
Member Reviews

Big sigh of relief! I finally finished this long, endlessly repetitive, soap-opera style-drama, go-nowhere lackluster mystery!
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You will have to read all those other mind-boggling 5-star reviews for a run down on the (non)action and the plastic characters of this story. I can't summon the energy to do it. I never felt that any of these characters were fully fleshed out, so I couldn't be bother to care one way or the other what became of them.
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The final reveal was a major let-down and anticlimactic to boot. As the police are fond of saying at the site of any traffic accident: nothing to look at here folks. It took me so long to read this book that I often lost track of which character had done what thus far.
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My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am totally going against the grain on this one and rating it 2 disappointed stars out of 5.

I didn’t love this book, but I also didn’t hate it. I’m honestly not quite sure how to describe it or feel. Started out really strong for me especially with the prologue, but then I felt like I just really wanted more. The story discusses the death of phoebe dean, who is the town’s shining star. Yet we never really get a whole lot of information on who phoebe is and why the town loves her so much.
I felt like the author was grasping a little bit to make things shocking. The flipping between characters was also confusing since we didn’t get to know any of them very well (two of them I kept getting mixed up). No one really got an in-depth storyline, and so I found myself unable to relate with most of them. I will say the twist at the end was good and I did not see it coming so for that I will give it three stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and poisoned pen press for the ARC.

Ten years ago a terrible car accident rocked a small town. A young girl dies, but the question is why did it take her brother who was driving twenty-seven minutes to call for help? On this tenth anniversary, will the answer be revealed?
I loved the concept- but the book fell flat for me for a number of reasons.
The characters were all extremely unlikeable. I felt down and sad reading it the whole time. This was likely intentional but just not the vibe for me.
The plot was sometimes hard to follow jumping across multiple viewpoints and timelines, and it was too slow of a burn. It felt like the same conversation or thought process was re-hashed a million times from each point of view and nothing was revealed ever, until the very end.
The reveal wasn't a huge twist and I found it extremely unconvincing. Ten years have passed and this hasn't been figured out? Really? It just didn't seem believable enough.
Overall, this book just wasn't for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a good book. It had a good ending and it did keep me guessing. All of the characters were very shifty and suspenseful and with the dual POVs it made it more interesting.

This one was dark. It felt fast-paced at times, and other times it felt like the dialogue was a bit clunky, and the fact that it only happens over a few days and we're rehashing things from multiple POVs slowed things down a little bit. Once it became clear what was happening with a few of the characters, it felt like there could have been a bit more subtlety to their storylines or something; they were written a bit too "crazy" and one-dimensional, so it was hard to care about them. But the storyline overall was interesting, as was the twist.

Twenty-Seven Minutes takes place 10 years after a deadly accident, where a promising teen was killed, but her brother who was driving waited 27 minutes to call for help.
The premise for this book was promising, but it didn’t really follow through. None of the characters were likable, the dialogue was clunky, and the biggest mystery of the book was why an entire town is still so obsessed with an accident that happened ten years ago. Unfortunately this one fell flat for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Twenty-Seven Minutes in exchange for my honest review.

This thriller reminded me so much of Agatha Christie's books where the focus is on the characters and their inner struggles and demons until you come to the big reveal and everything makes sense.
There are many things I loved about this book, but the most I enjoyed is the fact that I did not see the twist coming!
a rarity that happens when I read mystery books lately. I usually am able to predict the ending halfway through
The other thing I loved about this story is the fact that I DID NOT LIKE one single character. They were written in a way that showed how dark and unrelatable they were. You do not root for anyone to be innocent.
10 years ago, young Phoebe Dean died in a tragic accident. Her brother Grant, who was driving, waited 27 minutes before calling for help! Why? We follow the POV of four people who are somewhat connected to this mystery, Grant (the brother), Becca (his secret girlfriend), Wyatt (the runaway who comes back), and June (Wyatt's sister). The book delves into each person's inner thoughts to see how this tragedy affected them. So mainly this was more a Character-based mystery than plot. We are not supposed I guess to feel satisfied and have a closer once everything is revealed but more understand the "Why" did they act like that.
While reading, I kept asking myself, why did they, especially Grant, stay in the wretched town after the accident when everyone was suspicious of their involvement? But the ending explains a lot!
The story explores the deep dark side of the human psyche and delusion and how jealousy can fester inside oneself to the point of destruction.
I wish I could write more about this, but I would spoil a lot of the book. So better read it and enjoy the depravity of these characters.
a thank you to NetGalley and the author for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own of course.

For a debut thriller, this is as good as they get!!!! I wasn’t sure what to expect going in but I was immediately hooked from the very first chapter. Such a strong opening, a fantastic plot & an ending that left me pretty speechless. You know those thrillers that leave you quite emotional? They’re rare yes, but this is definitely one of them!!!! Ashley is absolutely an author I’ll be keeping an eye out for in the future — consider me impressed!!!!! After reading so many thrillers, it’s so refreshing to come across one that actually stands out! Really excited for everyone to read this one when it’s released! Thanks for my copy!

This one was a little disappointing. The plot was messy. The author attempted multiple different character perspectives and time frames from 10 years ago to present.
No matter the messiness, I persisted hoping that the inevitable plot twist would be worth it. I’m not sure it was.
Grant and his younger sister, Phoebe, are in a horrible car accident. This accident ends in her death. Questions arise on whether or not that should’ve been the case. Grant survived and there are twenty seven minutes unaccounted for before he called authorities. She could have lived. What really happened?
As the lives of the persons involved are unspooled ten years later, the reader learns that there was a lot more going on than meets the eye.
This novel was entertaining at times, frustrating at others. All of these people weren’t very likable and were descending into madness. It might be foolish of me, but all of this happening ten years later seemed a little irrational. I feel like things should have hit the fan the way that they did a lot sooner.
I was originally going to give it a solid three stars, but after consideration, I’m not sure I would recommend it to others. I’m going down to 2.5 stars rounded up.
A great thank you goes out to Ashley Tate, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Truth Will Be Revealed-I couldn’t put this book down! The way the chapters switched between characters’ points of views and always ended in cliff hangers had me flipping pages for hours. I felt like I could never get to a good “stopping point” for the night because I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next in each characters story. I also enjoyed the inside look of what really happened on that horrible night ten year ago from multiple points of view that we got every few chapters. I truly enjoyed trying to piece together the truth of that night with each new bit of information given, and just when I thought I had a theory, I was proven wrong!

The plot of this book pulled me in, but this is the slowest of slow burns, to the point where I was bored at times while reading it. The ending felt rushed and incomplete. I would have liked to see the action fall earlier, so we could have seen more of the aftermath.

Tons of twists, and the ending is definitely not one I was expecting! I do think there were some extra characters that didn’t totally contribute to the storyline, but it did help paint the picture of a small town - everyone knows everyone and no one minds their own business. This story is centered around family, tragedy, and secrets that will leave you guessing. I love the author’s writing style and would definitely read anything from Ashley Tate in the future!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was an amazing debut novel! I will definitely be looking forward to other books by this author in the future! It gripped you from the very beginning, kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. I just needed to know what was going to happen next. Awesome character development, awesome plot!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced reader's copy. The novel centered around a deadly accident that took place 10 years ago to several drunk teens in a car accident.
I felt that covering two timelines and many characters from ten years ago and the present was confusing. I was rather surprised with Wyatt at the ending.
Unfortunately it felt like a rant from disgruntled teens/adults that was not the least bit endearing. Sorry, but I cannot recommend this book.

Candidly, I had no idea what to expect when I first picked up Twenty-Seven Minutes. I was initially drawn in by the concept: a small town, where everyone knows everyone's business, and a horrible accident involving the small-town golden child. And Tate's description of the rural farming setting certainly added another layer of suspense throughout the novel. However, I remained captivated by the alternating, unreliable narrators throughout the novel. As I read, I knew that there was more to each narrator's story and that they were somehow all connected, which completely sucked me in. Overall, I loved the premise and thought this was a great read!

You can image anything can happen in 27 minutes. We all think that is not a lot of time but it truly is. So the main question around this read is, "why did it take Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help?" The car accident that takes place will have you asking the same question.
The story line does go back and fourth from present day to the past (ten years ago). If you can't handle keeping up with the back and fourth you will not be able to enjoy this book. I bet you will not be able to guess why it took 27 minutes even after getting to the end. I enjoy being surprised at the end of books and this one will keep you guessing and thinking you know, when you truly don't.
Thank you NetGalley, Poison Pen Press, and Ashley Tate for the advance reader.

I pressed forward with this book due to the various good reviews but it wasn’t my favorite. Slow, repetitive, delusional…surprise ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A young woman dies, and her hometown cannot move on. This story follows those she left behind and the truth that eventually makes itself known.
The town's obsession with Phoebe is borderline delusional and not realistic. While we tend to put those who have passed on a pedestal, this town takes it to a different level. With our modern day news cycle with stories unfurling one after the other with more and more shocking situations, it is hard to grasp this obsession with one person's death.
The twist at the end was interesting and is what kept me hooked until the end. The scene in the barn was really strange as well, but I did think the twist was inventive and somehow I didn't pick up on it throughout the book.
This was an interesting thriller with virtually no likable characters, and while I enjoyed some of the writing, this isn't a book I would pick up again.
Thank you netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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Title - Twenty Seven Minutes
Author - Ashley Tate
Rating - 2/5 ⭐️⭐️
Genre - fiction, mystery & thriller
Pace - slow
Mood - dark, mysterious, reflective, sad, tense
A car wreck happens after a party in high school claiming the life of a teen girl. 10 years later the town is still grieving her loss. A memorial is planned to remember her. But what about all the others that were also involved? Who remembers them?
The pace of this one was slow. I enjoyed the plot but found myself easily distracted from this book. The characters all felt whiny to me as if they had not grown any since high school. I had a difficult time relating to the characters. The plot twist ending was great.

I found this a little difficult to read at the start. It is centered around a 10 year memorial of a car crash that killed local girl Phoebe. Each chapter tells individual accounts of what they remember that night.
Grant, Phoebe's brother, Becca, his so called girlfriend, Wyatt, a local drug dealer and his sister June, let alone others. They each have a different account of that night.
As the memorial draws closer all the secrets and lies surface.
So what did happen that night?
Our book club loved discussing this book, so many questions and reasonings.
Highly recommended