Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and author Ashley Tate for this ARC to read and review!

Absolutely bingeable and unputdownable! It’s a drip, drip, drip of information until what really happened comes gushing out! The author uses very messy and unreliable narrators to tell the darkish story of that fateful night on the bridge and has you questioning everything as the twisty truth comes to light. I was so anxious to find out all the things! Captivated right to the end!

Thank you to the author Ashley Tate, publishers Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES. All views are mine.

This book is not for me! So much so that it seems like I really hated it. But I didn't; I think the concept works and style is pleading, except for some just huge, glaring stylistic choices that I couldn't avoid.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I'm not sure where this takes place yet, but it's impossible to glean from story details because of setting clash. For example, characters studying for SATs places the story solidly in the US, whereas a character eating beans for breakfast places the story solidly in the UK.

2. This first Ten Years Ago scene, at loc.257, is unrealistic, really. Kids don't stay that calm when they're hiding someone else in their bed. But also, I don't really understand why this scene is necessary. The information didn't need to be delivered in flashback.

3. Omg who the heck is Becca? My only guess is she was the girl in his bed in the last scene? And I still don't have a hood feel for who June is.

4. DNF @ 10% This is definitely "a me thing" as I really don't get along with multiple perspectives, especially if there are more than two. Mix that already complicated form with alternating timelines and I'm done in. It's sometimes hard to know this is what you're getting with a book when you first grab it! But I'm spending most of my time confused in this first part of the book, which I don't like, even if things do clarify later.

Rating: DNF @ 10%
Recommend? Sure, for readers who like multiple POVs and alternating timelines
Finished: Jan 28 '23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
👥️ multiple POVs
⏳️ alternating timelines
🏘 domestic thrillers
🔍 mystery
😬 suspense

At first, I was really confused with the amount of characters and the constant flashbacks. However about halfway through, I was flying through and wasn’t sure who I could trust. This book consumed me and I felt the pain of the characters.

Twenty-seven minutes is a mystery by Ashley Tate. 10 years ago, phoebe dean died in a car accident on the bridge in town during a rain storm. It took phoebes brother twenty-seven minutes to contact help leading to her death. 10 years later, the town celebrated the anniversary of her death and the story follows multiple narrators flashing back and forth between the decades. None of the narrators are particularly reliable, and they all have secrets about that night they are desperate to hide.
The premise initially drew me in, as I love the small town setting and the past affecting the present. However, there are too many characters to try to track and none of them were interesting enough to stand out apart from the rest. The timelines can become disorienting as well and the pacing is slightly slow. Great premise and I would be interested in seeing a follow-up as there is a lot of potential here, even if parts of this didn’t work well for me.
Thanks to the publisher and for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A car accident 10 years ago resulted in the death of a popular high school girl, but what really happened that night and what is everyone who was there still hiding? 🚘

2.5 ⭐️ This one didn’t quite work for me. In my opinion, the story is told from too many perspectives, resulting in a lot underdeveloped characters. Between the high school flashbacks and the fact that these now adults either still live at home or still act like they’re in high school, I also thought the book read a bit YA, which definitely impacted my reading experience. I thought the book was fairly boring and could have benefited from some slow reveals versus talking around “what happened” the entire book and revealing everything at the very end. There is also a twist, which for me is overdone and no longer feels original.

My thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out 1/30/2024.

Twenty-Seven minutes is the well-written debut novel by Ashley Tate. Grippng your attention from the first page, you'll be treated to a story told over multiple POVs and multiple time periods. The chapters are short but efficient. There are bread crumbs of clues scattered throughout, sometimes containing confirmation of what you think is the truth and sometimes conflicting with it. This makes for a slow build but also keeps you turning the page.

The novel tells the tale of the death of young Phoebe Dean and the ripple effects it has through the small town in which she lived. It's a town full of secrets, but the biggest one is why did it take twenty-seven minutes for help to be called after the accident? Phoebe may still have lived had she gotten help sooner.

Told from the POV of several unreliable narrators, you soon learn that everyone has secrets and everyone is carrying around guilt or heartache over something. Guilt and it's side effects are a constant theme in this book.

There are no likable characters in this book which was something I did not care for. I also wish the conclusion had been fleshed out a bit more, but it was still a good ending. Overall the book was a very solid debut novel and I'm looking forward to see what the other comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a book I enjoyed. I was expecting a book with thriller, suspenseful or psychological vibes and this is not that type of book. It’s a mystery in a small town told from multiple POV and in different timelines, both past and present.

I struggled to stay engaged and read this to the end. I can see where this would be some readers type of both, but unfortunately it’s just not mine.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked how the whole time you were constantly wondering what happened in those 27 minutes and then of course you found out in the end. I kind of had an idea of what happened but I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was well written.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This book is difficult for me to review because while it wasn't really my cup of tea and I'd probably rate it a 2 if I was just basing it on my personal opinion, I can see how someone else could really enjoy this and rate it 4 or 5. Normally I rate purely on my own feelings but something about this book just makes that feel like a bad choice. So I'm gonna meet in the middle and give it a three. I'm also going to tell you who I think would enjoy this book.

If you enjoy mysteries that are incredibly realistic that don't force you to really suspend much disbelief, this is for you. The vast majority of this book could have 100% happened in real life and in the parts where that is not the case, it's very intentional. If you like books with a lot of characters that you get to know really well, you will probably like this. If you like books where you can never really tell if the characters are being honest with the reader(and therefore themselves), you will definitely like this book. And if you enjoy books where most of the conflict is internal rather than internal, you should check this one out.

For me personally, I tend to prefer thrillers/mysteries that are a bit more fantastical and over the top. However, for what this was it was incredibly well done. The only real criticism I have is that I think one of the POV characters could have been done away with. Not removing them from the story entirely, but the choice to put the reader inside their head is an odd one given the end(if you have read it, it will likely be obvious who I am referring to). In most stories it would not have bothered me, but given the overall realism of this story it didn't really fit in my opinion.

I feel like the repetitive and multiple POVs really took away from the potential story.
I didn’t like or care about any of the characters

You're having me on! I won't lie, there was a slight tear at the end there, but once all has been revealed, it makes SO much sense looking back.

I've never read Tate's work before, but what a damn good writer they are. It did take me longer than I would have liked to finish, but the final 20 or so percent had me gripping my kindle like it would run away! Such a good plot twist.

I highly recommend!

Phoebe just wants to finish high school and leave town with her brother Grant. Grant is keeping secrets from Phoebe and she is ready to confront him. Everything comes to a halt after a horrific accident leaving Phoebe dead.

The general idea of this story had promise but I didn't feel any buy in with the characters.

Thank you so much for the opportunity!

I saw great reviews from almost every single person i follow and decided to give it a shot and was not disappointed.
This is , like it says, ‘’ a small town’s obsessive hold on a decade-old tragedy”. All of the characters were unique and unreliable in their own way. Which made everything ten times better and intriguing.

I had a hard time keeping track of the characters in this book, especially since it jumped around in timelines. Honestly, I think it was just because I didn't feel connected to any of them, After about 30% I just wanted to get to the end of the book. The story was repetitive and most of the characters unlikeable. It could have been a better book with some more editing.

I was really excited about this one, but it didn’t really do it for me in the end, I’m sorry to say.
I felt like perhaps too much was going on, and the plot just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. I did enjoy it, but I didn’t love it.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow…never saw that ending coming. This book was a little hard to get into at first but once I kept reading I was hooked especially at the very end. Definitely a huge twist at the end!

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC of this debut novel by Ashley Tate. The premise of this book is what drew me in. Why did I take 27 minutes to call for help? What really happened that night? We get a look back through multiple points of view to see if it sheds any light on what happens and why to Phoebe. I did figure out the twist early on, but I still enjoyed the ride.

If you like truly dark, small-town set thrillers, this one's for you. I do love a thriller with a good little plot twist at the end and this one delivers. There were points of the book where it felt things were dragging on but it was well worth it to read the end. Highly recommend this great psychological thriller!

My Thoughts:
If you want to read a good small town mystery pick up this.
This story pulled me in and had me wondering and guessing and entertained for pages and pages. You have a small town tragedy that was heartbreaking and different POV’s as to what really happened that night. But someone is ready to tell the truth. See if while reading this book you know what happened that night. The characters were not my favorite people but the plot and story is good.
She heard screaming but it wasn’t her because she was having trouble breathing and it wasn’t Phoebe because Phoebe wouldn’t wake up wake up Phoebe please wake up Grant where are you? Her eyes were open but she couldn’t see anything and her head was cracked like an egg Grant help us Phoebe won’t wake up Grant help us. Why aren’t you coming please we need your help. I’m so scared.

I liked that I couldn't completely predict the ending until closer to the end instead of so early on. I liked the chapter lengths, the multiple POV's were easy to follow while still having depth. I liked the flashback to the night of the accident mixed in between present time, and even with a lot going on it didn't get confusing which can happen with multiple levels to the story unfolding. I overall liked the book and characters. I was a little annoyed with Becca and June until they started to stand their ground for themselves. I liked that there was a lot of mystery to how everyone really fit with each other and then how all their lives were intertwined and frozen in time after that night until all the secrets came to the surface. I was hoping for the ending to flesh out a little more, it seemed like it just dropped off with a quick epilogue and done. Overall I definitely give this 4 stars for keeping the mystery alive to keep my intrigue as I read through each reveal! Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the copy.