I was praying for this one to be over. It is so boring and repetitive with the most anti-climactic "climax" of a book that is supposed to be suspenseful and thrilling. I was so excited to be done with this book since I could not find myself interested in or caring about any of the characters or the overall story arc. There were so many POVs and conflicting viewpoints that I just couldn't get invested in anyone.

The build-up is painfully slow, and I was so frustrated by being given NOTHING for 90% of the book that when it did eventually come to a head I was annoyed rather than relieved. This one had potential but was a miss for me.

Thank you as always to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views and thoughts are my own.

The story masterfully weaves together the characters' complex emotions and the interconnected mysteries surrounding that tragic night on the bridge. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes a gripping exploration of the human psyche when confronted with unbearable sorrow and the lengths one is willing to go to protect the ones they love.

I thought this was a very solid mystery/thriller (and I read a lot). I found myself trying and failing to guess where the story was going. I liked that it had concise chapters that make me want to continue reading until I finish.

I enjoyed every point of view we read from almost equally. I did find myself wanting to read Grants chapters more for some reason. Without full background I was getting annoyed with Becca in a good way, because eventually I understood where she was coming from.

I thought this was an edge of you seat thriller full of mystery. I definitely intend on reading more by this author.

"Twenty-Seven Minutes" by Ashley Tate unfolds in the small town of West Wilmer, haunted by the lingering question of why it took Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to seek help after a car accident claimed his sister's life.

As the anniversary approaches, Grant grapples with the night's memories and a suffocating secret. The story delves into the perspective of Becca, who witnessed the tragedy, and June, left alone after her brother's mysterious disappearance.

While the book offers a good twist, it fully reveals it only at the end, with about 80% spent on suspense development. This may be more enjoyable for thriller beginners, but seasoned readers might find the lack of clues and prolonged suspense a bit irksome.

I liked twenty-seven minutes by Ashley Tate. The story is about a murder that happened ten years ago and the story jumps back and fourth between past and present. I thought there were quite a lot of details to go through and remember in the beginning but I enjoyed the book and would recommend this author.

Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect starting this story. I liked each perspective adding to the story. The jumps to the past worked too to reveal what really happened 10 years ago. The characters were all interesting and flawed. It was hard to tell what was true and what was the perception of each character. This was an interesting twist to the story. I thought the book moved a little slow in the middle, but the ending was unexpected. I wish there was a bit of an epilogue to let us know how some of the characters moved on. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Twenty Seven Minutes centers around that period of time before a teenage girl dies.

Told in dual timelines of nearly ten years ago and the present.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of at the beginning. Once they were all set up and the story began it was much more interesting. I do wish some of the characters were a little more detailed in their descriptions. I felt like I didn't really get to know some of them. Although for one character I think it was left kind of vague intentionally.

The story itself was good and kept me wanting to know more. The short chapters and ease in reading kept me going. I couldn't wait to find out what actually happened in those twenty seven minutes. Not what I was expecting but made sense in the end.

3.5 stars rounded up for me.

Thanks to netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the arc.

Overall, I liked the book but there was a bizarreness to the story line and it felt like the reader has to deal with lots of details before the mystery is revealed.

10 years ago, Phoebe is killed in a car accident and for some reason, it takes Phoebe's brother, Grant 27 minutes to call for an ambulance. Phoebe's mother is planning a 10-year memorial and readers meet various characters from the town and learn about what they were doing the night of the accident. It also reveals some savory and manipulative behavior. In the end, all of the pieces of the puzzle come together and those 27 minutes are revealed. All the while, I did not see the ending coming, so the author did a good job keeping me guessing.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

#TwentySevenMinutes #AshleyTate

This is a suspenseful story that follows families in a small town whose lives are changed forever after one fateful night. Grant Dean was driving home from a party with his sister and a friend from school when he crashes. His sister does not survive the accident, but he does, and so does their friend. On that same night, another acquaintance disappears or runs away; no one knows for sure.

The catalyst for the suspense and mysterious part of this story is that Grant's sister, Phoebe, would have lived if he had called 911 immediately. But he didn't. He waited 27 minutes to call, and it was too late by then. The book goes between the few night leading up the accident and present day, ten years after the accident. I found the story to be engaging and the characters flawed but genuine. The ending could have been more surprising, but I wasn't disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Tate, and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

What a ride. This thriller is told in multiple perspectives and dual timelines.

The night that Phoebe Dean, small town West Wilmer’s sweetheart, was killed in a horrific car accident, has haunted the town for years.

Now that the ten year anniversary of her death is approaching, her mother is hosting a memorial. There is only one person alive who knows what happened that night, Phoebe’s brother, Dean, the driver of the car.

Now that another car accident has claimed a life on the same bridge Phoebe died on, the citizens are getting worked up into a frenzy, trying to remember what happened ten years ago, and pushing for the answer to the question that has never been answered: Why did Grant Dean wait twenty seven minutes before calling an ambulance, an act that would have saved his sister’s life?

This was soooo twisty and gained momentum and frenzy as the story went on. I loved having bits of information slowly revealed in the past and present, building to the climax that hit me right in the heart.

Thank you to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Congratulations to Toronto author Ashley Tate on her first novel.

Head down to West Wilmer to uncover the mystery on January 30th, 2024.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The story is about a group of teenagers who leave a party, get in a car accident and a girl dies. Of course, there are secrets about what really happened. The story is told in a dual time line, the day and night of the crash and 10 years later. I really didn't connect with any of the characters and found some annoying. I also found myself wondering why they were acting the way they were and thought maybe it would be explained in the end but it wasn't. The twist at the end saved the books for me.

I have seen mixed reviews for this one, but I have to say, I was intrigued! This book is full of unreliable narrators, my favorite! The characters are all unlikeable, so don’t go in expecting to connect with them too closely. I wondered if there was supernatural elements to this one….it was a really great book to buddy read with someone!

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
The short chapters and alternating POV's made for a very compelling read. I was gripped by it easily and it made it a very quick, although heavy, read. It uniquely shows the depth of grief and guilt. The continued mystery keeps you connected, but I did figure most of it out early on. There were a lot of toxic relationships with the main characters that it was hard to connect or feel for them, resulting in a slightly disappointed read for me in the end.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Multiple POVs
Mystery
High School - Small Town Drama

🛑 ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ:
Grief
Toxic relationships

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
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.

If you can get past how many major characters there are, you will enjoy this book. I tend to not enjoy books like that. It takes up too much of the book to introduce them all and they seem superficial which is the case in this book. Getting past that, it’s an interesting thriller surrounding a 10 year anniversary of a car accident with a death involved. Not a bad book for a debut author..
#ashleytate #netgalley #thepoisonedpen #twentysevenminutes

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was slow at the beginning but I had to know what was going to happen at the end of the book!

The book was about young kids and somebody is dead. But nobody will teach who did it and how.

Great job Ashley!

I found the story itself to be pretty compelling, but none of the characters (and I mean none) were likable in any way, which I found a bit difficult. It was hard for me to really care about any of them all that much, although June was the one I empathized with the most.

What saved this one for me was the ending. I really didn't see it coming, and that's pretty rare for me with thrillers, so I appreciate that Ashley Tate was able to create such a good twist.

I do think this one was worth the read, and I would tentatively recommend it for anyone who doesn't mind unlikable characters. If you can get past that, then this is a really well written novel, especially for a debut!

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ten years ago, Phoebe Dean died. She was in a car accident with her brother behind the wheel, and Becca in the back, they survived, she didn't. Now it's coming up to the ten-year anniversary and all anyone can talk about is how sad it is, how wonderful she was, that she was going to be something someday. For those closer to it, they want nothing more than to keep moving on with their lives, yet every day, they're reminded of that tragic event, and the secrets that they're all keeping about it. The biggest secret of all is, why did it take Grant - Phoebe's brother - Twenty-Seven Minutes to call for help?

I'm a sucker for a good thriller, especially one that has a burning mystery at its centre. As soon as I read the blurb for this book, I had to request it. Knowing only the basics about the story, I still needed to know, what could possibly make a brother wait almost half an hour to call emergency services while his sister lay dying on the road? If he had only called sooner, there's a chance she'd have survived. So, sign me up because I was hooked before I'd even been approved for it.

This story takes place over the three days leading up to Phoebe's ten-year memorial. It's told in dual timelines between the present day and ten years ago. Most of the time switches are done between chapters and are labelled as such at the beginning of that chapter, however, there are a few flashback scenes told within a chapter that is written from the present-day timeline. For the most part the time jumps were fine, initially it took me a second to wrap my head around it, but once I'd gotten used to a flashback sporadically popping up mid chapter, it did flow for me. There are four points of view that this story is told from: Grant, Becca, June and Wyatt. Initially, it did feel like there were just too many characters and too much going on with the flashbacks and the dual timelines, but by about 35% into the story, I'd managed to fall into a rhythm with it all and was able to keep all the characters straight as well as the events leading up to THE night ten years ago, and the events happening in the lead up to the memorial in the present day. This book needs your full attention, there is a lot going on, and if you want to fully get a feel for it all, you do really need to give it your full focus. This isn't just a regular, run of the mill thriller/mystery. Pretty much from the get-go, you can see that it's an incredibly bleak story that deals heavily with grief, loss and guilt. So, it definitely turned out to be a heavier book than what I was anticipating it to be, and that's not a bad thing either. I feel like it gave the story more substance, and it really did make me think about different things. Like June's loneliness and isolation, that's one of my biggest fears. Having everyone that I love leave or pass away and me being left alone and slowly forgotten about. I really felt for June because I felt like I could sympathise with her situation in a way. I also thought about Grant's situation, having the whole town constantly judging him for his choices. Choices that ultimately lead to his little sister's death. I couldn't even imagine the guilt that he would have been carrying.

The characters. As said above, there's a few. Initially I felt like there was too many, but I did change my mind about this as the story progressed. It was good to be able to get so many different angles on the accident and the things surrounding it, and having so many different characters did allow this. The only character that I really liked was June. I felt for her, so much. Becca was an interesting character because of her fixations and obsessions, but she did really bug me. She's one of those characters that I think you're meant to dislike. She's incredibly self-centred and this came through in spades for the entire story. I did feel for her on a few different occasions though. Especially with her interactions with Grant. Wyatt was a perplexing character. I wanted to dislike him because of his mood swings and some of the things he was saying to June, as well as some of the ways he treated her. What was weird, was that I couldn't hate him. I wanted to throttle him on numerous occasions, but I couldn't hate him. I really enjoyed his part of the storyline too. Grant. Now, Grant, I really disliked, I could probably say that I hated Grant. I know that kids make dumb decisions, and I know that there was so much trauma there from his mother, but dude, come on. Again, I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to be so stuck in grief and carry so much guilt, feeling responsible for what happened. But he never tried to help himself at all. Maybe it's because he felt that he deserved everything he was given, everything that happened to him, was said to him. That circles back around to that pesky guilt thing, but still, he bugged me to no end, and he was so manipulative.

I did consider DNFing this one early on, but that burning need to know why Grant waited so long to call emergency services kept me hanging on. As well as the fact that Wyatt had something he needed to bring into the light, and I really needed to know what that was. As the story progressed, once I hit about the 40% mark, I knew that I was finishing it. I'd become committed to the story and I'd become engaged in the story line. It wasn't just a need to know anymore, I actually wanted to see how everything panned out for all of the people involved. I had a couple of theories in my head for that big burning question that initially made me request the book, but I was way off base. This story managed to surprise me on a number of fronts and for that I applaud it.

All in all, this was a twisting and turning story of how one event can impact so many people in different ways. It gave an insight into the soul sucking black hole that grief, guilt and loss can be, and how hopeless and bleak life can seem while you're stuck in its orbit. It showed how one decision could be life changing, or life ending, and how trauma can make the human mind do odd things. For a debut novel, Tate honestly did hit this one out of the park. As said above, this story managed to surprise me with a few different things, and I really appreciated how much deeper this story was than just a thrilling mystery. If you find that you're struggling in the beginning, stick with it because it will pull you in.

Phoebe was possessive over her brother Grant. But Phoebe is dead now. There was a car accident in which it took her brother a long time to call for help
Becka was in the car with Grant and Phoebe when the accident occurred. Becka and Grant were actually in a relationship together, but they did not want Phoebe to find out, considering how possessive she was
Wyatt and June were at the party Grant got drunk at before he was involved in the accident
Wyatt has something to hide as well. He has been gone for 10 years since the accident happened. But now he is suddenly home
Seems like they all have something to hide about that night after the party
Something happened, and maybe the accident that killed Phoebe was more than just an accident

Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Twenty-Seven Minutes is about a tragic death that happened years ago and the people connected to that night. This was a great quick mystery. The writing was good and the plot twists were ones I didn’t see coming. I do wish the characters were more fleshed out and the reasons behind their actions were better explained. But again this was a quick story so it didn’t get the chance to go into depth. I am interesed in reading other books by this author.

What a book!!! A story about a small town where an accident ten years ago on a rickety bridge shapes five people’s lives forever.
The main characters June, Grant, Becca and Phoebe and Wyatt, are all great, complex, interesting people. As the ten year anniversary approaches and they feel the pressure of keeping their secrets, slowly but surely, the reader starts to understand how they tick. I was totally obsessed with this book! It was written so well that the twists and turns and some shockers really made it extra special!! You won’t be able to stop reading!!!
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read this debut arc copy via Netgalley.
#Netgalley,#poisonedpenpress, #ashleytateauthor.