Well, this book was a wild ride! Ten years after the tragic death of Phoebe Dean, the town’s most popular teen, everyone is still grappling with her death and struggling with why it took her brother twenty-seven minutes to call for help. ⁣
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⁣Twenty-Seven Minutes was quite the soap opera drama full of unreliable narrators and confusion. It was over-the-top ridiculous but also very slow moving with not a lot of action. All in all, this one was fine— but I won’t remember it in a week. Three stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣This book published today— January 30, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ashley Tate for an ARC for this debut novel!
I love a multi POV read and I was hooked at the start.
The building of suspense had me reeling, but it was hard to push through to the end.
The final twist was great and I loved the idea more than the actual story.

Twenty-Seven Minutes
by Ashley Tate
Pub Date: 30 Jan 2024

What an amazing read! Twenty-Seven Minutes is a tale of regrets, grief, loss and fear among other things.

The story tells you what trauma and secrets can do to someone over time.

I feel this is more of a Literary Suspense versus a Thriller. A great debut novel!

Many thanks to #twentysevenminutes #NetGalley and #Twenty-SevenMinutes for providing me with an E-ARC of this wonderful book!

Set in the small town of West Wilmer approaching the 10 year anniversary of a fatal car accident that claimed the life of well loved teen Phoebe Dean, Twenty-Seven Minutes is a page turner. Told from multiple points of view, and from the past as well as present tense, Ashley Tate does a fantastic job transporting you as the reader into the emotions of each of the characters we meet. From displaying very accurately in my opinion, how a small town tragedy creates an untouchable legacy for the deceased, while also portraying very raw grief and trauma for several characters and for several reasons. The title of the book is reflective of the time span that occurred between the time of the accident and the time help was called for, and finding the truth behind what actually happened that night, kept me interested through the entire book. A personal favorite character of mine was June. I felt her pain in losing the family she had desperately hoped would someday be reunited, and I felt the author did an excellent job in describing the raw grief she felt. Twenty-Seven Minutes is a book I would highly recommend for fans of suspense, mystery, short chapters, and a well told story from multiple points of view. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

Excellent debut. Why did it take Grant 27 minutes to call 911 the night his sister died in a car accident? The small town of West Wilmer has been unable to let go of the mystery surrounding Phoebe's death. West Wilmer, a small, suffocating town, is almost a character itself in this tense mystery. Grief and memory, self-preservation and loss, all tied up and threatening to be revealed in the 3 days leading up to the 10 year memorial for Phoebe Dean.

"Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead.

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?

Someone knows what really happened the night Phoebe died. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

With Phoebe's memorial in just three days, grief, delusion, ambition, and regret tornado together with biting gossip in a town full of people obsessed with a long-gone tragedy with four people at its heart—the caretaker, the secret girlfriend, the missing bad boy, and a former football star. Just kids back then, are forever tied together the fateful rainy night Phoebe died."

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

First of all, props to the publisher for marketing this as a literary suspense because that is exactly what it was. I found Twenty Seven Minutes to be a well written, slow burn, character driven small town drama mystery that kept me interested and engaged as a reader. It was also an interesting look at grief, loss and effects traumatic events can have on individuals and communities!

Phoebe Dean’s tragic death changed the course of a number of lives and even a decade later it seems to affect dynamics in her home town. Why did her brother Grant wait 27 minutes to call an ambulance? And what about a young man who disappeared that same night? As the anniversary of Phoebe’s death approaches, secrets and truths are threatening to come to the surface.

I went through this one really quickly despite it being more character than action/plot driven. Some of the characters were quite unlikable but I think that makes for more interesting storytelling. I definitely recommend checking this one out!

A big thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada & Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In "Twenty-Seven Minutes," Ashley Tate skillfully unravels the mysteries shrouding a tragic event in West Wilmer. The town's intricate web of secrets, grief, and regret captivates, as Tate weaves a compelling narrative around unforgettable characters. The countdown to Phoebe's memorial adds a poignant urgency to this gripping tale, earning it a solid four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced copy

A mystery with lots of characters (none of which I loved or connected with) and plenty of backstory to explain why it took 27 minutes to call for help after a crash. Why did it take so long when it could have saved me he life of Phoebe. I struggled with the multiple viewpoints from multiple time periods especially when I couldn’t connect with the characters. I feel like the story has plenty of potential, but needs more to tidy it up into something that is phenomenal. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read.

This book had such an intense start and a really good buildup to the big reveal of what happened that night. I always love multiple POVs, and I liked how the story was slowly being pieces together. The characters were all so complicated and flawed; I was suspicious of all of them, and I was dying to know what happened by the end. The story was so mysterious and as hard as I tried, I did not guess that ending!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This. was. so, GOOD!! I am truly blown away by how much I loved this! This is best described, I feel, as a very character driven literary suspense novel. This book is not incredibly fast paced, or a typical “popcorn read”, but the small town drama is juicy and the characters in this book are so flawed and complex. This book to me is one that lingers - I will be thinking about this story for a while. It’s a beautifully tragic story about regret and loss, and it was so well written and captivating that I read this so quickly. Such a strong debut and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

I really wanted to like this book, but the characters were just too pitiful and nuts for me. The writing in developing the story about what happened that night 10 years ago was so slow, I kept losing interest. June and Becca were just plain crazy. No real likable characters in this story. The ending took forever and was pretty predictable. So much more could have been done with this story. I do appreciate the author trying to show how people can struggle with the loss of a loved one. Just took some of it too far.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate. This was a strange book. It would interest me for a while, then slow down, and then perk up again. I do have to admit that I gave a sigh of relief once I had finished it. Many people however have liked this book more than I did. It was hard to follow so many points of view. I was not drawn to any of the characters so that also made it difficult to enjoy the book more. Not one that I would be recommending to my friends. Two stars from me.

Twenty-Seven Minutes
Ashley Tate

The burning question of the town of West Wilmer for the last ten years all boils down to what happened in the twenty seven minutes prior to Grant Dean calling for help on the night of the tragic accident that took the life of his beloved sister. Now, leading up to the 10 year anniversary of that night, the secrets that have long been buried are about to surface.

I made it approximately 30% of the way into this book when I started to consider not finishing; there just didn’t feel like much drive other than the allusion to this twenty seven unaccounted for minutes but, even then, there just wasn’t enough suspense to have me on the edge of my seat. I started flipping through some reviews that kept mentioning the last 10% of the book contains the twist and the resolution. I flipped towards the end and read the last few chapters and was able to completely understand the ending which to me, means I missed little to nothing in the middle. Too many characters, and plot lines and flipping from past to present without much value or progression of the storyline

I think this book is best suited for folks who really love multiple POV and a super slow burn but just didn’t land for me.

Special thanks to @netgalley and @poisonedpen press for the advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review. Twenty-Seven Minutes is now available today!

BEVERAGE REC: Your favorite Winter beer 🍻

RATING:
👻👻/5

For the last decade, the residents of West Wilmer have been struggling to come to terms with the mystery surrounding the tragic death of young Phoebe Dean. And in such a small, claustrophobic town the gossip and hearsay breeds angry questions. Why did it take Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help the night of the car accident? Why wait so long when his precious little sister could have been saved? What is he hiding?

And Grant Dean is hiding something about the night his sister died. Something that is quickly threatening to unravel as Phoebe's ten year anniversary inches closer.

Atmospheric and well paced, Ashley Tate does an excellent job of showcasing how grief, especially grief that is tangled up in lies, can drive those involved with keeping the secrets to madness.

I was able to read this title before it's release date thanks to Netgalley. I began reading this book in JUNE 2023 and only finished in JANUARY 2024....I almost DNF this book.. But I pushed through because I was getting an advanced copy to read so I felt obligated to finish, which is never a fun way to feel while reading!
At the back of the book the author included an interview and Book club questions. While reading through the interview the author mentioned that she wanted to write this book about grief and loss because she had recently lost her Mother and had experienced these emotions first hand. While that's sad I feel as though it caused the book to feel a bit pointless at times. So let's get to what this book is all about and what my thoughts on it were.
This book is told from several perspectives of people who were effected by the events of a car accident that took place on "the bridge' ten years ago. This accident ended Phoebe's life, but if her brother, Grant, hadn't waited twenty-seven minutes to call for help would she have made it?
On the night of 'the accident' another local high school student, Wyatt, goes missing as well. The entire plot of this book revolves around discovering what these two events have in common and unraveling what happened in that twenty-seven minute span.
This book had some really interesting aspects, and some really dull and overused ones as well. The interesting aspect was that we got to see Wyatt's perspective throughout the book, only to learn that at the end he had passed away that night. The really dull aspects are the limited character development and honestly I've read about more interesting characters on the back of cereal boxes. One character who bothered me in particular was Becca, who seemed to be stuck ten years ago in high school. Becca also had some really creepy behavior's.
Overall, this book was very disappointing and underwhelming for me. The plot of this book felt very implausible to me and wasn't very interesting. The 'mystery' and 'thriller' were sorely lacking in this one. Sorry Ashley Tate and NetGalley, this one just wasn't for me.
#NetGalley #AshleyTate #Mystery

A great debut effort! Surprises, I developed feelings for the characters, and a story that held my attention.

A small town that is shook with a tragedy years ago. Souls who need to heal, and an anniversary reminder.

I am going to keep this review vague, as this book is better though a readers discovery. Your emotions will get a workout; your brain will be in constant guessing mode. Not a deep thriller, but that could come in time with this author. A recommended read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

Not my type of thriller - too slow paced and not suspenseful enough. Nothing happened, but curiosity kept me reading to the end where there was an unsatisfying twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate

The story started out interesting for me but I began to lose interest as I realized I seemed to have landed in a crazy madhouse of a town. West Wilmer is described as claustrophobic and I agree, the small town can almost qualify as some kind of locked room (town) situation. As the story is told in two timelines, ten years apart, it seems like even though the characters have grown older, they never seem to have matured. The teens of ten years ago seem to be stuck in bodies ten years older (and most worse for the wear) but still with the mind of dysfunctional teenagers.

But it appears no one had a very good start in life in this place. When a parent hadn't physically escaped this town sans family, they still seemed to have emotionally and mentally escaped the town (and reality). This created dysfunctional kids, several who desperately needed psychological help. No POV can be trusted, these are messed up people. Now, ten years after a horrific accident, with a memorial service to commemorate the date, long kept secrets are oozing out of their hiding places, to destroy the tenuous relationships in this town. Things were never good here but now folks are going to know just how bad things are as this pot of secrets boils over and scalds the lives of many.

I was interested until I realized this story, if I could ever uncover what the story really was about, was going to be dribbled out to me much too slowly for enjoyment. The characters seemed so immature and unable to care for themselves, much less anyone else, that it's a wonder that the town can function. But that might be because the POVs we are seeing just aren't able to push a story along. Nothing said or thought can be trusted and then there is "other stuff" going on and I was ready for things to be over and done. Too bad that didn't happen ten years earlier. Actually, I'm not sure how things stayed secret so long since none of the characters seem competent enough to pull off what they pull off. I know the story worked better for others and there are some big surprises here for those who hang in to the end. Still, the surprises almost seemed anticlimactic by the time I got to the end.

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

Ten years have passed since Phoebe died in a car crash with her brother Grant behind the wheel. What baffled the investigation, why did Grant call 911 27 minutes after it happened? This was a pretty fast-paced book with a captivating plot that keeps you hooked. Written in multiple POVs, it took time to get to know different characters as the plot gave each character a back story, grief and trauma that made things complicated. The twist was amazing, but it takes 90% of the story for something to happen, and once it happens the book is basically over. With such a grief heavy plot, it slowed the book down so that by the time the twist happened, I was just ready for it to be done. Overall I found the book to be a captivating and entertaining emotionally packed read.

What really happened the night Phoebe Dean died?

A small town tragedy, family secrets, and a truth, hidden for 10 years, that finally comes to light.

This was such a great debut! I really enjoyed following the various perspectives and the flashbacks not just to the night if the accident, but the other flashbacks that gave some background on the main characters. It really helped build that small town feel that I think was really important for this book.

I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little bit at the end, but I really enjoyed the "reveal". This was just a really good read, and I cannot wait for this author to release her next book!