Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

24 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

       You may not like this book if you are a fundamentalist Christian, as it deals with some of the hypocrisy of a fictional pastor, I'm sure modeled after some real ones. It also deals with an incorrectly labeled fictional Wiccan sect which was much more Satanist than true Wicca.
    That being said it was an excellent book, in my opinion, very dark, but a good romantic thriller. However, the end left me unsatisfied. I'd have liked an epilogue of what happened to the town after, and if the MCs made it through.
    I found the journey enjoyable, and it had some unpredictable twists. Overall, an excellent book.
 
 Narrator Rating:  4.25 stars
   Well the narrator did a good job, she didn't do enough tonal shifts for different characters' voices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gaslighting, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Misogyny, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Body horror, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Vomit, Addiction, Abortion, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma

The graphic animal cruelty & animal death were not too drawn out and at the start of the book. The other animal death wasn't on the page, just some parts with talk or one of the characters having a dead animal (snake and deer).

tiiiger35'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this book, I’d have given it 5 stars if it wasn’t for the ending which was open ended. 

It’s definitely a southern gothic thriller with an underlying supernatural element. 

It’s set in a religiously zealot small town, the author does a great job of describing the hot, humid, swampy, surroundings of the Deep South. 

Ruth, the pastors daughter is naive, submissive and too easily influenced. Her blind ignorance towards her surroundings irritated me a lot. 

I was very drawn to Evers’ character, a tormented soul who’s been mistreated his entire life. His vulnerability around Ruth is endearing & balances out his lingering darkness. 

I see a lot of people slating the Twiligjt references but what they don’t get is that young girls are drawn to books like that and figures Edward Cullen because it’s a love interest outside of society and morality. This cries out to a girl like Ruth confined by religious beliefs & restrictions. It’s no wonder she looked at Ever, as her idea of a dark romance waiting to save her. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the book.

It was hard to put down at times and I raced through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Murder, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abortion, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Drug abuse

judyhagan's review against another edition

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

ksquaredreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

sstewart89's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Rape, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

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 against another edition

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

bukworm345's review against another edition

This book was TERRIBLE. The main character is insipid and obsessed with Twilight. The driving force of the book is secrets- not mystery, just secrets. Ruth and Everett could have figured a lot of shit out if they stopped keeping secrets and started working together. There’s drugs, religious fanaticism, satanic rituals, pedos, corruption, and on top of all that mess there’s Twilight obsessed Ruth starting to think Wverett is an actual vampire/monster. Skip it. It’s not even a so bad-so good scenario because the characters are so dumb.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Violence, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Toxic relationship

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I liked this one ok. It's a classic story of the evil mankind, and men in particular, can cause. Particularly in the name of religion. 

The plot pacing is weird. Dragging with unnecessary details at times and skipping too fast to tell the full story in others. I found the MC, Ruth, to be incredibly naive - more than she should be given how much she reads. Her clunk love story with Ever was too angsty for adults and dragged down the plot. This is especially true in some scenes that showcase things like weirdly erotic first aid (why?).

And, as a final point, the story is entirely too reliant on the Twilight saga in lieu of writing new metaphors. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual violence

jmusil44's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Gore, Animal death, Violence, Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Animal cruelty, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, and Abortion