Title: The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

Genre: Thriller

Keywords: secret society, suicide turned homicide, BDSM

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

What did you call yourself when you’d taken an active role in your own suffering?

This is one DARK, twisty book! It is honestly too complicated for me to even give you a good summary, so I’m going to copy the synopsis from goodreads for you. There is a lot of abuse- consensual and otherwise- in this book, so that’s just a warning! BUT it was a really good thriller. I loved the complexity of the characters and all the different characters that were a player in the story. 

Summary:

While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world 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 tiny Texas suburb. But when she hears 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 back 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 privilege 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 of it—is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?

This story gave me conspiracy, illuminati vibes and I really enjoyed that! I would definitely recommend this book to thriller lovers that aren’t afraid to get a little dark.