Thank you to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. The title caught my attention and at times the book was fairly entertaining but didn't really hook me like other thrillers usually do. The foul language was a bit excessive for me and the drama was a little much. Overall it was an okay read but it was missing something.

This is a story about several characters that are sad, stuck, and in constant inner turmoil. June just lost her brother and her dad and brother abandoned her ten years ago. Grant’s sister died ten years ago in a wreck. Becca was in the car during the wreck. And the twn year anniversary is a major stressor for all involved. A decent story overall and a good ending with closure.

This story moved way too slow for me. I was so distracted by the timeline jumping around and new characters being introduced that it took away from the big mystery. The reveal took so long to work up to that I stopped caring about what happened 10 years ago and what happened in those twenty-seven minutes.

The opening sequence of this book is heartbreaking. We are witness to Phoebe's last moments after being in a horrible car accident 10 years prior. Why did her brother wait 27 minutes to call 9-1-1? This is told from differing viewpoints from 10 years ago and current day. The other mystery is that another character Wyatt went missing that same night after a fight with his father. While a slow burn at times and a bit YA feeling, the ending did not disappoint. I definitely didn't see that coming. I recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries and small town feel to a book.

I love a good mystery. This was a slow burn tho and was a bit slow in the middle and i struggled to keep up with all the characters. The ending was surprising tho!

This book was such fun--loved the setting, so atmospheric and rich--and the premise was unique and interesting. Felt fresh and new and tightly plotted.

Read this book in two days! Very fast paced story with great supporting characters. I was shocked at the ending, and didn't see it coming.
Instabtly an Ashley Tate fan.

Thank you Netgalley fir my ARC in exchange fir my honest oppinion.

Very confusing to follow with many different characters. Interesting at times but very slow at times as well. Many parts could have been cut. The book builds up to a promise of a good ending, yet ends with a disappointing ending. Not my favorite.

I really wanted to love this book, but it’s only a like. Twenty-Seven Minutes is a ‘thriller’ taking place in small town West Wilmer. The community is dealing with the death of Phoebe, ten years ago, and those that were affected by the accident and her death. First off, I had difficultly keeping track of the characters. Who was related to who? Who was involved with who? Quite a challenge.
It started off great, grabbed my attention and then slowed down, to the point that I was just skimming pages. As I was getting closer to the end, I was more invested and wanted to figure out ‘who done it”. I have to say, I thought it was going down a different path than it did, much to my surprise!
This is Tate’s debut novel. I would be wiling to give her an other try.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This needs to be advertised as a mystery and NOT a thriller. There is absolutely nothing thrilling about the story. It makes a solid mystery, but I wasn’t in the mood for such a slow paced novel. It felt more like a character study on the effects of grief. The writing was fine and I did like the big reveal at the end, but this book put me in a bad slump because I just didn’t feel like I was making any progress and kept avoiding picking it up. If you know what you’re getting into, then this could be an enjoyable read for you, but don’t go into it expecting a thriller.

2.5/5

The question
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? If he'd called sooner, she might still be alive.

This question drew me in! What was Grant doing for 27 minutes before calling for help?

Twenty Seven Minutes follows the lives of four young people 10 years after the tragic accident that killed Phoebe as the truth is finally revealed.

Things I liked - even though the book is a slow burn I couldn’t put it down because I needed to know what happened.

That being said, I struggled to connect with the characters as I found them unlikeable. Each seemed to have lots of issues and were not trustworthy. I managed to figure out what had happened half way through but felt the story its self took way too long to get there with not much else happening.

Overall, this is a good debut novel. It could have used a main character that you could cheer for and connect with though. And maybe less of a predictable ending. I will try out Ashley Tate’s next book though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy in exchanged for my honest review.

This is the debut novel of author Ashley Tate! I am beyond grateful to have the opportunity to read this prior to its publication date! Releasing on January 30th, be sure to grab this new book! This story goes back and forth from present day to the past in order to piece together what happened in one particular night where 27 minutes are in question. 27 minutes that changed everyone's life that night. Imagine 27 minutes defining the rest of yours, and others, lives! No matter what else you accomplish throughout your lives, everyone thinks of those 27 minutes and that is what defines you. Thank you to Ashley Tate, Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

This was a book that really gripped me right from the beginning.

An accident late at night in a small town 10 years ago, shook the locals to their core, and changed the lives of several young people forever.

Grant, the high school football star, was in the car with his sister Phoebe, and a friend Becca. After the crash, Grant who was injured can never play again, and is almost a pariah, blamed for the accident that killed his sister. It was twenty-seven minutes after the crash that the authorities were called, and why the gap? Would Phoebe, the talented shining star expected to make something of her life, have survived if help had been called earlier? Becca can't remember most of the details, but is still traumatized over the incident. A friend June, is still grieving over the fact that her brother Wyatt went missing that night, and has never returned. But nobody remembers him.

We soon discover that there was a lot more that happened that night and that almost everyone involved is keeping a secret. Those secrets are becoming harder to live with, and as the 10th anniversary of the night approaches, it is clear that something big is about to happen. Grant is consumed by thoughts of everything he lost that night, and how Becca is going to react. Becca is obsessed by Grant, and whether the few memories she has of the accident are accurate. June, who's mother recently died, and is feeling totally alone, receives a visitor she must keep hidden.

Told from multiple points of view, all unreliable, we finally come to understand the 27 crucial minutes that night.

This was an excellent debut novel, and I was very invested in all of the characters, however weird and unlikable some of them were. The small town setting amplified the sense of connections, good and bad, between all of the characters.

I look forward to reading more by this author!

Overall a good book. It took me a little longer to read because the characters just didn’t grab me. I felt more pity than anything. For a first novel, I think it was good and will definitely read more by this author. Would I recommend this? Yes. Is it a “must read”? I wouldn’t go that far. But it was an enjoyable book and I don’t feel like I wasted my time.

4.5 Stars. This is a stunning character-based mystery by author Ashley Tate. It is her debut novel and is based on grief, desperation and tragedy. The gripping story is twisty and twisted, with partly revealed secrets, memories, lies, and coverups. It is told with suspense and tension by portraying four agitated and desperate teenage characters and escalates through an ominous atmosphere. Its author is now on my must-read list for her next book.

The story is told mainly through the thoughts and behaviours of four well-developed teenage characters and revolves around a car accident ten years earlier. The car crash happened on an old bridge after leaving a late-night party where liquor was involved. The story was that the car swerved to avoid a deer on the road. Now, a memorial service is being planned to remember the death of Phoebe and to honour her life. An elderly lady recently died on the same bridge, and the townspeople have been asked to vote on demolishing the bridge. The decade-old tragedy still haunts the small town.

Phoebe has been long-regarded as a perfect, popular, intelligent, hard-working student engaged in community activities. The car was driven by her brother, Grant, a school athlete and magnet for the girls. Phoebe was dominant and possessive in the brother-sister relationship and determined to keep her brother on the right path. Grant kept his girlfriends and many activities secret from Phoebe, or she would disrupt them. Also in the car was Becca, who was severely injured and hospitalized. She claims to have only scattered memories of the accident and will go to any length to protect Grant. She tends to be delusional and obsesses about Grant. She believes he is secretly in love with her. Before Grant, she was accused of stalking another high school athlete, and a restraining order was placed on her to leave him alone.

Not present at the accident but badly affected on that night is the teenage June. Her brother Wyatt disappeared the night of the party, and there has been no word of him for ten years. Her mother died in the hope that he would return with a reasonable explanation for his absence. Now, June is alone and has fallen into a state of depression. Wyatt had been regarded as a 'bad teen,' expelled from school, and possibly involved in selling drugs and minor crimes, but June misses him badly. A supernatural element may be present with answers about the tragedy.

All these young characters come from dysfunctional families with parents who left or died, resulting in grief. The remaining parents were overly critical or dismissive of their offspring. The older adults only play a minor part in the story. What is known of the accident may be only partly true or a complete falsehood. The story was that the car swerved to avoid a deer on the road, and no drinking had been involved. There had been a distracting argument between Becca and Phoebe. The injured Becca held Pheobe while she lay dying, while Grant was some distance away shouting, "Why!" It took 27 minutes before he called an ambulance, and Phoebe's life could have been saved if the paramedics had been called sooner.

With the memorial service rapidly approaching and the vote on tearing down the bridge, the desperate Grant, Becca, and June unite to sort out the shocking truth of what really happened on the night of the car crash and Phoebe's death.

I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this book. I recommend it highly for readers who enjoy an absorbing character-driven mystery. The publication date will be January 30.

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate is an unusual thriller full of crushing grief, dead-end small town mentality, dark secrets and invisible class lines drawn in the sand.

When reading this, my mind immediately went to the cringey small town I went to school, lots of poverty, alcohol and general angst. Not a pleasant environment, similar to this book. Phoebe was killed in a car accident and her brother Grant, the driver, waited a full twenty seven minutes to get help. Fellow residents have always wondered why. Friend Becca was in the car but lived through it, though drowning in complicated grief no one understands.

A decade later, June is left completely alone after her brother disappeared years earlier and her mother dies. Her raw grief and despair clutched at my heart. Very real and relatable. Seeing her sorrow through a window was symbolic and impactful.

Though at first keeping track of characters was a bit challenging, after getting them separated into my mind they were hard to get rid of. Most characters are unlikable and off-putting and they chose to either be consumed by resentment or struggled to move on. This is not a feel-good book but recommended for those who want to dive a bit deeper.

My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing novel.

Mini synopsis: Tension is high when a 10 year memorial of a tragic car accident starts to unravel a dark past and a bunch of lies between a group of former friends about what really happened that night. Decent quick thriller read.

The book is split between 3 main POVs and the story bounces between what led up to the horrific event ten years about and present day as the town gets ready for the ten year memorial service commemorating a teenagers tragic death. For a thriller, the build seems to drag on a bit, and although it does pick up pace at the end, I felt that the suspense ramps up too late in the book. Some of the characters, particularly Becca, have frustrating personalities and I feel there isn’t enough attention and depth on June’s character and POV even though she plays an important role leading to the conclusion (this might make sense when you read it). I did think the ending was a solid ending to the lead up and it wrapped up the story nicely, but it also wasn’t entirely unpredictable or shocking.

This ended up being an interesting read. It was kind of slow and all over the place, but at the same time, I kept reading because I wanted to know what exactly happened. The plot twist at the end, I did not see! I will have to read more by the author.

This could have been a contender! A story about a group of young kids that harbor a great secret. They all attended a party 10 years ago where one of them died in a crash on the way home. Now after an elderly woman has a crash on the sane bridge the town is coming together to vote on whether or not to destroy it. It brings back too many memories for the kids. The basis of the story was good but there was too much filler in the book to make it anything but a chore for me to finish

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for Andy advanced copy

I cannot believe this is a debut novel, it is so good. Fast paced, gripping story about Grant who lost his younger sister in a tragic car accident he was driving the car in. There have always been questions about the accident that Grants younger sister Phobe died in, specifically why it took him 27 minutes to call for help, 27 minutes that could have been used to save her life if she had gotten help. As the 10 year anniversary of the accident approaches Grants mother plans a memorial which Grant is firmly against as he has many secrets about the night of the accident. Sad, multilayered story that is difficult to put down.