This is quite the book ! I read but still seems like it was a dream, Very hard to follow ALL the people. Stand back at the ending !

This is an entertaining, well-written, psychological thriller which is told in two time-lines by multiple narrators. It is a fast paced and suspenseful novel, which is focused on the secrets and mystery surrounding a small town tragedy. Its conclusion is gratifying and surprising!
Many thanks to Ms. Ashley Tate, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley who provided me with an ARC of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

Twenty-Seven Minutes is an atmospheric mystery that follows several characters over three days, before the memorial of a girl who died 10 years ago.

Phoebe Dean was the golden girl of her small town, until she died in an accident driving home from a party with her brother, Grant. Now, their mother has finally gotten the courage to plan a memorial for her, timed right with a vote to take down the bridge that claimed Phoebe’s life. Haunted by his sister, Grant has had a rough ten years, but he is adamant against the bridge being torn down. Meanwhile, he has to deal with Becca, a girl who has been obsessed with him since high school, but who is beginning to realize that something lurks beneath the surface. Finally, there’s June, whose brother disappeared the same night Phoebe died, but whose family has long been shunted aside in favor of the Deans. As Grant, Becca, and June all navigate through the three days before the memorial and the town vote, their stories intertwine in ways they couldn’t have imagined. The book weaves between past and present, with flashbacks to the night of Phoebe’s death.

Parts of the book are a bit slow, but these scenes help build the foreboding tension and atmosphere of the story. While the ending was a bit predictable, Twenty-Seven minutes is a great read for anyone who likes small-town mysteries.

This was a pleasant surprise! I truly could not figure out the truth until it was revealed. I loved the multiple POVs and time jumps. Phoebe was a weirdo, though. Based on the glimpses we have of her, I can’t figure out why she was so loved 😂

I have mixed feelings.
On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall plot and twists. The writing was great and mostly easy to follow even with the mixed timeline. The plot kept me interested and I truly didn’t have a guess for what was coming in the end.
On the other hand, the characters were generally unlikable, and there were too many POVs. The storyline could’ve been told just as adequately with significantly less perspective from each character. The back and forth between so many people was confusing at points and didn’t add to anything. It would’ve been nice to have one character that I was rooting for but I found I didn’t care what happened to anyone.

I seem to be on a losing streak lately with NetGalley request. Sadly this book fell flat for me. I suppose it’s not really my genre and so that makes sense. I think those who enjoy mystery more would find this to be a fun book. I felt this one was too predictable.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

What a twisty surprise! Twenty-seven Minutes will keep readers engrossed on what is actually going on in this small town and the mystery surrounding Phoebe Dean's death a decade ago. Told from four separate people's point of view, it's easy to overlook who might actually be responsible for Phoebe's death and why they took great pains to hide it.

Very good book, I really the read.

What happened? I hit the 87% mark and it went really quick without any explaination. I was confused.

The book had grabed my attention fast, but there was lots of repetition in the book. It had a fast-paced and multiple point-of-views. It was good, but nothing spectacular.

Thank you Ashley Tate, Net Galley, and PoisonedPenPress for accepting me to read this book!

in all honesty, two stars is possibly a bit generous for this book. the actual idea behind the plot is solid, but a book has never felt longer! i had absolutely no urgency in finding out what happened, and really couldn't care less about the characters.
the writing was at points quite repetitive, and it was all a bit over dramatic as opposed to actually suspenseful and interesting.
can't say l'd recommend.

This book kept me engaged from the start, and whenever I had to take a break from reading I was anxious to get back to it. It was like a puzzle, with pieces slowly but steadily falling into place while the picture became clearer. I liked the different POVs and found it fascinating to see events from various perspectives. There was something about the ending I didn't care for (no spoilers!), and a couple of things I felt were somewhat unresolved - unless I missed something because I was devouring it so quickly. Those were the only reason I didn't give it five stars. But it was fun to read, I do recommend it, and others may absolutely love the ending.

Twenty as even minutes by Alice Tate is full of several thing's I love in a novel. It's all you can ask for in a mystery, intrigue and suspense.

The story begins and it pulls you in and you just can't put in down. It start with the death of a popular girl. The chapters go back a forward among different people and their struggles around that one faithful night on a bridge when everyone life changed.

I highly recommend this pages turning book!

I received this complimentary copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

All thoughts and opinions are mine. I was not obligated to write a review.

I received Twenty-Seven Minutes from Netgalley for free in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

Twenty-Seven Minutes alternates between the current timeline and ten years previous and character points of view. The main focus of the story is an accident where a young woman, Phoebe, dies. There are questions and rumors surrounding the accident. What really happened the night Phoebe died?

Tate does a nice job of setting the scene. You can really tell you are in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business. Many residents seem stuck in their situation and cannot get out because of what happened one night ten years ago.

Twenty-Seven Minutes has a lot of build-up and tension until we discover what happened, although it was easy to piece together before the big reveal. The author attempted to throw you off track with many twists and secrets. So many, it became too much.

I wanted to keep reading to see if I was right, but I felt there were too many twists and secrets and was too dependent on the small-town trope. I wasn’t as invested in this as I have been in other books. I did enjoy the shifting point of view and the unreliable narrators.

I felt sorry for some of the characters, but none of them were good people. They were well-written. I appreciate a well-written, terrible person. I do want to know why they all stayed in this small town. It felt like it was supposed to be some sort of penance for a couple of the characters but it didn’t seem they felt bad for what happened.

Overall, a decent mystery/thriller with several unreliable narrators. A few chapters seemed to drag on, but overall, it had a decent pace. I would recommend it if you like changing points of view, unreliable narrators, and a mystery from years ago.

Ashley Tate took me for a ride in this novel. I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what Grant Dean had done because I knew it was bad if he waited 27 minutes to call for help when his sister was dying. Tate does a great job of developing her characters. Becca, Grant, Phoebe, June and Wyatt are all part of the unraveling mystery along with many other people in town that didn't know they were. I was definitely surprised when I found out the truth. These are the novels that I love when I am unable to predict the ending and she did just that.

Overall the story was interesting but really seemed to take a long (un-necessary) route to get there. I did finish it because I wanted to see how it turned out but it could have been condensed and not lost anything.

I'm really disappointed as I really was excited for this one. But sadly it feel really flat and I ended up dnfing half way thru.

The first chapter started off with a bang. We start at the time of the car crash and then go forward to present day. Sadly after that it never really grabbed me again. It was really repetitive and felt like a soap opera drama at times.

Sadly I don't think I'm the audience for Russ book. But I do hope it finds its home with others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

This was not a great read for me. I had a difficult time connecting with this story and I struggled to finish it.

Very much enjoyed this book, the multiple POVs kept things interesting. I liked how each character had their own back story which made things more complicated in a good way. I do wish that the book progressed a little faster as at times it felt like a standstill, however the twist at the end was very unexpected.

A good attempt for a first novel. The plot was good - but the imagery and the characters fell short of making it a great first book.

Not a single likeable character - these people are all crazy!! The entire town should be committed!

I need a character I can care about - there wasn't any in this book. Instead of being surprised and feeling complete at the end - all I felt was - at least it's over!

Ashley Tate delivers the goods in this excellent debut novel. She teases the reader with bits of information to piece together the puzzle about what happened the night of a horrific accident, but what is accurate, and what is misdirection? Tate surprises right up to the end.

Phoebe Dean has it all: brains, personality, and looks. All of that is wiped away one night in an automobile accident with her brother Grant at the wheel and neighbor Becca on board. It's a tragedy that affects the small town of West Wilmer for years and creates gossip about what happened during those twenty-seven minutes between when the accident occurred and when Grant called for an ambulance. Perhaps Phoebe could have been saved had help arrived sooner. On that same night, another teenager, troublemaker Wyatt, disappears and is all but forgotten over the town's grief for the beloved Phoebe.

Ten years after the accident, Phoebe's mother, who has never forgiven Grant for the accident, decides to hold a memorial service for her daughter., thus ripping off the scabs on the wounds that have never healed for either Grant, Becca or West Wilmer. It is also the anniversary of Wyatt's disappearance, and his sister June, who is grieving for her recently deceased mother, again wonders what happened to Wyatt and if there is a connection between his disappearance and the accident. As the memorial approaches, emotions are ratcheted up, setting the scene for a big reveal about what happened that night.

The story takes place over three days and is told from the perspectives of those closest to Phoebe and Wyatt. The relationship between Grant and Becca is explored. Both are suffering from survivor's guilt, and Becca's reliance on Grant's account of what happened that night results in a toxic ten-year relationship that is coming to a head. The fast-paced story, combined with well-developed characters, results in a dark psychological thriller that is suspenseful and engrossing. I loved how the author meted out the clues to the accident and the disappearance along the way. The tension built from the first page and never let up. I loved it!

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is January 30, 2024.

I went back and forth many times on whether to give up on this book or not. Ultimately, I did not, but I don’t think it mattered that I finished it. The last 5% of the book is the only part that actually had me wanting to find out what was happening. The other 95% was a poorly developed soap opera that had nothing to do with the last 5%.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and for asking me to leave an honest review. 2/5⭐️