This book was an incredibly slow burn for me. It was not at all what I expected and I didn't care for any of the characters. I pretty much figured out what happened half way through, minus one crazy revelation at the end.

DNF I'm sorrryyyyyy! I really am going to try to read this book again, but after reading maybe 20-30% I was just lost and not enjoying the reading experience.

I had a hard time keeping up with the many characters and multiple POVs. I felt every character was trying very hard, but I wasn't attached to any of them.

Same with the plot, it was just a lot of nothing for me. HOWEVER, this could very well be because I read this so slowly, I could've lost part of the plot. I just didn't have any desire to keep going. Who knows though, this book may have the best second half ever and I just couldn't get there.

Like I said, I'm def def def going to try again at some point when I am ready to deep dive a complicated thriller lol. Hopefully I can edit this in a few weeks with a much better review!

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Ashley Tate for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

🚑 But the ambulance was called too late - TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES too late 🚑 … holy gripping thriller alert! “Twenty Seven Minutes” by Ashley Tate is sinister, manipulating, suffocating, raw, gut wrenching and bone chilling!!!!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

10 years ago, the small town of West Wilmer faced a local tragedy. A teenaged girl died in a shocking car crash and the story behind what happened that night just never seemed to add up properly 🤔…

Phoebe Dean had a PLAN for herself and her brother Grant to get the hell out of their mother’s house and their suffocating small town after graduation. Leading up to the party that changed everything THAT NIGHT, Phoebe was on edge and smothering her brother a lot more than usual. Both siblings held on tight to dark secrets … and the truth began to unravel at the party. Wasted and behind the wheel leaving the party, Grant survives the crash but sadly not Phoebe. It took Grant 27 minutes to FINALLY call for help. It was that 27 minutes that could have kept Phoebe alive. And Grant will have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.

Now it is the 10 year anniversary of Phoebe’s death and Grant is DROWNING in the secrets that he has had to keep all these years. Someone else was there that night in his car … WILL the truth come out OR stay locked up forever?

Thank you kindly to Canadian debut author @ashleytateauthor (you go girl) @poisonedpenpress @netgalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on January 30, 2024 and is 💯 percent worth checking out!!

This wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read, but it wasn’t great either. It seemed like there were just too many reveals, and the end of the story didn’t necessarily go with the amount of buildup that it gathered. It wasn’t enough to make me never want to read another one of Ms. Tate’s books, but this one just wasn’t it.

The twist is like that moment on a roller coaster when you suddenly plummet 100 feet to the ground. 😳 It makes so much sense, but it never crossed your mind and so, WHAT?!

Great debut novel from Ashley Tate! I can’t wait to read more from her.

I did really love the multiple perspectives and different story lines, but the story was so similar that it was hard to love any of them. What would Harley’s story have been like?

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Ashley Tate for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ten years ago, Phoebe died on the old bridge. There have always been questions about the incident that are only now getting answers.

This book had a lot of promise but fell short for me. There are a lot of characters that are all very unlikable. While this isn't always a bad thing, in this case I had no one I wanted to see succeed. The drive to find out what happened to Phoebe was strong and that is what kept me reading.

Overall, if you love thrillers with many characters that are all hiding something, this is the book for you!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

An incredibly slow burn. Was it worth it? I'm still deciding. None of the characters were relatable because there was very little character development. The twist was cool, but it felt like we were never ever going to get there.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Shocking plot twist that I wasn’t expecting. The plot dragged a little. I didn’t understand the connection between Wyatt’s constant nose bleed and loss of teeth. I kept waiting for a connection as to why that was happening. I was happy with the ending. Justice for Wyatt!

This a case of terrible characters that were terrible people but also terribly uninteresting. Was a slog to get through and the “twists”…. good lord I guessed in the first 20% and this time it wasn’t a guess everything and see what sticks kind of guess. lol.
basically ten years ago Phoebe Dean was killed in a car crash, her brother was driving and her friend was in the back seat. She might not have died if they hadn’t wait to call the police for 27 minutes.
The cover sucked me in. And the story was a bit of a disappointment…

Thanks to NetGalley and Posioned Pen Press for an eARC.

I really wanted to like this, but I have mixed feelings. It starts as a slow build character study that follows multiple people 10 years after an accident. I could handle it being on the slow side and being more of an exploration of grief, but then it tries to be a thriller too, and picks up the pace considerably at the end. And it didn’t all work for me.

The high school drama was exhausting, and seeing that no one really changed or grew up in the ten years following the accident was sad. I predicted the big twist pretty early on, but somehow it still doesn’t completely make sense to me. And what was with the weird co dependent relationship between siblings Grant and Phoebe? I’ve watched GOT too many times to ever be okay with the way they acted with each other.

I think if this tried to focus more on the characters and their grief, and less about the mystery, this would’ve worked for me. All of the characters had a lot of issues, and none of them seemed to be actively trying to fix them.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting story about a small town and it's secrets regarding the death of one of it's own.

10 years ago, young Phoebe died in a car accident while her brother Grant was driving. It was 27 minutes after the crash that Grant called for help, why the wait? A memorial is being planned for the 10 year anniversary and everyone involved is becoming more and more unsettled. What happened at the party before the crash, why di d Wyatt disappear, what does Becca know? told in present and past timelines, the story slowly unfolds to a satisfying conclusion.

Phoebe Dean died in a car accident 10 years ago, on the night of a high school party. Grant, Phoebe's brother, and his friend Becca, were also in the car and survived. Becca's memory is vague about that night due to her injuries, so she can't seem to remember why it took Grant 27 minutes to call for help.

Starting off slow, but with plenty twists and turns, this book still didn't do it for me. Unfortunately I found the characters unlikeable and couldn't get into the story like I normally would. Finding out the events of that night should keep you hooked, and you never know, this book may be your new favourite.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Please send out my thank you to the publisher, I could not stress enough how thankful I was with your approval.

I would like to start by saying that I really did not enjoy this book, as much I would want to keep on going, I DNF this book at 30%. I apologize.

West Wilmer lost one of its angels ten years ago. One fateful night, teenager Phoebe Dean left a party never to be seen again alive. Suffocating under their grief and regret, her family has fractured and only continued living in theory. Her brother, Grant, in particular, has never been the same since he stood beside his sister’s broken body on the bridge all those years ago. A horrendous car crash that claimed her young life, what ifs run through his mind every hour of every day. After all, he’d been the one driving.

What the town wants to know, however, is why it took Grant a shocking twenty-seven minutes to call for help that tragic rainy night. Ever since, curious rumors and mean-spirited gossip have been whispered into ears and repeated by drunks. Was there more to the story than what Grant said occurred? It’s possible, of course, given that the only reason there was no real investigation was because of Becca. In the wrong place at the wrong time, she was in the backseat of the truck when it happened.

Little does anyone know, however, but someone else who knows what really happened is finally back in town. And the memorial service planned for the tenth anniversary of Phoebe’s death will be the perfect opportunity to settle the score. With a town full of questions and plenty of sorrow, delusion, and remorse swirling in the air, the four people at the center of the event come together to finally hash out the truth. Will the past at long last be set free? Or can those desperate to protect their lies manage to maintain their secretive web?

I am quite literally stunned into silence after finishing Twenty-Seven Minutes. A poignant tale of reverberating loss, deep grief, and unending regret, it also rang throughout with heaps of foreboding. At the same time, however, this was no psychological thriller. Despite a truly shocking twist at the end, this book was instead a superbly drawn drama. And while I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, I wish I’d known ahead of time so that I could’ve adjusted my expectations.

From the get-go, the characters were immaculately described with *chef’s kiss* prose as they led the plot in their search for the truth. Devastated by the events of one night a decade ago, the multiple distinct voices demonstrated personas that showed the various ways a character can be unreliable. Believe me when I say, I didn’t know who to believe and what facts to trust. All of which created a storyline filled to the brim with emotion.

Speaking of that plot, told via multiple POVs in dual timelines, it drew a startlingly clear picture of what could’ve happened that heartbreaking night while also leading me by the nose with multiple red herrings. Just the same, I do have to admit that I figured out the big, huge, whopping twist well ahead of the reveal. After all, the scattered clues provided just enough of a hint that I was able to put the puzzle pieces together.

At the same time, this was most definitely not a thriller or even a very intense novel of suspense. The biggest strengths were down to the well-drawn grief and sorrow expressed within these stunning pages. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of dread alongside a bit of impending doom, but even put together the two didn’t add up to a very strong whatdunnit in the end. No, this was instead a beautiful trip into dramatic fiction that held a literary edge.

All in all, this raw exploration of what trauma and secrets can do to a person created a bewitching picture of suffocating sadness. Complete with fully fleshed out individuals who had thick backstories including a town rife with gossip so real that it felt like a character itself, I was utterly captivated. Still, don’t go into this one looking for a thriller, as no matter how hard you search, it’s simply not there. Rating of 4 stars.

Ultimately this book just didn’t really work for me. It was a bit anticlimactic, and I didn’t feel the characters were fully fleshed out. Maybe skip this one.

I received an ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I received this ebook as an ARC thanks to NetGally. I was interested in this after reading the synopsis, and the cover caught my attention. I attempted to read it on and off and I just struggled to continue reading. I DNF’d this book after the first few chapters.

I'm a fan of thriller and suspense fiction. I love a great who-done-it and love a surprising ending. Although I liked this debut from Ashley Tate, I did find it a little hard to get into the story. It starts by recounting the tragic story of the town's bright star, Phoebe Dean, perishing in a car accident. The timeline then jumps back and forth between present and 10 years ago, when the accident occurred, and you begin to learn that there is always more to the story, and maybe a simple accident wasn't so simple. I don't usually have trouble skipping between persons and/or timelines, but sometimes I felt this was difficult to follow. I felt that it was a good debut and would be interested to read more from Ashley Tate. Thanks so much to Ashley Tate, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

hank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate will be released on January 30th, 2024.


I had such high hopes for this book and I could not wait to start it when I was finally approved. This story was so long and drawn out and it felt like the plot went in circles the entire time. The characters were dull and that ending? I hate rating books low, but this one was just….it wasn’t the book I was hoping for it to be.

I won’t lie it took my a little bit to get into the story but overall I had a great time reading it.

I really wanted to like this book...I really did. It was very slow to start and felt repetivive but I kept going thinking that the twists at the end woud be worth it. And while I did enjoy the ending it just couldn't make up for everything else.