Okay this ARC was SO GOOD! And this is Ashley’s DEBUT thriller! The ending had me 😯! I highly recommend this book!

The Setup
I was REALLY excited when I read this blurb and could not wait to get into the ARC when I received it.
Small town rumor mill? Check. Familial trauma? Check. Secrets? Check. Short time frame meaning twisty, turny and fast paced? Check? Right?

Not exactly.

The Pros
This book does an AMAZING job of looking at the messiness of small towns and just how deep and twisty those roots can go. Everyone always knows everyone. Or do they? I do love how author Ashley Tate managed to nail that down so well.

The Cons
Unfortunately, this is going to be much longer than the pros for this book.
1. The characters / the chapters being so small. This cast was DIVERSE, the chapters on them were SHORT and I didn't really have time between their limited "screen time" and their moody, dark, personalities to have a chance to connect with any of them. I just simply didn't care what happened to them, how, why or when.
2. The "twist". Talking about predictable and anticlimactic. I could predict it ALMOST from the moment (view spoiler). I saw it coming and I am rather upset for that one.
3. The. Slow. Burn. Suspense that took 350 PAGES to get through to the resolution.

Conclusion
I wanted to love this book so very much but it just wasn't for me, unfortunately. Between finding the twist super early (even for me), the characters moods / personalities, the book being so repetitive, the chapters being so short I couldn't connect properly with the characters and the fact that all of these children clearly had major PTSD with no real support really just grated on me and made it where I found myself skimming more of this book than I did actually reading and retaining.
I do not think this is a book I'll be suggesting nor an author I am overly excited about seeking out more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and author Ashley Tate for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was just ok for me. It seemed to drag a bit but,maybe that was just me. I appreciate the opportunity to review .

Welcome to a slow, steady burn. And what an opener!

Phoebe's death rocked her town. There have always been suspicious circumstances surrounding it, from the illegal party, to the amount of time it took someone to call an ambulance for her. We follow the point of view of four different people that were connected to the mystery to figure out what exactly happened.

Each character was dark and mysterious, and you didn't root for any of the characters because they all were self obsessed and selfish. Through that, you really dive into the deep dark psyche of some. My favorite part was that I didn't see the twist that was coming.

Overall the book moved a little slow and dragged sometimes, but everything wrapped up very nicely at the end. It is definitely worth a read if you're into thrillers!

Thank you for Netgally for this ARC.

I had really high hopes for Twenty-Seven Minutes, but I just could not get into it. It felt incredibly slow with nothing happening until the last 10% of the book. I also normally love POV switches, but in this case, it felt hard to get to know the characters. This would be a good book for someone who enjoys slow burns.

A lot can happen in twenty-seven minutes, a child can be born, a game can be won, or a person can watch the sunrise. Twenty-seven minutes can also be the amount of time it takes to watch a sunset, or for a car crash victim like Phoebe to die. This is a question no one understands what took Phoebe’s brother Grant twenty-seven minutes to call for help after the wreck.
This book has so much suspense and a plot twist you won’t see coming. It was so good how this once gang of kids that were friends came back together for a ten-year memorial for Phoebe and to debate the destruction of the bridge where she died. I can’t say to much more for fear of spoilers, so I will just say it was so good.

Great read it kept me on my toes and it was fast paced. I also enjoyed the main characters pov in the book I thought it kept me very intrigued in the story.

This book kept my interest the whole way through. It's the story of a horrible car accident and how it's still affecting the characters lives 10 years later. The author really developed the characters and was able to keep me invested in all their lives. The author also kept me guessing about the ending until the last chapter. Thanks for the ARC.

Ashley Tate’s debut novel is a gripping thriller set in a small town still struggling with the aftermath of a tragic accident. Ten years ago, three teenagers were involved in a deadly crash when Grant Dean crashed his truck into the guardrail of an old bridge. Becca, a backseat passenger, was left with broken bones and a crippling case of traumatic grief, and his sister Phoebe died at the scene. The community has had a decade to ask questions and spread rumors, most of which stem from the timeframe local police were able to piece together. Investigators said there was a 27 minute delay between when the crash occurred and when Grant contacted emergency services, and no satisfactory explanation has ever been provided by either surviving witness. Told through multiple narrators, the story unfolds between the ill-fated night of the accident and the week of Phoebe’s anniversary memorial service. Tate builds a true sense of tension for the final reveal and deftly handles the complications of survivor guilt and familial grief.

This is an author to keep an eye on!! Prolific writing and a story that kept me up way past bedtime to finish. You will love this!!!

I loved the multiple POV’s, it’s creepy and dark and a bingeable read. It was a slow start, but managed to pick up especially towards the end. I think the story could have tied together a little quicker.

I went into this expecting a character driven story with some shocks and twists, but multiple times it felt like the shock value was the main focus, so I never completely felt like I got into the characters. I think this will still be a fun read for the occasional thriller reader, but maybe better for readers who like soapy dramas.

At the start, we know that teenager Phoebe Dean has died from an accident on a bridge, but she wouldn’t have died if the ambulance had been called right away instead of twenty-seven minutes later.

The story unfolds via four POVs (Grant, Becca, Wyatt, June, all similarly aged in their twenties) and two timelines, now and ten years ago. Grant is Phoebe’s older brother, who was driving when the accident occurred. Becca was also in the truck and thinks obsessively of herself as forever Grant’s girlfriend, possibly a one-sided relationship now and maybe even then. Wyatt and June are brother/sister; their mother recently died, but Wyatt left the night of the accident and is now returning after his mother’s death just in time for a ten year memorial dedicated to Phoebe. Wyatt and June’s connection to the accident is yet to be revealed.

Author Tate captures the essence of the enduring aftermath of a small town tragedy — usually faintly remembered, but now finally evolving into a new telling of “the truth” as the anniversary approaches and Wyatt’s return stir things up. The story is very character-driven; secrets are eating each one of the main characters and all of them are dealing with grief and trauma. Only June, the outsider at the time of the accident, seems likeable. The structure is interesting as it changes from person to person, with short 10 year old narratives interspersed to give us more context (and small town gossip). The story keeps building with almost unbearable tension and a truly surprising twist at the end is jaw-dropping. 5 stars!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Only Grant’s eye color is mentioned and he has big brown eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just gifted baby pink roses and the acknowledgment that Phoebe loved wildflowers, although her mother thought her favorites were roses.

Bravo for this amazing debut! I was hooked at the prologue (wow) & each chapter continued to draw me in until the satisfying conclusion. Dark & intense with complex characters filled with grief, all consuming guilt, fear & regret that is powerfully dark & tragic.

Also filled with secrets, lies, deception & obsession that lead some of the characters to suffer hallucinations that lead to their own form of madness. I was shocked by the cruelty & psychological abuse that each character dished out and\or endured themselves.

Highly recommended. I am looking forward to her next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press & Ashley Tate for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Favorite Line: “Nothing can keep the truth buried; it will always unfurl itself, lay itself bare. It is unstoppable-like the tide, or a storm, or a ghost. It will hunt you down.”

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. Wow, I did not see that ending until it was right their in my face. A Lot can happen in 27 minutes, especially when you can decide who lives and who is sacrificed. I really enjoyed the different point of views and it kept me guessing throughout the book. Well done.

Thank you NetGalley, Ashley Tate, and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book sadly wasn’t for me and didn’t really hold my interest, but I can see why people who like the genre more would enjoy it. I’m glad I got to try it and still recommend picking it up.

On the night of a drunken high school party, Phoebe Dean died in an accident on a bridge in her small town. Her brother, Grant, was driving, and their friend Becca was also in the truck. Grant and Becca lived, but were both badly injured, emotionally and physically. Becca can’t remember much about the crash, but Grant explained how he hit a deer and swerved into the guardrail. He did wait twenty-seven minutes to call for help though…what was that about?

Ten years later, a woman in her 90s also crashed and died on the bridge, and now the town is debating whether to take it down. Most people in town would like to see it disappear, but there are a few people who would be devastated if the bridge was removed - for a variety of reasons. As all this is happening, a memorial is scheduled to honor the ten-year anniversary of Phoebe’s passing, and emotions are running high in this little community.

This book has relatively low ratings, and I think I may know why. This started as a straight mystery book, but ended almost as a horror novel would. I like horror more than mystery, so I enjoyed the ending much more than the slow beginning, but I can see how it might throw off people who don’t like that genre. When you think you’re reading a pretty straightforward book, then it leans into horror or fantasy, sometimes the cohesiveness of the story is lost. I think that may have been the case with this one.

Overall, I do think this is a decent book, it’s just not one I’d read again. There were a couple of really good shocks, the writing was good, and I liked watching the troubled characters’ layers peeling away as the story went on. For a debut that tackled some hard subjects, I think the author did just fine and I’m interested in seeing what their next book will bring! 3.5 stars.

(Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Ashley Tate and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on January 30, 2024.)

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate is a mystery set in a small town where the tragic death of a high school student rips apart more than just the victim’s family. What happened the night of the accident? If the ambulance had gotten there earlier, could her life have been saved? And why did twenty-seven minutes pass before emergency services were called? These are all questions that haunt both the reader and those left in the aftermath of her death. Told from multiple points of view, see the mystery unfold both 10 years after the accident and in the characters’ memories of that fateful night.
I was given an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book, it was well written with complex characters, and a great mystery! I highly recommend!

I picked this one up, cause I was DESPERATE for a book to hook me. After picking up and putting down 5 in one day, I decided to see if switching it up and reading on my kindle would help, AND IT DID.

I was immediately hooked by this book, the multiple POVs, the dark, the creepy factor and a what actually happened story line made this a totally bingeable read.

I will say not a single character was likeable which is why I’m only giving it 4⭐️s. Other than that I love the story and the way it plays out.

Thank you @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Definitely give this a read in January!

I wanted to love this book. It started out good, but then quickly died down, I wasn't a fan of the characters, and the plot kept losing me.