This novel has a dual timeline, unreliable narration and multiple narrators. In spite of all of the curve balls, this debut novel is a winner with me because it was absolutely riveting from beginning to end. Phoebe, the deceased young protagonist, is introduced at the beginning of the book as well as the question about the twenty seven minutes. As I delved deeper into the story, I discovered that her brother Grant had waited twenty seven minutes before he summoned an ambulance. The why and the events leading up to the accident are what make up most of the story. The characterization is mesmerizing, the plot was moderately well paced and the twists just keep coming. I did get lost a few times in all of the details but I quickly found myself again and kept reading this engaging book. I cannot say that the characters are particularly likable. Phoebe is portrayed as almost perfect, or perhaps beyond perfect. Her brother Grant seems to be a mysterious entity, led by Phoebe and her desires to a better life somewhere that is not their small town. In spite of her plans, Phoebe dies before she can leave the town and it’s ironic that the townspeople then set her up as almost an idol, having a memorial service for her annually. This could be a morose and sad book to read but it really isn’t. I was reminded of “The Lovely Bones” as I read it as the tone and the atmosphere are the same. This debut novel would make an outstanding feature film as it has so many unexpected revelations during the course of explaining why Grant waited and how Phoebe ended up dead. This book is a must read for fans of psychological drama that draws you into the story, captures your imagination and just won’t let you go.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Twenty-Seven Minutes
by Ashley Tate

This is an interesting book – part suspense, part murder mystery, part ghost story. The story flips back and forth between a horrible night ten years ago and the fast approaching memorial planned for Phoebe Dean, who died on that night ten years ago.

It is the story of five people – two pairs of siblings and a mentally ill girl -whose lives were all changed by that night. Grant and Phoebe Dean had mutually promised throughout their childhood to do everything possible to escape together from their overbearing widowed mother. June and Wyatt Delroy spent their childhood under the thumb of an abusive father who finally drove his son away. And Becca Hoyt, mentally ill, constantly feeling overlooked, living a life made up of her own delusions and manipulated by the boy she thought loved her.

A cleverly plotted first novel, the book shows promise for Ms. Tate's future books. I look forward to reading her next one.

This book was so difficult for me to get into! I feel like it should be marketed as a Mystery rather than a Thriller, simply because I didn’t feel any of the “thrills.”

The beginning of the story felt clunky, jumping between POVs so often that I had a hard time keeping each story straight. This made it difficult to really get to know the characters. I do think Tate did a wonderful job representing grief and how tragedy affects everyone – even those not directly involved.

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!

4 stars

This is a mystery story, centered around exactly what happened on that night 10 years ago when Phoebe Dean was killed in a car accident. But even more so, it is a story about what grief, guilt and secrets are doing to people - and not just those directly involved, but everybody in the village is somehow a part of this mystery. It is a highly engaging read, and you don't want to put it down as this towns ghosts are unveiled one by one.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I absolutely loved this debut thriller. Twenty-Seven minutes is the amount of time it took Grant to call for help after a tragic accident, and it was also the amount of time it would have taken to save his sister’s life. The story is told from 4 different POVs of very tragically sad characters. Each is unreliable. Each has so much sadness to bear. And some have their unexpected skeletons or unknown truths to be revealed. It’s been 10 years since the tragic accident took Grant’s sister’s life, and the town is coming together for a memorial unearthing all kinds of emotions and feelings, and even perhaps some long buried secrets. It was a great suspense full of unlikable characters, yet despite being unlikable I really felt their hurt and pain and it doesn’t mean I wasn’t rooting for them. That ending was nothing like I guessed at all. Brilliant, tragic, unpredictable, and worth every minute it took to read this!

Phoebe Dean died nearly ten years ago. She was pretty and popular. She was in a car accident with her brother and two others. The small town of West Wilmer has always wondered why it took Grant Dean, Phoebe's brother 27 minutes to call for help.


The upcoming memorial for Phoebe has the town talking and asking questions. The truth of what happened that night lays amongst the survivors. They each have their own secret about that night.
The story is told from the point of view of four different characters. We learn how the tragedy affected each of them and the burden they carry. The reader gets to learn about who the characters were before and after the accident allowing you to see the personality shift and the impact of keeping dark secrets.

Twenty-Seven Minutes is a fast paced read that is character driven. There is quite a bit of suspense and the reveal is quite shocking. The characters feel real and only one of my theories was correct. Making this a debut novel that just from past to present an excellent read. I look forward to what Ashely Tate will put out in the future.

Ten years have passed since the death of Grant's sister, Phoebe. A terrible accident on a rainy night. Lives damaged,, people changed. What really happened? Lots of suspense written well. Recommended thriller for fans of YA.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the book #TwentySevenMinutes by #AshleyTate. This book was non-stop stress with what really happened that night. All the secrecy and rumors that lead up to the surprising truth that will shock everyone.

This was an interesting but tough read. Everyone in this book was just a bag of dicks and were all lying. Except June and she definitely got screwed over by pretty much everyone in the book. At least the lies got put right in the end and June was released from the torment of her mother not knowing what happened to her brother. This was my 1st book by Ashley Tate but it will not be my last!

#twentysevenminutes
#NetGalley

Although this had great promise, the unreliable characters and dual timelines just doled out the plot way too slowly for my liking! It kept me engaged only because I was annoyed and wanted it to actually go somewhere.

While there are some clunky moments that don't work quite as well as I think they were meant to, this is a promising debut. There are a lot of characters and short perspectives that, within short chapters, weave together a complicated web of lies and partial truths about what happened ten years earlier on the night Phoebe died. I suspected one of the big twists of the story, but I thought the plot was cleverly done.

There's something to be said about the tragedies of small-town living, and Ashley Tate's Twenty-Seven Minutes does a nice job marrying these tragedies with a twinge of mystery and liberation.

Ten years ago, in the stagnant town of West Wilmer, it took twenty-seven minutes for Grant Dean to call for help following a horrific car accident that left his sister, Phoebe, dead. As the decade anniversary of the accident creeps closer, the town closes in on Grant and why it took that shocking amount of time to call for help. Was there more to the story? Will a long-held secret be set free? Or will those desperate enough to weave a web of lies find themselves safe?

I really enjoy stories told in multiple POVs and alternating timelines, so it's a no-brainer that I appreciate that with Tate's debut. I think that the characters, while unlikable, were a master class in the exploration of the power of trauma and keeping secrets. I would not say that this story was at all a thriller, but instead dramatic fiction with an edge of mystery. This one reminded me a lot of "After We Vanished", which I also enjoyed, as it included some of the same themes of grief, trauma and loss.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ten years ago Grant crashed his truck killing his younger sister, Phoebe. She would have lived, but it took him 27 minutes to call for help. Why? With a memorial coming up, those involved in the crash are forced to face what happened and how it has affected their lives. Someone is ready to tell the truth.

What I loved:
- Multiple POV
- Unreliable everyone
- Unlikeable characters
- Short chapters

What didn’t work for me:
- Very repetitive
- Too long, drags a bit
- I guessed every single twist

Twenty Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate is her debut novel and one of those stories that I wanted to love. I bounced back and forth, between a three and a four. I always up the rating when that happens.

My biggest complaint was the repetition. At two thirds of the way through, it became tedious, but, I understand why it was done that way. Shifting from different points of view and past to present and back again, it was inevitable. It never stopped me from having a need to know the ending and did create tension, making me read faster to find out the truth and why it was such a big secret.

Wyatt became the most intriguing character to me. I loved the twist and my heart broke for June. Through no fault of her own, I feel she suffered the most. I cannot tell you all the whys. You will have to find out for yourself.

As the truth comes to light and the secrets are revealed, I felt many emotions. Anger at the liars and the ones that chose to cover up. Empathy for June, the one I feel who struggled the most and paid the biggest price. Satisfaction that those who deserve it were haunted by their part in the cover up and the price they paid for keeping their secret for ten long years.

Karma…

We have a Conversation with the Author at the end of the book and a Reading Group Guide.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Twenty Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Mystery📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This one wasn’t my favorite but the ending makes it worth the read

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Multiple POV
Unlikable characters
Small towns
Dual timelines
Themes of grief
Dramatic mysteries
Dark secrets
Captivating plot

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The ending!

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Wasn’t really much of a thriller
Overall I feel like not much happened
Slow burn

Why would it take someone twenty-seven minutes to call for help after a car accident? That is the central question behind Ashley Tate's new novel Twenty-Seven Minutes. Ten years ago Grant, his sister Phoebe and Becca were involved in an car accident that left Phoebe dead and the town mourning the loss of such a promising young life. Now, as the town prepares to hold a memorial for the anniversary, questions start to simmer. What really happened that night? Why had it taken Grant so long to call for help? Tate slowly unwinds these threads to reveal what really did happen in those twenty-seven minutes.

Unfortunately, this story did not work for me. The main issue is too many POVs that cause a lot of confusion. There are 4 main perspectives and interspersed are POVs from random characters in the flashback chapters. Very little character development happens in these characters minds and the refrain of references to THAT NIGHT repeat for 95% of the book until the "big reveal" in the last chapters. The premise is strong but the execution was poor.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC o Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate for an honest review.

This book started off strong and pulled me in. It is told by multiple POV and a current and 10 years ago timeline. I liked the different timelines so you could see what happened the night of the accident and what was going on prior to that. The story is about siblings in high school that are hoping to get out of their town. There is a tragic accident that changes the future for many people in the town.

There was some suspense, however I felt the book was very drawn out. I found myself scanning pages because there was so much of the same story leading up to the ten year anniversary of the accident.

Why did it take Grant Dean twenty seven minutes to call for help on the night of the accident that killed his little sister Phoebe?
Told from a few people’s perspectives this edgy small town drama kept me hooked from the very beginning and I really enjoyed it! It gives me Riley Sager vibes and I would highly recommend. A brilliant debut!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut thriller by Ashley Tate - 4 stars!

Ten years ago, three teenagers were involved in a crash and one died. The other two, along with the town residents, are still trying to recover from the tragedy. There's a memorial planned and a vote underway to tear down the bridge where the accident happened. But too many questions are still floating around - mainly, what happened in the 27 minutes before the driver called the police?

Told in both past and present timelines from multiple POV, we gradually learn all the secrets that people have been keeping. The brother dealing with guilt over the fact that he was driving and his sister died; the secret girlfriend; the other girl in the car, along with all the town gossip swirling. I thought this was a tense thriller that kept me guessing and I didn't see that end coming. It was an interesting character study into grief, secrets, trauma. I'm excited to read more from this author in the future!