It wasn't particularly to my taste. It felt overly-dramatic and the characters weren't fully fleshed out. The twist also was quite self-indulgent.

Phoebe Dean died ten years ago in a car driven by her brother Grant, after leaving a party. There was a 27 minute delay between when the crash happened, and the call for help. Some of the people in their small town think Phoebe might have been saved if help had come sooner. Was her brother, Grant, trying to avoid a DWI or was there another even darker reason why he didn't call for help immediately?

Ten years later the small town still seems obsessed with the accident that took the one girl in their town who showed promise and may have made something of herself had she lived. Phoebe and Grant's mother is going to throw a memorial, because she was too upset to do anything to honor Phoebe at the time of the accident. It is never explained why it has taken ten years to correct this omission, but it serves as a plot device to age the characters ten years and show that they really haven't moved on from this accident. Becca was also in the car, and has always been obsessed with Grant.

I hate to be too critical of this book, because to me it read a little like a YA novel, even though the characters were now in their late twenties. I found them all weird and impossible to relate to in any way, but I am also much older than them, so perhaps I am not the best audience for the book. For me, the storyline dragged, and I skimmed through some parts that seemed repetitive. There was a mystery: what happened in those twenty seven minutes? But for me, it just took too long to get there.

I feel like a younger audience who is into dark and moody stories with damaged characters and a little mystery would enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Tate, and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars & I'm feeling generous tonight so rounding up (but also because this was all written and kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading). This story was good and twisted, like the characters and their relationships are twisted, not necessarily extremely twisty although there are a few.

This story was really beautifully and descriptively written. I loved the experience of reading it. The characters are seriously flawed and I didn't particularly like any of them but it didn't make me dislike the book or story line. This book opens with a serious bang with a girl laying in the rain, dy!ng on a bridge. Wow, what a start! Told from multi POV and multi timeline.

There are several different POV so it takes a bit to find out who's who and how they relate to each other. Also multi timeline, there are specific chapters from "THAT night/ day" that progress along; and in addition, there are flashbacks in the character's 'current' chapters too (indicated by italicized text, so you'll have to be paying close attention when reading via audio book). Once it becomes clear who each narrator is, I found the multi view and multi timeline easy to follow.

Overall, I really liked this story; the ending fell a little flat for me. There are some twists throughout but they're mostly a play on the same and the biggest reveal at the end felt a little "meh" after allllll that build up.

Would recommend if you love:
-multi-POV
-multi-timeline
-a big secret in a small town
-unreliable narrators

🌟🌟🌟.5
"Twenty-Seven Minutes" was one of the top thrillers I was excited to read in 2024. As someone who enjoys discovering new authors, I always look forward to reading debuts. In this book, Ashley Tate crafted an emotional narrative that delves into domestic drama, sibling relationships, and the secrets of small-town life. Her writing is captivating and her portrayal of teenage life in a small community is realistic.

While the big revelation that took a decade to unravel wasn't as shocking as I expected, the plot was well-crafted and engaging. The book had a dark sense of foreboding that made it feel depressing and slow, but it was still interesting. I will definitely be interested in reading more from this author.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book through NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

#TwentySevenMinutes #AshleyTate #PoisonedPenPress #NetGalley #justfinished #Debut #ARC #honestreview #thriller #bookreviewer #thrillerbookloverspromotions #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #ReadersOfTheLateArc #TalkWordyToMeTeam #lovetoread #bookworms #lovebooks #booknerd #readaholic #bookstagrammer #smalltownsecrets

I just couldn't get excited about this one. Too many POV's, I guessed the reveal pretty early on and it was just an ok story.

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate starts off with Phoebe Dean laying on the side of the road taking her last breaths. If only the paramedics were called within those long agonizing twenty-seven minutes. If they were called as soon as Grant and Becca woke up then Phoebe would still be alive. 10 years later it is coming up to the anniversary of Phoebe's death and her mother is going to throw a memorial for her. June's brother Wyatt, had left town on the night of the accident never to be seen or heard of since. Wyatt shows up out of the blue and wants to attend the memorial with June. He only has a limited to fix what happened 10 years ago. Grant, Phoebe's brother has always told Becca that the accident was her fault and she must keep their relationship a secret. Becca is in love with Grant however he is only using her to cover up the fact that he was the one driving that fateful night. The ending of this book is so unbelievable that made all the sense in the world. Beautifully written and exicuted to the end. I felt the sorry for Becca the whole time that I was reading this. She was so blinded by her love for Grant and didn't see what a real jerk that he is. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Publishers for giving me an advance copy of this title.

I really struggled with this one because it felt very YA to me. The characters did not mature at all over the course of ten years and they were all quite unlikable.

There were a few things I did like about the book that kept me interested enough, It is fast paced and the twist ending is very much a shock. I did have that edge of your seat feeling for most of the book. It did start to feel like I was waiting forever for something to happen though.

Overall, I think this one was a decent debut and I would be interested to read more from this author.

Unfortunately I could not get into this book. I thought I’d like it based on how it started… then too many characters were introduced, and I didn’t connect with any of them, and I found myself not caring what happened. It was a DNF for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

When it took twenty-seven minutes for Grant to call for an ambulance, it took his sister Phoebe's life. She was the most popular girl both alive and dead. Now ten years later, her mother wants to have a memorial for her and the entire town is talking about it. Meanwhile, June's mother has just passed away. Her brother also disappeared the night that Phoebe Dean was killed, but nobody is talking about him. While the buildup for the memorial is closing in, will the truth about what happened that night finally come out?

A fast paced read that keeps you guessing about what really happened. The author does a good job holding the readers attention while going into the history of the characters. A great book!

This was a very engaging mystery/thriller! This is a story about a long-ago murder and the ripple effect it is still having ten years later. The timeline moves between the past and present and while it did take me some time to reorient, it really added to the suspense. The small town setting and characters were great and there is a twist that I genuinely enjoyed. I am excited to see what Ashley Tate comes out with next! Thanks to Ashley Tate, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I can NOT believe this is Ashley Tate’s debut novel!! It was fantastic and absolutely thrilling.

This novel starts out in Phoboe’s POV. She knows what caused the car accident, but she is dying, and she can’t figure out why her brother, Grant, hasn’t called for help.

10 years later, shortly before the anniversary of Phoboe’s death, tensions run high as 4 friends gather together and uncover the truth of what happened that tragic night.

This book started out slow and then ramped up in the middle but then kind of went off the rails at the end. I think it’s a good story overall but it was just all a bit of overkill at the end, overly dramatic. I would give the authors next book a try because I quite enjoyed her style of writing .

There were times I liked this story, but most of the time I did not like it. It was well-written but the characters...it was exhausting reading the frantic desperation, constantly repeating things and all of the them ranged from dysfunctional to mentally ill. The author did a great job of conveying this repetition as desperation, so the repetition didn't bother me in and of itself, however, it wasn't enjoyable to read in the slightest. The other major issue is that I could see the ending way too early, every bit of it. I wasn't fooled by the red herring (of sorts) at all. I think this author has a great ability, that I hope is applied to a setting less exhausting so we can get a meaty story. I understand why she chose to write this and I can relate very well to her desire and drive to write this story, but I hope for a better one in the future.

Thank you to Poisen Pen Press for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I unfortunately didn't enjoy this book. I found it repetitive and hard to get into. I will definitely try another one from this author!

Wow! One heck of a debut novel for Ashley Tate! enjoyed this book and I was hooked the whole time. I kept waiting for some big WOW moment (because I just knew there had to be some twist), and I got it at the end! 4/5 stars! Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

The opening of this book pulled me right in! I was definitely curious to find out why Phoebe's brother waited twenty-seven minutes to call an ambulance after the accident. It was a slow burn to get there, and I feel that the book could have been a bit shorter. The writing was good, and I liked the multiple POVs, although the characters all acted like they were still in high school, so there was a bit of a YA feel. I think the author did a good job of showing the trauma and grief that Phoebe's family and friends were going through. The twist at the end was surprising as I didn't expect it.

This is the author's debut novel, and I'll be looking forward to reading her next book!

Thank you, @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress, for the #gifted e-arc of this book!

This book was a dark, twisty, slow burn thriller and I did not see the final twist coming. Ashley Tate was masterful in capturing a variety of dark and complex emotions in the characters in the story.

Phoebe Dean died ten years ago in a tragic car accident and the mystery of the night she was killed hangs over the community. Her brother and best friend, Grant, was driving and took 27 minutes to seek help…an amount of time that potentially cost Phoebe her life. Their mother has decided to host a 10-year memorial for Phoebe and that has the whole town stirred up.
The story is told from multiple perspectives aside from Grant’s. There’s Becca who is a bit unstable and was a friend or possibly secret girlfriend to Grant and who was also in the vehicle that night. We also hear from June who recently lost her mother to cancer and whose brother Wyatt mysteriously disappeared the night of the crash. Wyatt shows up out of the blue after their mother’s passing and we hear his perspective as well.

Throughout the book, we see the interweaving of these characters’ lives and the slow unraveling of their stories. The story starts a bit slow then picks up pace until a crazy ending that I didn’t fully see coming. The author’s ability to capture dark emotion is impeccable and as was the mastery of weaving this story together. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to her next work.

Thank you so much to Netgalley & the publisher for this review copy! I am so looking forward to this and to writing a full review on my social media when I am able! Thanks again!

The prologue to this one was brilliant. So clever.

Unfortunately, it ended up being a DNF for me. It pains me, as I want to support Canadian women authors. I wish Ashley Tate all the best with this one!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

Told between alternating points of view as well as dueling timelines, Twenty-Seven Minutes unfolds in a slow and methodical way, giving you bits and pieces of the story at a time.  The trouble is, after all this time, who can you trust to tell you the truth?  As it turns out, you can't trust anyone.

The characters are all very complicated people.  And, to be quite honest, most of them are very unlikable for various reasons.  However, as I delved deeper into the story, the effects of grief and time start to show through the cracks.  Grant I had the most animosity for due to his attitude and the way he seemed to interact with everyone around him.  Losing his sister took a serious toll on him and it showed.  Wyatt confused me, I was concerned for him, but also wary, wondering why he'd returned after so long.  On the other hand, I felt for both Becca and June.  Neither were great people, but their trauma was raw and on display from the very start.  

Twenty-Seven Seconds was a rollercoaster ride of lies, secrets, and surprises.  I had figured out an aspect or two of what had happened that night, ten years ago.  But there were things that I hadn't expected and was shocked when they were revealed.  This is very much a slow burn mystery, with things being revealed at a relaxed pace.  However, I found myself invested, needing to know the truth of what happened that night.  Have to say, I was also rooting for everyone to find peace at the end, too.  I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a slower paced mystery with unreliable characters.