Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me. To start, I’m not a huge fan of the heavy foreshadowing: “this thing happened and people have feelings and thoughts but we’re just gonna keep talking about how it’s secretive to hold you over.” The relationships between characters seemed contrived, and the ending was a bit anticlimactic for me personally. :(

Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead.

For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe?

Someone knows what really happened the night Phoebe died. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

With Phoebe's memorial in just three days, grief, delusion, ambition, and regret tornado together with biting gossip in a town full of people obsessed with a long-gone tragedy with four people at its heart—the caretaker, the secret girlfriend, the missing bad boy, and a former football star. Just kids back then, are forever tied together the fateful rainy night Phoebe died.

This is the debut novel for author Ashley Tate, and was hooked from the beginning, and it slow-burned all the way through. It is entertaining and well written. The ending is gratifying and also a bit of a surprise!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book took me a bit of time to get into; none of the four narrators were compelling and the story didn’t grab me at first. As with most suspense books, it did catch fire for me about halfway through and I was turning the pages quickly after that. Does that mean I liked Twenty-Seven Minutes? Not exactly.

Our narrators are Grant Dean, brother of the dead girl Phoebe; Becca Hoyt, a troubled young woman who shares a secret with Grant; June Delroy, another young woman whose mother has just died of cancer; and Wyatt Delroy, June’s brother returned to town after 10 years gone (he disappeared on the night that Phoebe died).

Interspersed with the narrator chapters are chapters set 10 years back, right before the accident. These are seen from the perspective of various townspeople and focused usually on on of the narrators or on Phoebe.

In the present day, Grant is a depressed, anxious mess; as a high schooler he had a promising future in football, but the accident that killed Phoebe damaged his leg and ruined his prospects. Now he works at a chicken processing plant, drinks heavily and picks up random women, and is stuck living with his mother, who disapproved of him when Phoebe was alive (Phoebe was the golden child) and silently loathes him now.

Becca works at a grocery store and fends off her parents’ concerned entreaties that she consider returning to therapy. She is big mad that no one in West Wilmer seems to care about her or the fact that she was in the accident that killed Phoebe. It quickly becomes clear that she’s delusional about her “relationship” with Grant, among other things.

June seems like a somewhat nicer, though mousier version of Becca – her life is going nowhere, and with her mother’s recent death she’s all alone in the world. She lives in a dilapidated house (if she has a job I’m not sure I ever caught what it was), and is so poor she doesn’t have a car and has to walk a mile to town when she needs something, or borrow her elderly neighbor’s car. With Wyatt’s unexpected return, June becomes interested in finding out what really happened the night that Phoebe died and Wyatt disappeared. Was Wyatt at the high school party that Phoebe, Grant and Becca left together? What was he doing there? Did he and Grant have some sort of conflict?

Finally, we have Wyatt – formerly a town troublemaker and drug dealer, allegedly to Grant. His thoughts and motives remain frustratingly elusive throughout the book; he’s alternately protective of and menacing towards June, and he appears to be suffering from some sort of (possibly fatal?) disease that is taking a toll on his body (he keeps losing teeth, for one thing). Wyatt puts off June’s questions, for what feels like plot purposes more than anything else. He seems intent on confronting Grant at Phoebe’s memorial.

Not a lot happens for much of the book; the characters mostly spin their wheels, wallowing in their misery. It’s clear that everything is heading for a reckoning at the memorial, so a lot of the story before that feels like filler. But I did feel compelled to find out what actually happened, and I appreciated that the revelation, when it occurs, is straightforward, without twenty shocking twists. Actually, much of it was telegraphed and quite obvious, but the one twist actually *did* surprise me, though in retrospect the signs were there, so I’m thinking other readers might guess it earlier on.

What it came down to in my lack of enthusiasm for Twenty Seven Minutes is two things: unlikable characters and a grubby aesthetic. Of the four narrators, only June could be viewed as “probably a good person, more or less.” She’s also a sad-sack, so while I could feel sorry for her, I couldn’t like her. Grant is spiraling – has apparently been slowly spiraling for 10 years – but he’s full of anger and self-pity, and the way he strings Becca along is gross. Speaking of Becca, she’s not the worst of the four, but she is the most irritating. Sure, she’s clearly not well, mentally, but that doesn’t excuse how petty, mean and self-obsessed she is. Wyatt is the most opaque of the four; he seems to have been a troublemaker at one time but mostly seems pathetic at this point.

Pathetic is a fair description of the main four characters, most of the people in West Wilmer, and honestly the town itself. There’s a reason I gravitate towards suspense books set in upper-class London or New York, or at posh universities. As when I primarily read romance, I prefer a bit of glamor in my reading. At the very least I don’t want *everything* to feel both depressed and depressing. This is a personal preference, so it’s not a criticism of the book – the sense of hopelessness, low-grade poverty and the dead-end quality of West Wilmer is well depicted. I just really don’t vibe with any of that at all.

One smallish thing that I felt was a missed opportunity – Phoebe never really came alive for me, and I think that’s important when you have a story that centers around a dead character that other characters are mourning. I was told that she was beautiful, smart, ambitious, and kind. It later becomes clear that she’s in her own way as messed up as everyone else, and she has an obsession with controlling her brother that verged on creepy. Somehow I never really cared about her or the fact that she died young and tragically.

The ending featured some arguably supernatural elements – depending on how you read things, but I definitely read them in a way that suggested the supernatural. It was a little unexpected, but I liked that aspect of the story. I’m not sure what grade to give Twenty Seven Minutes – readability is a B+, enjoyment is more like a C. I guess I’ll give it a B-/C+.

I was very disappointed in this one and I was so looking forwards to reading it. I just found that for over 300 pages long, nothing much happens. All the characters were unlikable and the "twist" was predictable and disappointing.

Past and present converge near the anniversary of Phoebe's death. Rumors and secrets have swirled for 10 years on why it took Grant 27 minutes to call for help. The truth will come out as as small town and its residents ask questions and push for answers. Told by multiple characters in different timelines, this quick paced and engrossing novel was a delightful thriller!

Many thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I tried a few times to get into this but unfortunately, it was not for me. I really enjoy the author but this fell short of my expectations. I encourage others to try it for themselves!

Thanks to Twenty-Seven Minutes and Net Galley for this advanced copy. This one took a few tries to get into, but once I did, I was captivated. The writing was deep and beautiful, without being overly flowery. Each of the protagonists felt full--while also being flawed, which in a thriller works best to keep the reader guessing. However, the twist at the end was easily guessable, and I remember thinking that if I'd stopped at the 30% mark, I would have been fine to guess the ending. The town and the people were well written, but I needed a few more twists to make this one a true mystery/thriller. 3/5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book.
I read it over a few days, and couldn't wait till I got free time to read it more.

This heart-wrenching mystery, with its intricate plot twists, had me captivated from the start. The author unflinchingly explores raw grief and loss, weaving a narrative so haunting it left me emotionally raw. It's a testament to the writer's skill that such beautiful storytelling can evoke such powerful emotions.

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry, I really wanted to like this book. Too many characters and quite boring. It took me quite awhile to finish this book, at one time I almost was going to put it down. Thank you for the chance to read this.

Interesting story and did keep me reading to the end. Also led to a surprise ending well. Just felt it was a little bogged down at times. Certainly dug into the effect of trauma on a life and how “27minutes” can change everything.

Dark, twisty & eerie.

I loved how eerie tis book was. There was detailed hallucinations and bodily harm which, me being dark and twisty myself, really enjoyed.

It did feel like a bit of a slow burner for me but I'm glad i finished it because when the twists came, they were very fast-paced and I must admit that I didn't see the final twist coming.

Told in multiple POVs in both the present and past, Twenty-Seven Minutes relies heavily on the characters’ mental health issues to create unreliable narrators and further the suspense of what happened a decade ago. I am always wary of books that use this device in mysteries and unfortunately it didn’t work for me here. I would have liked to see the mystery of the night Phoebe died be shrouded by something other than someone’s deteriorating mental health, especially given that it seems everyone in town believed what was originally told to police on that night so there was no real need to tell this story.

I had so many hopes for this book!
I loved the premise but unfortunately the books itself felt a little flat for me and I felt that it dragged a little bit.

I did enjoy this book but didn't love it. The plot line was definitely interesting and had so much potential but I found it hard to get into this one and it just fell a bit flat for me.

This book has been on my radar since before the actual release as it sounded exactly up my alley and this cover is so striking and has that thriller look. Being on holiday means I can sit outside on my porch swing and catch up on books and today's lucky read was Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate as the first couple I tried were DNFs. This one though had me captivated by the prologue where we see a young girl Phoebe Dean slowly dying on the road after an accident we assume. The book then jumps ten years ahead and it is coming up to the 10th Anniversary of Phoebe Dean's death and the town is also up in arms as they want to pull down the bridge as someone else has died. We can see that Garrett Dean controls the narrative in this book as he has some dark secrets from that night and if it was to get out then everything he has ever known would be gone. He has gotten away with murder for ten years, what's another ten years right? The thing though is that a few people in the town Becca and June are done being quiet and want answers as that same night that Phoebe Dean died, Becca was in the car and Wyatt aka June's brother disappeared without a trace. Becca has kept her mouth shut about what she saw as she is stuck in this delusion that she has been protecting the one she loved, but what happens when she has had enough of the secrets? Twenty-Seven Minutes was a slower read, but worth it as when you get to the ending and the twist with Wyatt - WOW and OMFG - so worth it. I am now looking forward to reading future books by Ashley Tate.

Twenty-Seven Minutes is an absolutely compelling story about a car accident which occurred a decade ago and the horrific trauma which the survivors have lived with through their lives and how because of the tragedy the directions of their lives were changed forever. As the full story of the incident which took place on a bridge is relayed, it comes out that there were twenty-seven minutes which were unaccounted for. The book slowly goes back and relays what happened that fateful night and how those who survived remember the accident.

So, what happened during those twenty-seven minutes?

A decade has passed since a high school student, Phoebe Dean died in a car accident which occurred on a dangerous bridge in the small town of West Milner. Phoebe was perfection. Beautiful, smart and excited about leaving this small town with her brother Grant and moving to the big city and becoming someone.

Although those who were in the car on the bridge that rainy night, have foggy memories of just what happened, the one thing they have in common is that the accident and death destroyed their own lives, and they were changed that night.

Especially Grant, who was in the truck with his sister. He was a football star going places. Now, years later he can barely keep a job and drinks too much. Then there is Becca who was also in the truck and can’t remember much, but Grant has told her what happened, and they have had a pact never to tell. Becca has had a massive crush on Grant all these years, and Grant to this day always keeps Becca at arm’s length because she had issues before the accident and now is even worse.

At the time of the accident, the Sherrif always felt something was off about what went wrong on the bridge and felt there were extra minutes, twenty-seven to be exact which were unaccounted for. But they stuck to their story, and nothing could be proven.

And then there is June who was also in high school with the group and although was not at the bridge that evening, is now alone. Her mother has just died and her brother Wiley, who had been a troublemaker at the time, ran away years ago and her mother was devastated, and the town basically disowned them when he left and when her mother passed no one even came to the cemetery.

Now, with the memorial days away, and a vote to tear down the bridge coming up, Grant and Becca are beside themselves. You see, they know what happened on the bridge…or so they think. Someone knows…

Twenty-Seven Minutes will have you on the edge of your seat, engrossed in the story trying to figure out just what happened that night. And when all is revealed, just know it will shock and surprise you to your core!

Thank you #NetGalley #PoisenedPenPress #AshelyTate #Twenty-SevenMinutes for the advanced copy.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town, the indelible impression left by its tragedies and the legacy of unanswered questions are all eloquently captured in this mesmerising tale. It's carefully woven, layered, and gripping.

From page one, the reader is expected to be on the edge of their seat... but why? Every character is ugh and those little hooks that are supposed to draw you in just never get a grip. Lots of threads, but none of them really grabbed me.

Oh well.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Twenty-Seven Minutes was a great read by Ashley Tate. Phoebe Dean was a popular girl, both alive and dead. For the last ten years, everyone struggled to understand why Grant Dean took twenty-seven minutes to call for help the night his sister Phoebe died in a car accident. Someone out there knows what happened that night and are ready to tell the truth. Her memorial is in three days. Although they were just kids, four people were tied together the night Phoebe died; the caretaker, the secret girlfriend, the missing bad boy, and a former football star. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.