A review by minimicropup
Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Setting the Scene: 🇺🇸 Nestled in a small Louisiana parish wrapped in a bayou
POV: We’re following a young adult grappling with the effects of their sheltered religious upbringing as they try to branch out on their own in adult life. 
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Romantic suspense with coming-of-age friend crushes, will-they-or-wont-they, and unrequited loves
-Literary fiction meets dark cozy mystery + melancholic drama with depth
-Southern Bayou atmospheres, character driven narratives, and multiple timelines in an unhinged town with a sprinkling of supernatural
-Themes and exploration of hypocrisy, the many faces of good and evil, morally grey situations, protection, loyalty, platonic and romantic love, escape, healing, introspection and self-discovery, belief, nature vs nurture, tragedy, and longing. 
 
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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕
 
🗣️ Tale-Telling: The first-person narrative pulled us into our main character, Ruth’s, mind. We were privy to her innermost thoughts and feelings…it’s like she was whispering secretively to us then going off on tangents in her own little world and other times rehashing things. I think it was a purposeful part of her character development and personality rather than a writing flaw though.  
 
👥 Characters: Ruth is a complex character, but can be annoying, which I think is to be expected for someone who has grown up so sheltered, abused, and repressed. She’s navigating her identity, clouded by her fixation on fictional worlds and romance (like ‘Twilight’) and the struggle to break free from and recognize trauma. 
(I don't think there was a Twilight obsession here or that it was overdone. It seemed immature at Ruth’s age that she was still  using it sometimes to learn about herself and navigate her life by drawing parallels between herself and Bella. But it makes total sense since she wasn't given room for healthy self-growth and identity as a teen. )
 
🗺️ Ambiance: The Bayou setting was rich and palpable, and it was threaded throughout the story, so the atmosphere didn’t die out over time. The town and its inhabitants were as much a character as Ruth, adding layers to the setting in a kind of over-the-top, but believable way. 
 
🔥 Fuel: The core of this story was the romantic tension and exploration of girlhood and adolescence. The murder ‘mystery’ is more about if the cases will be solved rather than what happened, and it takes a backseat to the romance and literary exploration of the other themes. 
 
🎬 Scenes: The pace to me was slow, often delving into Ruth’s introspection and struggles with trust and love. But for romance enthusiasts, that may translate to depth and be a great read. If you’re going in expecting a mystery or thriller, it could feel like a drag. The romantic scenes seemed well crafted and cinematic though. I’m not a romance reader (no yucking yums, it’s just not for me), so this felt long, melancholic, and a little overly dramatic. 
 
🤓 Random Thoughts: This  is a literary fiction romantic drama with thoughtful commentary on how we judge young girls and their interests as cringe, silly, vapid, childish, stupid, or sinful. It also happens to have some murders in it...
This is not the mystery thriller it has been marketed as. It’s a deep, even beautiful story, but I think that’s getting lost in the frustration of readers who aren’t used to this genre (me) or who weren’t interested in reading that when they picked this book up (also me). I don’t regret reading it, nor did I want to DNF, but I  felt a certain frustration in the moment, like I was tricked a bit into investing in the story. 
 
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Content Heads-Up: Physical child abuse (descriptive, on page). Sexual child abuse (recalled, discussion). Mental and emotional child abuse and neglect. Attempted rape. Adult/minor relationship (grooming). Murder. Corruption (institutional, religious). Drugs and organized crime. Alcoholism. Religious abuse, rituals, and trauma. Repression. Fire (injury, building). Sexual content (first experiences, fantasies, consenting).
Rep: White American. Pale and dark-skinned characters. Cis-gender. Heterosexual. 
 
👀 Format: Library Digital
 
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