Love a good psychological thriller and this one did not disappoint! Would definitely read more from this author!

Ashley Tate’s debut novel would have benefitted from working with a good editor to tighten up her story about a missing “Twenty-Seven Minutes” ten years ago that has impacted a small town in America (possibly Michigan—there is a passing reference to “the road to East Lansing”). The story about the death of a popular girl in town is told from the viewpoint of three people directly involved in the event—Becca, Grant (who was driving), and Wyatt (who disappeared that day)—and Wyatt’s sister June, who was indirectly involved because of her brother disappearance. The story’s conclusion comes across, at least to this reader, as being a little contrived when more complex options had presented themselves during the development of the story. The version that I read came with Discussion Questions, which make it ready-made for Book Club use.

4 ⭐️


Synopsis:
-This book occurs over a 3-day period before the 10-year anniversary of Phoebe Dean's death. Phoebe Dean died in a car accident on a bridge, and the town has been grieving her loss ever since. It takes 27 minutes from when the accident occurred for Grant Dean, her brother, and the driver to call for help, and no one knows why. June's brother also went missing the night of the accident and has been trying to find him ever since, but people have forgotten him in the midst of grieving Phoebe. One person shows up who is ready for the secrets to come out and for everyone to know what happened that fatal night 10 years ago.


What I liked:
-A plot twist that I did not see coming
-This book kept me curious to see where it was going.
- Multiple POVs
- Dual Timeline

What I didn't like:
-I felt like this was a very slow burn
-Nothing major happens until the last 10% of book
- Mental health representation with poor treatment and portrayal.
- Some POVs are conflicting, making it difficult to understand the true dynamics between some characters.

Overall:
I loved this book and would highly recommend it. The plot twist at the end made it all worth it to me. My dislikes are what makes this a 4 ⭐️ instead of a 5 ⭐️. I was intrigued the entire time, and the double timeline worked well for me.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

27 minutes ahhhh!!! Where to begin?? This book was genuinely so so amazing and I had the best time reading it!

I love reading debut novels and finding a new author to follow, therefore I feel bad about my review.

This book missed the mark for me. It follows a dual timeline of the past and present. The focus is on what actually happened on the night of a car accident 10 years ago that took the life of a teenage girl. The driver, her brother Grant, was found innocent of any wrongdoing. On the same night of the accident, another local teen Wyatt suddenly disappeared. His disappearance is overshadowed by the car accident. His sister June is hoping for his return as she is totally alone.

I wasn’t fond of most of the characters, but I was curious about what happened that night. That’s the only reason I continued reading. Otherwise it was very long and drawn out, repetitive and not original. It jumped back and forth between the two timelines abruptly, not with a smooth transition. It was more a drama theme versus a thriller.

Thank you Ashley Tate, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are mine alone and not biased in any way.

What really happened the night of the accident ten years ago?

Why didn't Grant call the ambulance immediately instead of waiting twenty-seven minutes to call for help.

It has been ten years and those people that know what happened have been struggling with the truth they didn't make known all of these years.

Now that they are going to have a memorial service for Phoebe, Grant's sister, will the truth come out?

Why do they need this memorial when another person just got killed on that same bridge, and talk of tearing it down are in the works?

And what about the disappearance of Wyatt on the same night? Had he been involved?

TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES goes back and forth in time telling events and life situations from ten years ago and present day.

The book took a while to catch my interest, and the odd characters were none that I could warm up to or sympathize with, but it does get better so don't give up.

There is a surprise ending. 4/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Why did it take Twenty Seven Minutes? Dive into this twisty thriller by Ashley Tate and find out. I recommend buying a physical copy of this book so it’s easier to keep track of some of the characters and timelines. I love stories that start with what happened and then retrace the steps that got us there. Truly enjoyable thriller.

I enjoy a novel that slowly builds the tension, and this debut novel by Ashley Tate executed it to perfection. Told from multiple viewpoints, we hear about a devastating car crash that happened ten years earlier. Slowly the details are filled in, and then we finally learn what everyone in the small town of West Wilmer wants to know: Why did it take Grant 27 minutes to call for help?

But, oh, the twist! The twist is simply divine!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

This one was just a total miss for me. Nothing really happens until the last few chapters of the book and every single character was a terrible person. I'm all for unlikeable characters but they were also boring and I didn't care for being in their heads.

This book took me a minute to get into, it felt like a ticking clock, slow when you notice it’s moving and yet it flies when you’re not paying attention. It was a weird way for a thriller to be paced, but I still enjoyed it.

The plot twist, I can see how one could see it coming, but I did not, and honestly that’s what makes a good thriller to me. I loved the way the author built the plot twist, and yet leaves me with more questions now that I’ve finished.

Overall, a good thriller that I would recommend.

This book had a lot great potential, and some great plot points, but I also found it a little confusing and hard to follow. It felt like there were one-too many characters to keep track of. I understand that the small-town rumor mill was its own character (based on the conversation with the author in the back) but feel like one or two of those characters could've been removed to keep things straight. The time jumps were fun, but ultimately felt like the 27 minute gap wouldn't actually be 27 minutes. The mystery took a long time to build, and felt like it crescendo'd and ended very quickly. I would've loved more dialogue between the characters and be able to hear the dialogue when the truth came out. Overall, a good book.

It's the 10th anniversary of a tragic accident that left one girl dead and her brother distraught. In fact the whole town is in an uproar about tearing down the bridge where the accident happened. Many lives have been affected.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Ashley Tate for an ARC of Twenty-Seven Minutes. This book is about one fateful night ten years ago and a tragic accident. Phoebe Dean was in a car accident with her brother, Grant, and another girl from school, Becca. The question is - why did it take Grant twenty seven minutes to call for an ambulance? Becca will do anything to help Grant keep that secret, but now she’s wondering what really did happen that night? June’s brother, Wyatt, also disappeared that night and hasn’t been seen since. No one has paid attention to his disappearance since Phoebe died that night also. This book goes between multiple characters view points. I did really enjoy the story, but at some points it was hard to keep up with who was who and who did what. I don’t think I would’ve been able to read the physical copy since had to look up on the kindle things that happened in the past to keep the story line straight. I did enjoy the ending - wish I got a little more closure, but overall it was good! The drama in this town though - insane lol!

Twenty-Seven Minutes was a book that was a miss for me. The dialogue was random and not intriguing. I also felt the storyline came in chunks. The story was not very smooth and just felt like it dragged. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book for review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I give this a solid 3 stars. The beginning chapter was great and had me hooked. The rest of the book felt like a soap opera, but waiting for the twist and the truth to come out kept me hooked. I enjoyed the ending, but it felt slightly rushed. I would read more books by Ashley Tate!

Synopsis:
The book follows a dual timeline of the present and a decade past. Both plots circle the truth of what caused a fatal car accident that claimed the life of a teenage girl, Phoebe. Her brother, Grant, was the driver and absolved of any wrongdoing. However, as the tenth anniversary of that fatal night closes in, Grant is tormented with guilt. On the same night Phoebe passed away, June's brother Wyatt mysteriously disappeared. Coined the "bad boy" of their quiet town, Wyatt's missing presence is overshadowed by the tragic car accident. While everyone else prepares to memorialize Phoebe's death, June works to shed light on her family's tragedy with the hope of finding her brother.

Review:
Character Development - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The entire cast of this novel is selfish, delusional, and easy to hate. However, each point of view was carefully crafted to develop unique perspectives. So, while I didn't enjoy any of the characters, the author successfully developed realistic personalities.

Plot - ⭐️⭐️ The book was woefully predictable and slow. Furthermore, despite attempts to create a shocking twist, the ending fell flat and was riddled with plot holes.

Writing Style - ⭐️⭐️ The transitions between character points of view and various timelines were jarring and disjointed. The narrative lacked flow and cohesiveness.

Originality - ⭐️⭐️ There are a plethora of TV dramas and low-budget films with similar plots.

Overall, I was not a fan of Twenty-Seven Minutes. Marketing this book as a thriller is quite a stretch. It reads more like a small-town drama or a Lifetime movie. There were sprinkles of interesting ideas, like an unresolved toxic brother-sister dynamic and an obsessive teen stalker, but they floated at the surface of the plot. The author didn't dive into these more complex themes and instead focused on more traditional feelings of grief and guilt. As a debut novel, Twenty-Seven Minutes was underwhelming and unremarkable.

I received an advanced copy of Twenty-Seven Minutes courtesy of NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

“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? If he'd called sooner, she might still be alive.”

MY TAKE:
This story is told in multiple POVs and I did find it hard at times to keep up. It went back and forth with timelines as well. I found it just to be an ok read for me. I liked it but didn’t love it. I was hoping for more suspense and more twists. The characters are unreliable and I felt like it was a little long winded at times.

Overall, I think if you like a more slow paced, thriller this one is for you!

So many secrets!!!!

This small town ten years after a horrible tragedy is faced with a new death at the same accident scene. This begins the unraveling of many secrets that so many were keeping for the past tens years.

Loved this one and enjoyed the journey the author took the reader on. You feel for each character and loved each one’s POV and how the story unfolded going back and forth from between each person until you had the entire story from past to present day.

This is an easy recommendation for me once it releases.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC.

I’ve got a soft spot for a debut and this one is no different. A thriller that was confusing to start (multiple POV and flashbacks), it is the story about the aftershocks of a high school death.

Phoboe, the younger brother of Grant, lay dying for 27 minutes before he called the police. What happened that night and who else knows the secret is what unravels throughout the story.

Unfortunately I guessed the ending pretty quick and I think that took my excitement out of the end twist (no spoilers here!). It kind of felt like “that’s it?!” When I finished the book. And I’m not sure if it was a me thing, just wrong book, wrong time or maybe I wanted more depth of characters or a bigger ending.

Regardless I am still grateful for the arc and will follow the authors next book to see if it was just a wrong timing thing.

Bottom line: liked it. Didn’t love it.

I found this to be quite slow for a thriller. I appreciated what the author was trying to do by making both main characters unreliable narrators. But I found the entire book quite slow and repetitive in parts. I also didn’t care much for the main characters. I enjoyed the writing style and found it easy to get into but I wish the stakes were higher.