In this book we have many mid to late 20 somethings not moving forward due to the twenty-seven minutes it took Grant to call for help after an accident that killed his sister Phoebe. A tragedy for sure, but these people are all really messed up mentally and some also have physical difficulties due to the accident.

Not my favorite read so far this year. The book is so busy going back and forth between each persons view of what happened. A bit of woo-woo stuff with Phoebe still kicking Grant about his behavior, if only in his mind. The angst and vitriol from each of the main characters towards each other was not believable...especially after ten years.

I struggled to get through this book. It seems to be excessively wordy and sometimes difficult to follow. Adults behaving badly to themselves and each other is not my favorite trope. It would have been more believable if ten years hadn't passed. Lies and half-truths are never good.

Once I begin a book, I follow through to the end. The only redeeming part of the book WAS the end when we learned exactly what happened in those twenty-seven minutes.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced & the author’s writing kept me intrigued. My only issue is that the twist wasn’t that much a surprise & that’s the only reason I gave it 3 stars.

**This book will be published on 1/30/2024!**
I received this e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the copy!

Throughout Twenty-Seven Minutes, we follow several characters 10 years after a fatal and tragic accident in their small hometown. We find out that Grant waited 27 minutes to call for help after a car accident, which resulted in his sister, Phoebe's, death. Although a story was weaved and made to be believed, someone knows what really happened that night. Could the 1o year memorial be the time to reveal the truth of what happened?

Although I only gave this one 3 stars, I did enjoy this book! Ashley Tate kept us on our toes at the end of every chapter and built up the suspense all the way to the last chapters.

Told from the points of view of Becca, Grant, June and Wyatt, Twenty-Seven Minutes by debut author Ashley Tate, begins ten years ago, with seventeen year old Phoebe Dean, as she lay dying on a bridge after being thrown from a car.. Two other passengers, Grant and Becca, both injured in the crash, managed to survive. On the same night, June's brother Wyatt, after yet another fight with their father, disappears, leaving the miserable existence in a town that so many of the teens (June, Phoebe, Grant and Becca included) want to escape from.

Ten years later, the town is holding the Phoebe Dean Memorial to commemorate the terrible event that led to her death. The city is also putting to vote tearing down the very bridge on which Phoebe died. The continued focus on Phoebe's death is bringing up bad memories and guilt from Both Becca and Grant. Both of whom share a secret, one of many, of what happened that night in the car that led to the tragic event that happened on the bridge. For June, the memorial served as a reminder that the most traumatic events of her life, both the disappearance of her brother ten years ago, and the recent death of her mother, would always be overshadowed by Phoebe Dean. For Wyatt, the memorial is the catalyst for returning to explain his absence and expose secrets so that both he and June can find peace. For the town, filled with people who failed to see, hear, or provide help to those who needed it, all while reveling in the gossip of those unfortunate to be caught up in it, the memorial would finally bring about the answer they'd been dying to know for ten long years: why did it take Grant twenty-seven minutes to call for help as his siter lay dying.

The premise of Twenty Seven Minutes is an intriguing one. The story is very well plotted, with the author doing a masterful job of of juggling multiple points of view while moving back and forth between timelines. Tate also does a good job of developing each character. As each chapter unfolds the reader gets a clearer picture of who the main characters are. She puts the readers in an interesting position of empathizing, or even sympathizing, with these teens who are on the cusp of adulthood, all wanting to escape in order to have better lives than the ones they endure, and equally disliking the adults that those who survived that night became. As the layers are peeled away, what's left behind are people who emotionally never survived the events of that night. The truth reveals some ugly, unhappy, and self-serving characters.

As one who reads a great deal of mysteries and psychological thrillers, the surprise twist was not much of a surprise. The greater surprise was that the author took so long to reveal something that I feel should have been obvious to most reader by the halfway point. Instead, by the time the secrets are revealed, we are just pages from the end of the book. It felt like a lot of work for little payoff. I would honestly have preferred that the secrets had come out at the 75% mark and the last 25% have been dedicated to showing who the remaining characters continued on. to be. Would exposing the secrets and lies leave them still as emotionally stuck as they had been during the last ten years, or would they be free of the heavy burdens of the secrets and begin to move positively forward with their lives. At the very least I feel like there should have been an epilogue, and I am not a fan of epilogues.

Overall I had mixed feelings about the book. I feel that the author both did an excellent job of fleshing out the story and the characters while at the same time falling into the traps that many new writers fall into: (1) using an excess of words to tell the reader what is happening rather than writing concise statements that allow the reader to simply experience the story; I need a writer to paint me a beautiful picture without following up to explain every detail, and (2) trying too hard to drag out suspense for a big reveal thus making some scenes feel contrived. While this book is not one that I would pick up to read again, it was certainly worth reading the first time around, and I would be more than willing to read more from this author as she hones her craft..

From the first page, I was completely hooked and couldn't wait to discover how the mystery would be solved. The characters were not always likable, but I found that it made the story even more interesting. I found myself questioning their motivations, which made the story more intriguing. I was very satisfied with the way the story wrapped up in the end. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to others looking for a good, quick read.


Thank you Netgalley and the publisher, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Twenty Seven Minutes - from the moment of the accident until the ambulance was called. Twenty Seven Minutes…and Phoebe Dean is dead.

Ten years later - the town is holding a memorial, and those most affected by that night have been left picking up the pieces. But with a visitor in town, the tale of that night is starting to unravel, and the truth isn’t quite what you think.

I thought the premise of this book was exceptional - the idea of a major town secret unraveling over three days after a tragic death peaked my interest. But the writing felt overly rambling - it was almost too drawn out. I would find myself skimming and then I’d have to go back to reread because the layers of the story weren’t quite precise enough.

A car accident ten years ago takes the life of 17-year-old Phoebe Dean, one of the most popular girls in the small town of West Wilmer. Her older brother, Dean, was driving, and Becca Hoyt, in the back seat was severely injured. Twenty-seven minutes elapsed before Dean called for help. Why?

That's the burning question in this tale of ruined lives that stopped in place when the accident happened. The story, told from multiple POVs, follows the timelines of events leading up to the accident, and ten years later as the tenth memorial is but days away.

The book blurb written by the publishers had me eager to read this debut mystery novel. Unfortunately, for me, the read didn't match up with the hype. I found the characters flat, and
the story repetitive and sad. This is a tragic tale, no doubt, but the reality that the main characters were never able to get past the night of the accident is sadder still. And though I had compassion for each of them, I can't say I liked any of them.

Reading is very subjective, and this book was not a good fit for me.

My sincere thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for permitting me to access an DRC of this novel via NetGalley. Publication is 1/30/24. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

I enjoyed this book, it is a four person POV. It started out kind of slow, but with the short chapters it picked up. This book is full of town secrets and unreliable narrators. The end has an unexpected twist that stopped me for a second. Overall it was a good book, there just was not anything that really grabbed me about this book to make it stand out.

I loved the many POV and the short chapters. It really picked up towards the middle to the end. The plot twist threw me for a loop!

I really wanted to like this book. The premise was right up my alley, and I went into the book with really high hopes. Unfortunately, this was just not the book for me.

I felt like over 90% of the book was reading about the lives of very unlikeable characters without anything actually happening. Even the flashbacks to the past felt like not much was happening that moved the story along.

I stuck with this book because there were enough good reviews promising a really good twist. I will admit that the twist was really good, but by the time that it finally came, I was so bored with the book I didn’t particularly care.

I am not a huge fan of a slow burn thriller, but I do sometimes love them if the story gets going by the 50% mark. I didn’t feel like the story here every really got going. This just really was not the book for me, but if you love a really slow burn with a huge twist, this could be the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

Wow! This was an incredible read. Fast-paced, taut, raw, and executed in a masterfully written way. Ashley Tate was able to handle dark material in an immersing, relatable way. I'll be back for the next novel, as Tate is becoming one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early read.

This was….weird. There was a lot of dialogue but somehow a lack of plot? While I love a small town setting, this town felt so sad with all the characters talking about how trapped they were and desperate to get out. The repetition was heavy with many characters feeling extremely similar. There was one twist I didn’t see coming surrounding one of the more likeable characters. I wish I could say more positives but It felt like a creative writing project by.

Twenty-Seven Minutes is a mystery thriller with slowly built-up suspense that kept me turning the pages from the very first scene. Greif was portrayed really well and was really the catalyst that kept pushing the story along. I enjoyed the plot, the overall creepy setting that was established, and the nice twist ending. However, I never really got as invested as I wanted to with the characters and, unfortunately, this was the biggest drawback of this novel for me personally. But overall, I had a good time with this book and what it brought to the table.

I believe the re-readability of this book would be very high since the author left clues throughout the entirety of the story that would be fun to go back and see that the ending was there for us readers to figure out the whole time. I would certainly recommended this if you enjoy slow burn thrillers and don’t mind some gore. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in which I am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up.
This book was just unfortunately not for me. It's described as a thriller, but not much happens, which makes it hard for me to consider this a thriller. There's a lot of prose and dialogue and inner monologue (that is all very well-written, to be fair) leading up to the big reveal at the end. However, this reveal wasn't very surprising. We basically knew what had happened the entire time and were only missing a few details.
There were a lot of beautiful parts of this book. Again, it was well-written, and the descriptions of grief, trauma and guilt were very well done. I also appreciated the multiple POVs and the flashbacks to the day of the accident that slowly revealed aspects of the character and the "mystery".
I just don't think the description of this book was accurate. The synopsis alludes to someone threatening to reveal the secrets of the night, which doesn't happen. It's more of the guilt finally eating away at the characters and forcing the truth out, which I think I would have enjoyed more had the synopsis not led me to believe something else. I also think the genre is more literary fiction with a hint of mystery than a thriller like it was categorized.

It's tricky to describe how I felt about this book. There were parts that the writing was strong and I was in it with the characters. Sadly that would change rather quickly. The character development was lacking and conversations felt unrealistic. It felt to me like 2 separate people were writing the book. I think given time and experience, this author would be worth reading again.

Ten years ago Phoebe Dean died in a car crash. A car being driven by her brother Grant. An accident that, according to evidence, occurred 27 minutes before Grant called for help. Why? And what was he doing during those 27 minutes? Could Phoebe have been saved if he had acted earlier?
For ten years these, and more, questions have been asked and no answers ever given. Also present that night was Becca who has been supporting Grant ever since the accident. And, on the same night of that accident, another young man, Wyatt, also disappeared, leaving his sister June in limbo... coincidence or...?
A lot of tragedy happened that night...
Back in the present and we are a few days away from the ten year anniversary and a memorial is arranged. Also, after another nasty accident at the same place, on the bridge, has left people asking for it to be demolished and a vote is set to be taken.
And that's pretty much all I can say as I think you really need to get to know these characters as the author intends. You need to learn what happened at their speeds. In fact, also as they themselves learn it. As more of the truth becomes known, as told in flashback, more of the present day stuff becomes clear. And then there's that sweet spot, that a-ha moment. That point where my jaw dropped and... well, I'll leave that to you to find out.
I tried to guess ahead. I did OK and also spectacularly badly. And I eat sleep repeat this genre book. But yeah, kept me guessing all the way through. And I loved it.
And so, as I finished. I went to check out the author's back catalogue and, blow me down. It's a debut book. WOW. I guess I'll just have to wait to see what the author serves up for next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book

A small town where everyone knows everyone, but a chilling secret is about to turn the quiet town upside down. Sunday is going to be the tenth anniversary when Phoebe Dean was killed in a freak accident on the town's most dangerous bridge. But Phoebe wasn't the only one who lost something that day. Becca was in the accident too, but she remembers nothing and Grant Phoebe's older brother was driving the truck and could've saved Phoebe's life if he had called the ambulance as soon as the accident happened. But he wasted twenty-seven minutes. And the ultimate question we are left with is - what happened?

The story starts with Phoebe's ten-year memorial being announced by her mother, and then we are taken back and forth between the day before the accident, to the present. The story has multiple POVs Grant, Becca, Wyatt - another person who went missing the same night, and June, Wyatt's sister who is fighting her demons and trying to get to the truth.

I enjoyed the story immensely. After seeing the mixed reviews this debut author received I thought the book would turn out to be an ok read. However, multiple guesses on what would have happened did not prepare me for the wild and unexpected end. The story had everything - a fast pace, a good plot, a well-thought-out ending, deep characters, and, some crazy ones too, fighting their pain and sorrow in unexpected ways. The author explored this dimension of grief and loneliness very well and had me hooked on all the dark secrets and mysteries unraveling one after the other.
I highly recommend this book to fans of thriller novels. I see a great new mystery author on the rise.

The town of West Wilmer never really got over the death of Phoebe Dean ten years ago. Bright and popular, she was expected to go far and to put their small town’s name on the map. Instead, the truck she was in crashed on the town bridge one rainy night. She bled out on the asphalt, and nothing in West Wilmer was ever the same again.

Since then, plenty of questions have been directed at the truck’s driver, Phoebe’s older brother Grant. There’d been a twenty-seven minute delay between the vehicle crashing and Grant calling for help. Plenty of people still believe that if he’d called emergency services sooner, Phoebe’s life might have been saved.

As children, Grant had promised Phoebe that they would leave town together, working their way to bigger vistas and better opportunities. But the pressures of high school took their toll on Grant, who was relying on football scouts to pry him out of West Wilmer. Phoebe had gone nearly wild with frustration, trying to keep him on the straight and narrow and away from the girls she feared would keep him tied to their birthplace.

Becca Hoyt was one of those girls. She’s also the only witness to what really happened that night on the bridge, or so she believes. Since then, she’s kept the secrets Grant has asked of her, out of a perhaps misguided belief in his enduring love:

QUOTE
How could Grant sacrifice so much for her ten years ago but treat her so poorly now? That stormy night had many facets, but had she not protected him, just as he had her, by keeping some of those truths to herself? He’d been the one driving, had he not? He’d let his sister die, had he not? Becca had lived for ten years with the unbearable burden of guilt of what Grant had done out of love for her, and yet she was still overlooked and ignored in town.

Becca was tired of being invisible in her own story; she was owed more than what Grant was giving.
END QUOTE

Becca isn’t the only person suffering from the aftereffects of that night. The crash injured Grant’s leg, ending his football career and keeping him in the same household as the mother he and Phoebe had once planned to flee. When that same mother decides that she wants to hold a ten year memorial service for her lost daughter, Grant and Becca’s grief and guilt can no longer be kept separate from each other’s, as the memorial intensifies and focuses the entire town’s emotions.

Into this already combustible mix comes June Delroy, their classmate back in high school. June’s brother Wyatt left their family on the same day as the accident. Several years later, their father followed suit. June’s mother has only recently died of cancer, leaving June bereft and even more broken down than she was while her mother was alive. When Wyatt finally comes home, June is both overwhelmed with happiness and filled with questions. Even though she’s glad he’s back, she can’t help but feel resentful still of the circumstances surrounding his departure:

QUOTE
But where Wyatt had been for the last ten years, after running away the night of a terrible fight with their father, June didn’t know. The help they needed from the sheriff to look for Wyatt, to find wherever he’d slunk off to and then drag him home, as they had done several times before, hadn’t been available because of that car accident. Their town was too small for more than one problem, she supposed, and they’d chosen her. Phoebe Dean. She’d drained all of the resources and air and sympathy, and all that June’s family was left with was an empty chair at their table and a steady stream of questions that would never be answered.
END QUOTE

When Becca, Wyatt and June each decide they need to go to Phoebe’s memorial in search of closure, Grant is unprepared to deal with all of them at once. He’s spent the last decade hiding what really happened that night. Will he be able to hold out even longer in the face of all their demands, or will the horrific truth finally come to the surface and change all their lives forever?

Ashley Tate draws on her memories of visiting her grandmother’s small town to bring West Wilmer to life, in this tale of suffocating secrets and dreams destroyed. I had the most sympathy for Becca, whose belief in the power of love, no matter how deluded, was at least rooted in a desire for kindness and good. It probably helped that she was the only character who thought that Phoebe was as insufferable as I did.

The pacing up to the big reveal is also wonderfully done, really infusing tension into the proceedings. This debut novel has a lot to say about the ways that grief and guilt can haunt the inhabitants of an insular community, and how important it is for the truth to finally be told.

DNF at 9%. The premise of this was intriguing to me and I loved the first chapter. But the writing read very juvenile, and the subsequent early chapters were incredibly repetitive. The dialogue was also unnatural and it felt like each character was just info-dumping. Unfortunately the stellar opening chapter did not outweigh the things I disliked, and I could not keep reading it.

First, let me say thank you netgalley, Ashley Tate, and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for fleshed out characters, a contemplative style of writing, and well-paced storytelling this is your book. There are elements of surprise and plot twists that left me with a lot of thoughts!

This is a thriller but definitely a more “show than tell” if makes sense? If you are looking for more of a ‘popcorn, nail-biter’ with mostly plot rather than character growth and introspection this won’t be for you… but if you have ever wanted to read a suspense that lends a lot of space to the actual character’s struggle on top of plot, then this is your next read!

Congrats Ashley Tate it was a pleasure to read.