The back cover synopsis of Twenty-Seven Minutes describes a gripping story with a shocking twist. Sadly, I found it neither gripping nor the twist shocking. Rather, I found the plot very tedious and every single character annoying. I kept reading in the hopes that things would pick up, but it never did. I just found the book very disappointing and can't really recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

When I say nothing happened into the 90% mark.. I genuinely mean NOTHING happened. Four different perspectives with each chapter on each perspective ending with “no one can find out.” I understand the “big reveal” isn’t until the end but there was nothing else to keep your attention until that point. Two of the perspectives were made out to be crazy so those chapters were extra hard to get through. The plot and story were there.. but it just fell flat. I can usually finish my ARC’s in 2-3 days and I had to force myself to finish this in 4. Very unfortunate because I know this is Tate’s debut novel.. but it just wasn’t for me. There are a bunch of 5 stars so maybe it’ll better suit you

The premise of Twenty-Seven Minutes seems clear from the start: a young woman is dying on the side of the road as she waits for the young man she was with to call for help. Phoebe waits for, you guessed it, twenty-seven minutes and then dies.

The rest of the book should seemingly be about what he was doing for those twenty-seven minutes, but it doesn't feel like it. Instead, the book jumps ten years and follows the people most affected by the accident that took Phoebe's life. You've got Grant, Phoebe's brother and an asshole of epic proportions who treats Becca so horribly it's shocking that she lets it happen for ten years. But Becca is weak and miserable and thinks that Grant's treatment of her will somehow absolve him of any guilt. Then you've got June, who's another miserable character just biding her time in existence wondering where her brother Wyatt's been all these years (because he also disappeared the night of Phoebe's death).

Maybe if one of the characters was relatable I wouldn't have disliked the book. But Ashley Tate doesn't weave the story in an effective way to make the reader feel engaged. The characters are introduced without any context in their relation to the accident, and while I understand the need for mystery, a lack of information is just frustrating. We don't find out why it took the young man 27 minutes to call until the last chapter. Very unsatisfactory.

This book has an intriguing plot but the multiple view points as well as changes in time frames made it a challenge to get into. There are too many conflicting plot lines that make it hard/confusing to follow. In addition, the book has some odd familial dynamics (multiple very close and c0-dependent brother/sister dynamics).

Regardless of the disorganization of the book, I did feel compelled to finish it to find out what happened and the twist made it worth it.

The book follows two brother/sister duos, Grant and Phoebe as well as Wyatt and June, as the 10 year anniversary of a terrible car accident that took Phoebe's life approaches. No one knows exactly what happened the night of the car accident and the reader is left trying to fill in the gaps as the view points and time frames switch back and forth.

A thank you to Netgally for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I liked the idea of this story, I wasn't a huge fan of the book itself. I found myself skimming some areas and skipping ahead just to get to the action - I understand background is needed, but the beginning of this one simply dragged. I think putting more on character development would have been better here. I didn't care for any of the characters or find them relatable, particularly Grant's. All of that being said, Ashley Tate has a lovely writing style and I enjoyed the different POVs throughout, but I wish it was a bit more concise and snappy, especially for a suspense read.

I liked the idea f this book, much more than the book itself. Mainly because it took far too long for any of the threads to unravel. There was a lot of repetitiveness with no reveals, and a cast of unlikeable characters. It was a meh for me.

All is not what it seems with this story. The secrets go deep. Twenty-Seven Minutes was told in multiple POVs about a fatal accident 10 years ago. The death of a sister/classmate. The story was told in past and present timelines. I didn’t like a single character. They were miserable, damaged, and annoying. They were liars and there wasn’t one redeeming character with any of them. Some may enjoy this. For me, it was just ok.

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Phoebe, a high school senior, has died and her death has mysterious circumstances. It was a car accident and her brother, who was driving, waited twenty-seven minutes to call 911 to get the help that could have saved her life. Why did he wait twenty-seven minutes and is the boy who went missing that night connected to the accident? On the ten year anniversary of her death, friends get together to memorialize Phoebe. Secrets are revealed. Will the questions that everyone in town has had since that night be answered?

This is told in multiple POV and dual timeline. I thought it was slow moving at first, but got better. I gave it 3.5 stars.


Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks so much to Poisoned Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really liked the overall premise of the book and I found the characters and story super interesting.

There was a lot of detail and insight given into the characters which really helped me get an idea of who they are and what drives them.

This, however, could at times make certain sections really drag on - with specific characters traits and feelings becoming a little bit repetitive.

The overall outcome of the mystery was a little lacklustre but overall I had a good time!

I had a chance to read an ARC of the book and I'm glad I got the chance.

The writer did a great job. I'm fact the writing style is the thing I enjoyed most from this book.

Overall it was not a bad book but one I don't see myself picking up again. I think it could have cut down on perspectives and focused a little more on building everyone's past and present dynamics.

I really am glad I got to read it and I know this will have a big audience that really enjoys it.

This book is good but not fabulous. The story of a friend, a brother and sister who are in a terrible cash where the sister dies. Nobody in ton is really sure what happened that night because there is a lag between when the crash occurred and when 911 was called. The book alternates between when the rash happened and now, ten years later. I have started and re-started this book several times before I was able to actually get into the story and finish it. The main characters, Grant, Becca, and friends June and Wyatt are just not super interesting people. The story was not interesting enough and seemed almost like a soap-opera, although I did manage to finish it in spite of the book dragging on and on and then the climax happens in the very last pages of the book....I felt like I needed more action during the story of the book.

This is my first novel by Ashley Tate, and I have to say I was blown away by the intro. That first chapter, page, and sentence hooks you. I felt like I was right there with Phoebe as she died. It was a short snippet, but I already had an idea of who she was and what she determined to be important in her life. This is probably the best hook for a book I’ve read in years.

However, everything from then on wasn’t as good. From too many characters to vague and boring scenes, I just couldn’t get into this one.

I’m this book we have four main POVs:
Grant
June
Becca
Wyatt
There are a few flashbacks that feature other characters such as Kelsey, AJ, Reggie, or Harley, which just felt like character overload to me.

One main aspect I was not a fan of was the multiple main POV we had throughout the book. I get that this helps tell the story from everyone’s perspective and fills in some gaps, but sometimes I found myself getting confused by all the different characters.

Tate kept the mystery alive by being very vague throughout the entire book. You would get a snippet of something in one chapter but would have to wait a few more chapters to put the pieces together. This kept me wanting to know what happens; however, there were times when this was frustrating. I would think I had the whole picture but then would find out there was more…it kept me from seeing the bigger picture until the end.

By the halfway point of this book, I just wanted to know what had caused the accident and the whole truth rather than these half lies and tiny pieces to the puzzle we got along the way.

I will say that ending was one I did not see coming. It all made sense, but I was still shocked when the truth came out.

**An ARC was provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Grant is trying to forget the memories if what happened to his sister. He has kept the secret from everyone he knows. This book garnered my attention from the first page.

I’ve had a hard time deciding if I should rate this 2 or 3 stars. I had a lot of feelings about this book, but not many were positive.

First off, the amount of grief and trauma was incredibly well portrayed, because for each character it was entirely different. However, it was at times very difficult to read because of how heavy the subject matter was.

Second, I could not STAND anyone except for June. Becca was so annoying to me because of her obsession with Grant, who was just plain awful to her. Grant was the worst character I’ve ever read about. He was a classic manipulator and it’s no surprise that his own mother couldn’t stand him.

Lastly, I found the plot to be rather predictable. I had a feeling Grant was lying to Becca about what happened the night of the accident. It seemed all too convenient that she couldn’t remember, and he was there to “remind her” it was her fault. I find with that when I can predict the ending, I either DNF or power through to see if I was wrong. In this case, I powered through because I wanted to know what Grant was doing that it took 27 minutes to call for help.

Overall, I didn’t hate this, but I didn’t love it either. So for that it’s getting a 3 ⭐️

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of Twenty-Seven Minutes.

The premise of this book sounded SO interesting but it fell so flat. The only reason this didn't get one star is because I somehow actually finished it (with a lot of skimming oops). I hated every single character. LOATHED. There is zero mystery about this and the deal with what actually happened was zero surprise at all. It was entirely each character whining, falling apart because of their ~trauma~, and gaslighting each other. Zero plot, do not recommend.

What a page-turner…luscious prose, beautifully written, compelling characters. Secret upon secret upon secret riddle the small town of Wilmer for 10 years after Phoebe dies on a small bridge…what really happened that night will keep you guessing right until the very end…and ending I never saw coming…I thought I had it all figured out but boy was I wrong. 10 out of 10 stars from me…thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book…it was so freakin’ good!!!

I was going to give this two stars, but that insinuates I found something about it redeemable, when it was awful from start to finish.

Phoebe died ten years ago in a tragic car accident. She might have been saved, but her brother Grant waited twenty-seven minutes to call an ambulance, and no one knows why. We follow Grant’s POV, along with three other characters who have a connection to the awful accident.

Four POVS was too much, especially since they were all awful and boring. None of them had a distinct voice, and they all were so flavorless. The only character who sparked any emotion was Becca, and that’s just cause of how annoying she was. Even then, I didn’t care what happened to her; at least her chapters made me feel something.

Nothing happens until the last 10%. The whole book is just our characters going “No one can know what happened!” Okay, but you have to give me something to keep me reading. Whether it’s strong characters, or small clues along the way, if you leave the whole mystery for the last 10% I will feel cheated. By that point, I didn’t even care what happened, I just wanted the book to be over. The big reveal? I guessed it within the first quarter, so that was even worse.

Mysteries don’t have to be insanely clever or outside of the box to be entertaining. Figuring out what happened before the characters do is half the fun. Yet, when all of the characters are insufferable, and nothing about the book is entertaining, there should at least be a good ending to make up for it.

I wouldn’t recommend this.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book was gripping initially but then lost steam afterwards. I couldn’t connect with the characters and it didn’t seem like their lives had changed much as adults from since they were in high school. The book dragged towards the end. I feel the book could have been shorter.

A twisted tale of mistakes made in youth coupled with teen obsession and a desparation to get out of town. This tale is told from multiple points of view and bounces between the year of the accident and ten years later. The teens involved at the time are still processing their grief - almost anguish - about the loss of Phoebe. The trajectory of their lives ricocheted that day, and they also mourn the loss of their dreams. As the ten-year anniversary of the accident approaches, the townspeople come together, resentments flare, memories resurface, and the truth explodes out of the dark like fireworks. The characters are well developed and their faults laid bare; the story was engaging as you learned nuggets of truth through the memories and experiences of those involved. Great tale of loss by a master storyteller!

This story delivers a gripping and emotionally charged narrative that explores the lingering aftermath of a tragic car accident in the small town of West Wilmer. Grant Dean's guilt over the fateful night when his sister Phoebe lost her life becomes the focal point of a decade-long mystery. The suspense builds as Grant's secret threatens to consume him, and Becca, another passenger in the car that night, harbors knowledge that could shatter the fragile peace they've managed to maintain. With the anniversary of Phoebe's death approaching, the story unfurls over three intense days, culminating in a shocking twist that will leave readers breathless. This tale masterfully navigates the complex terrain of grief, dark secrets, and the relentless pursuit of truth, making this a riveting and thought-provoking read.

The author skillfully weaves together multiple perspectives and a haunting atmosphere, creating a story that lingers in the reader's mind long after the final page. As the characters grapple with their past, their guilt, and the weight of their secrets, the novel invites readers to explore the profound impact of tragedy on individuals and communities. With its unexpected twists and revelations, this book is an enthralling exploration of the human capacity for resilience, redemption, and the enduring search for closure.