The story begins ten years in the past with the death of Phoebe Dean, killed in a car accident that her brother Grant was driving. From here the story is told in 4 points of view. One is by Grant the brother. One is by Becca who lusts after Grant. One by June who was friends with Phoebe and Becca. And one by Wyatt, June’s brother and Grant’s close friend. Everyone of them was affected by the accident in different ways and has lived with the effects for 10 years. Why did it take Grant over 27 minutes to call for help when Phoebe was dying and who knows the truth and is ready to tell the truth? This book is a slow burn and you’ll have to read it to the end to find out the tragic ending.

"a town grieves the loss of a young girl—but some fight to keep the truth about her death a secret."

The book takes place in two timelines: an accident that happened 10 years ago and the aftermath that occurs 10 years later as the town prepares for the memorial of Phoebe Dean’s death. This is a debut story from the author and has a nice twist but for me, it took a bit too long to get the story really rolling. I would however, still recommend it to others as the story overall kept my attention and left me wanting to know the conclusion to the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the author for this ARC copy of Twenty-Seven Minutes.

Thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the author for this ARC copy of Twenty-Seven Minutes.

The book takes place in two timelines: an accident that happened 10 years ago and the aftermath that occurs 10 years later as the town prepares for the memorial of Phoebe Dean’s death.

Why did it take her brother, Grant, 27 minutes to call for an ambulance on that fateful stormy night? Why does he oppose the bridge it happened on being torn down and what is going on with him and Becca?

Overall I enjoyed this but the characters can be very unlikeable and there are some elements like Grant being haunted by Phoebe’s appearance that I wasn’t too keen on. However I did want to find out what happened on that night and it was great to see some characters grow and thrive throughout this dark tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this uncorrected proof in exchange for my honest review. I went into this book with such high hopes. The cover description sounded great, The other reviews were stellar and I dove right in. I guess I have to count myself in the minority who didn’t love this read. I liked it enough to finish it but felt like I could have put it down at any time and never wondered what happened next or how it ended. The end was a little bit redeeming where you got some closure to what really happened. So, I appreciate the opportunity to to read it but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

A slow-burn thriller with unexpected twists, telling the story of a long ago car accident that claimed the life of a teenager. Some aspects of the plot did not fully make sense, but the author did a good job keeping my attention.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC all opinions are my own.

This book was everything I look for in a thriller. Suspense, a unique plot, and a crazy twist at the end!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Entre bonds dans le temps et hallucinations, l’auteure nous tient en haleine du début à la fin. L’histoire est principalement racontée par trois personnages.

Grant doit vivre chaque jour avec le chagrin de sa mère, qui le négligeait déjà quand il était enfant mais rien ne s’est arrangé depuis dix ans. Dix ans, c’est le nombre d’années qui se sont écoulées depuis la mort de Phoebe. Il vivote en flirtant allègrement avec l’alcool et en collectionnant les conquêtes et on comprend rapidement qu’il tient Becca à bout de bras pour protéger un secret. Autant dire qu’on se demande immédiatement si …

Becca est folle amoureuse de Grant depuis l’enfance. Le hic, c’est qu’elle peut vite être trop passionnée et sa réputation est faite depuis qu’elle a harcelé AJ. Dans la ville tout le monde l’appelle Crazy Becca. Ainsi, quand on la lit, on remet tout en doute car on sait d’emblée qu’elle n’est pas un narrateur fiable.

June a vécu également un drame il y a dix ans. Son grand frère a quitté le domicile sans les prévenir mais comme c’était une mauvaise graine, cela a été éclipsé par le deuil des Dean.

Au milieu de ces trois personnages, il y en a un, qui, même mort, fait office de liant. Phoebe. Son obsession pour son frère frisait le malsain et ceux qui les ont côtoyés de près se souviennent avec vivacité de la possessivité dont elle pouvait faire preuve.

D’emblée, une théorie se dessine. Évidemment. Tous concorde pour nous faire aller dans cette direction. Pourtant, parce qu’on est régulièrement dans la tête de Grant, on reste assailli d’un doute (raisonnable ?). La seule chose qui m’interpelait était le rapport de June avec Grant. En effet, ils ne se côtoient pas ni dans le passé ni aujourd’hui alors qu’est ce qui les relie?

C’est la tête pleine de ces questions et d’autres que j’ ai dévoré les pages de Twenty-seven minutes. Sans jamais m’ennuyer. Je le souligne car quelquefois , c’est le défaut que je peux trouver à un premier roman mais en fait, Twenty-seven minutes est si abouti, si travaillé que j’aurais pu croire que je lisais le roman d’une personne rompue à cet exercice. Je suis très agréablement surprise, d’autant plus que le twist final ainsi que les grosses révélations m’ont énormément bluffée. Je ne m’y attendais absolument pas et j’adore rester ébahie ainsi.

En conclusion, la plume de Ashley Tate est une très bonne découverte pour moi. J’ai adoré l’ambiance et l’atmosphère qu’elle met en place, ses personnages sont tout en nuances et elle a su me mener là où elle voulait avec habilité. Chapeau!

I found this to be a good debut story with a nice twist, however the build up and introduction to the story was a bit too long for my liking, however i would still recommend this book as a nice quick read for thriller lovers

I received this advanced reading copy from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Twenty-Seven Minutes is a thriller and mystery surrounding the death of Phoebe Dean and why it took her brother Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help. The book starts detailing Phoebe’s last moments and thoughts as she lay injured on the side of the road due to the tragic accident that ended her life. We are forwarded to the present, where another accident has taken the life of another. During this time, the town and the individuals involved reflect on the death of Phoebe Dean ten years earlier, and they are still questioning why it took Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help. A call that could have eventually saved his sister’s life. From there, each chapter explains the main character’s point of view in the present, which spans over three days leading up to Phoebe’s Memorial. Between these chapters is a 10-year glimpse into the time leading up to the accident.
With the interweaving between the chapters of the present four main characters involved and the truth surrounding that tragic day, the reader gets a broad overview of what transpired and how little time has changed. The accident has kept everyone from moving forward and progressing in life. Each character lost a piece of themselves that night, some without knowing.
My honest opinion of this book would be that I struggled. I have been into mystery/thriller/suspense novels lately, but this one differed. After reading the author’s comments in “A Conversation with the Author” at the very end, it made sense what was going on and the thought process behind the story, but it took too long to get into what was happening until the end when everything was revealed. Throughout the book, I wondered why many of the main characters were even mentioned or their purpose. Overall, the book is very well-written. It gives you different versions of grief from different perspectives/individuals from various aspects of one’s life.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for my Netgalley copy of TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES by Ashley Tate, out today - 1/30/24!

This thrilling debut involves a small town grieving the loss of a teenage girl named Phoebe, ten years after she died in a car accident with her brother Grant as the driver, who waited twenty-seven minutes to call 911. If he would have called sooner, she would be alive. So what happened that fateful night?

This was a very unique premise with a wild case of characters - the problem was you really couldn’t root for anyone. Many of the POV’s were downright insane and awful. Becca, who was also in the car accident that night, was UNBEARABLE. I hated her chapters. And Grant was incredibly mean and disgusting to everyone around him. June, a townsperson whose brother Wyatt went missing that same night, is really the only redeemable character and I think the story could have been amazing if it was solely from her perspective.

Everyone in this town has secrets that slowly get revealed as the story goes on. The problem is the story went on and on and on… it could definitely have been edited down quite a bit. Some of the side characters like Grant and Phoebe’s mother and one of the town’s jocks (Ashley I think?) could have been fleshed out more, because sometimes it felt like they weren’t important enough to be included.

All in all, this thriller is a fast read and the twist is pretty fun. I figured it out about halfway through which is probably why I wanted the author to speed it up a little, but it was still fun once it was unveiled. A fun read that also has some gut punches about the tragedy of grief and the holes secrets burn in you if you let them linger too long.

I really struggled with the character's in this, they were all so unlikeable, and it felt like it was all over the place.

I loved this book. I thought it was well written and creative. The spiritual ending was very enjoyable, although it surprised me! I thought I had the ending figured out! I found this book to be captivating, heartfelt, mysterious and had just the right amount of suspense at times. The realism of the emotions and reactions to grief are dead on. I believe it will make a great book club read. Well done!

I enjoyed this book! There were a lot of people/timeframes to keep track of but once you got the hang of that it was fine. My only thing I wish was different about the book was maybe a bigger plot twist. It felt like the big twist at the end was kind of hand fed to you.

Twenty-Seven Minutes started out strong. The prologue describes the death and vague circumstances around Phoebe Dean's death in a car accident and alludes to the 27 minute delay in calling for an ambulance.
From there the story started to drag a little. It was hard to finish. But I really wanted to understand the circumstances that caused the accident. While I don't know that the ending and answers make up for all of the pacing issues, I am glad that I finished. It was a solid conclusion.

3.5 stars

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate is a slow burn mystery that revolves around an event that took place 10 years previously and has forever shook the town it took place in. The premise of the book intrigued me as soon as I read the synopsis and I absolutely needed to know the answer posed in it; what exactly happened in the twenty-seven minutes between the accident that took place and the cops actually being called that resulted in a young girl dying.

There are a slew of people affected by the accident, both directly and indirectly, and a number of them tell this story from their different perspectives, showing both how it impacted their lives and how they were involved in the events of the night. This was both intriguing and overwhelming at times. When I first started reading the book it felt like there were far too many POVs going on, though once I got into the book more it did become easier and made sense as to why there were so many characters telling their sides of the story. They all had something to hide and had their lives turned upside down by the night of the accident and how this was the case was pieced together bit by bit through their perspectives, each of them unreliable in their secrets and their self involvement.

The victim of the accident, Phoebe, is mourned by the town even 10 years later and they prepare for a memorial for her as everyone’s lives start to unravel throughout the events of the book. There’s Grant, Phoebe’s brother, and the one driving the night of the accident, and the individual who waited a full twenty-seven minutes for unknown reasons before calling the police. There’s Becca, also in the accident though she remembers very little of the events and therefore has no answers about what happened. There’s June whose brother disappeared the same night though the rest of the town failed to notice as they were too caught up in Phoebe’s death. And finally there is Wyatt, June’s brother himself who mysteriously up and left with seemingly no reason and has finally come back 10 years later with answers he’s determined to share with his sister.

As previously stated, this book is sloooooow burn. It took a while for it to get anywhere close to where it was leading which I did struggle with initially. Now, it is very good at building the tension and leaving the reader begging for answers, it just takes a while to actually get around to revealing those answers. There is a lot of time spent hinting at something deeper that was going on prior to and leading up to the accident, and leaving breadcrumbs that don’t really give any solid information. Much of the book is spent delving into the characters and showing how much their lives have gone downhill since that night, with the odd flashback to the day of, revealing everything up to and including the accident itself from other random characters points of view.

Honestly not one of the characters was very likeable, though it worked with the story all things considered and if nothing else it definitely made them interesting. And honestly, likeable or not I did get hooked on the story and wanting to know what happened once I really got going with it and I had a hard time putting it down because I needed to know. I would keep telling myself “just one more chapter and then I’ll do something else”, but lo and behold I would keep going with another chapter because I felt like I was finally about to start getting some answers (mostly this was not the case as it just kept being hinted at or would switch to a different point of view). I, like the sucker I am, couldn’t stop until I got those answers.

So although it takes a bit to get into the flow of things and finally start getting some answers, I still got deeply invested in the story and very much need to know what had happened all those years ago. The conclusion was satisfying enough to make the wait worthwhile and I was glad I stuck with it. Twenty-Seven Minutes was a tense mystery perfect for lovers of this genre!

This is a tightly wound story alternating between today and the happenings of ten years ago. It is also the tale of what really happened that night told from the perspectives of at least five of the people who were part of the story. Who really knows what happened, and will the reader finally discover the truth? The story is full of well-developed, though not necessarily likable, characters who provide the framework upon which the story is hung. It is well crafted keeping the reader guessing from start to finish.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an advance copy for me to read and review.

The story opens up with a death. After that follows four POVs ten years after the fact, with grief being a big theme. Occasionally there is time jumps back in time the ten years around the death.
Each of the four POVs were very interesting. There was one character I didn't entirely care for, he just seemed like a jack wagon. But it was still interesting to have his POV as well.
In one way or another each character was connected, wether it was directly or in directly. For the twist at the end, I wasn't entirely expecting. I thought it was going one way, went it went another.

Twenty-seven Minutes by Ashley Tate is a thriller about Grant, Phoebe, and Becca who were in a late night car accident on a bridge following a high school party. What happened in the 27 minutes it took for Grant to call 911? The story branches off to June who recently lost her mother and whose brother and father disappeared around the same time as the car accident. The story is told flashing back to the night of the accident, and 10 years later as the classmates are still dealing with the aftermath. Even though much of the story takes place 10 years after high school, I feel like this would appeal to the YA audience. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

I received this as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley

Wow, so 10 years ago Phoebe died as the results of a car accident. It is getting close to the anniversary of the death. There are still questions about what happened that night and if the story that the survivors gave was true or not.

This book totally pulls you in for the ride. I could not put it down! YAWN the next day cause I stayed up tooo late to finish it!

Faced paced, multiple POV was good, so much build up throughout the entire book. It gave me some anxiety!
Thank you for the opportunity to read this!