoyed reading about him and the way he was towards Ruth, that's all).  I loved Ruth and Everett. They're literally soulmates. I also enjoyed Ruth's journey through self-discovery and finding her voice (however radical that it was😅). Now I understand that this is one of those books where you either like it or you hate it and I could completely get someone giving this book 2 stars, but I don't know I really enjoyed it! It actually reminds me of another book "The History of Wild Places" by Shea Ernshaw, they both contain the same vibes, but I love this one more! Can't wait to read more Ashley Winstead books. She's becoming an auto-read auhtour for me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Torture, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Murder, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Bullying, Blood, Cursing, and Drug use

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Grief, Alcoholism, Animal death, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Abortion, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty