Book Review - The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

Title: The Last Housewife
Author: Ashley Winstead
Genre: Thriller
Published: 2022
 
Description: While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and het best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the worlds 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 heart 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 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 privileges 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 it – is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?
 
Review: It doesn’t take long before you’re hooked. “The Last Housewife” by Ashley Winstead” is a real page turner. Some trigger warnings:  physical and sexual violence, drug use, misogyny, self-harm and trauma.
 
The book follows Shay Evans, a columnist who is focusing on writing a book. She listens to a true-crime podcast by Jamie, one of her best friends from high school, and finds out that one of her college roommates Laurel has been found dead. Jamie suspects it’s murder, when authorities claim it was suicide. Shay decides to travel back to New York, to find out for herself.
 
Shay is united with Jamie and the closer they get to the truth, the more we learn about Shay’s dark past. Shay and Laurel, together with two other college friends, were manipulated by a man named Don, who used physical, emotional, mental and sexual dominance over them. Don demanded that they behave according to traditional gender roles, and if they didn’t, his punishment escalated from withholding his attention to more physical methods.
 
As a reader you’re constantly trying to find out what Shay’s motivation is: is she trying to find justice for her friend, or is she secretly longing to submit again? Even after eight years, Shay didn’t manage to free herself from Don’s grip.
 
The power dyamic between men and women is an important theme in this story. When Shay was under Don’s control, she learned what this meant in its most extreme form. Although much more subtle, Shay’s husband Cal also exercises a form of dominance. Using money as his power weapon.
 
The story is very disturbing. The power these men wield over women is disgusting and infuriating. But unfortunately it’s still very topical. Traditional gender roles and misogyny are still a big problem in this world. And Ashely Winstead manages to create a memorable and satisfying piece of noir fiction. Never expected the dark turns this novel would take and that I would eventually end up loving it this much.
 
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Book Review - In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

Title: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife
Series: -
Author: Ashley Winstead
 
Description: Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see, confident, beautiful, indifferent, not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything. Including the tight bond linking the six friends she’s been closest to since freshman year.
 
Ten years ago everything fell apart, including the dream she worked for an the relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love. But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night, and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.
 
Review: “In My Dreams I Hold a Knife” is told in dual timelines, as we travel back to University with Jessica Miller. Ten years ago, her senior year was tarnished when her roommate Heather was brutally murdered. The case is unsolved, although the police had a suspect, their wasn’t enough evidence to link the crime to him. Most people still believe that he, Jack, is guilty, but Jessica never did.
 
Jessica goes back to the university for a reunion, finally getting together with all her friends from those days. These friends were responsible for her best and her worst days, so she says. And many of them haven’t quite moved on from Heather’s murder. They are getting ready for the truth to be told, about what really happened to Heather all those years ago.
 
I always enjoy a thriller with dual timelines, slowly unfolding the story mystery. That was well done. It had suspense and tension enough for me to keep reading. The characters though, were highly unlikeable, I didn’t care for a single one of them. Not even Heather, the murdered girl.
 
When I heard this book had a big twist, I was excited, but wasn’t really that surprised when it was revealed. But right at the very end, Ashley Winstead added another one, which made me like this book a bit more. For me it was just meh up until then, that final twist made me add a half star.
 
I believe “In My Dreams I Hold a Knife” is a great book to start with, if you haven’t read many mystery thrillers yet. And it’s an enjoyable read. But not satisfying enough for a more frequent thriller reader like me. I read somewhere that “The It Girl” by Ruth Ware did this theme better, with an even better twist, so adding that one to my never ending TBR.
 
Rating: 3/ 5