The Last Housewife

✮✮✮✮

May 24

The Last Housewife - Ashley Winstead

my review : ✮✮✮✮

This incredibly dark and gripping story gets its hooks in you and doesn’t let go.

8 years ago, Shay Evans was a college student in upstate New York. She and her best friends meet a charismatic and captivating man who seduces and manipulates them into his dark world. Shay and Laurel manage to escape, and both vow to put that life very far behind them. We meet Shay 8 years later as a wealthy woman living with her husband in the suburbs of Dallas. When Shay learns—via her favorite true crime podcast—that Laurel is dead, she begins to fear her past is still very much alive. Shay decides she has to investigate what really happened to Laurel and decides to team up with the podcast host and take investigative matters into their own hands….

This story deals with very traumatic subject matters, and I would recommend checking trigger warnings before diving in. Honestly, if you have any triggers, I would avoid this book. Essentially we are dealing with a very depraved & disturbing sex cult and the complexities and psychology of assault, manipulation, consent, desire, and the list goes on.

All that being said, I thought the storytelling was masterful, and the podcast element was a nice touch. No matter how much I wanted to at times, I could not stop thinking about this story. I am sure it is one that will be stuck in the depths of my brain for far too long. I couldn’t stomach the story at night, so I broke it up with R.S. Grey’s most recent release. Overall, if you can stomach the subject matter, I think you’ll find this book engrossing.