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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It took Phoebe's brother Grant 27 minutes to call 911 after a car crash on the bridge. On the same night, June's brother Wyatt goes missing. now 10 years later the truth about what happened that night will finally come to light.
If I hadn't been so overwhelmed by the CRAZY of everyone in the book (I say that as a person with multiple mental health diagnoses and an almost complete psychology degree), I would have seen the truth sooner. I did not guess the truth since Wyatt was supposedly there. And it seemed like everyone whose POV it was from had some level of mental illness or was suffering from severe grief. I mean talk about unreliable narrators!
None of the characters were very likable, June, but the rest ugh! The book was okay but not great.
Narrator Rating: 3.5 stars
The narrator did a decent job, but at 2.05x speed she pronounced some words very oddly, not sure if that was supposed to be a regional accent or if it was the speed at which I was listening. She did not do many tonal shifts for different characters. Though she was not too boring either.
If I hadn't been so overwhelmed by the CRAZY of everyone in the book (I say that as a person with multiple mental health diagnoses and an almost complete psychology degree), I would have seen the truth sooner.
None of the characters were very likable, June, but the rest ugh! The book was okay but not great.
Narrator Rating: 3.5 stars
The narrator did a decent job, but at 2.05x speed she pronounced some words very oddly, not sure if that was supposed to be a regional accent or if it was the speed at which I was listening. She did not do many tonal shifts for different characters. Though she was not too boring either.
Elemental Levels: Heartfelt-5/5 Helpful-1/5 Mystery-2/5 Predictability-4/5 Suspense-3/5 Tear- 3.5/5 Thrill-4/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction
The child death is that of a 17-year-old, not a young child.nicolesbookreviews's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
bellebookcorner's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Twenty Seven Minutes is a suspense mystery told in multiple POVs and dual timeline.
It started with a strong opening with a suspicious set of well developed characters that makes me wonder who to trust.
While it started out great, the pacing turns slower as the story goes building up the suspense with unreliable narrator and also the flashbacks chapters to ten years ago, to the night Phoebe died.
As for the characters, it’s hard to like them. At times, I feel sad toward them but their action makes me feel frustrated as well. But, considering the environment of the house they grew up as well as the pressure from parents and school, no wonder they had a hard time which eventually affected their mental health.
The twist at the end wasn’t really that surprising since I was able to figured out early on before the big reveal.
It ends with the truth finally out in the open, but I still feel slightly unsatisfied with that epilogue.
I really wished it showed more of what happened after the truth was revealed especially to the culprit and also the town’s reaction, instead of only showing one person's reaction.
Overall, for a debut novel this is pretty good. I enjoy reading this intense book despite the slow pacing to build up the suspense from the beginning until the end.
I would recommend this to those who likes a slow-paced character driven mystery drama with unreliable narrators.
I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!
⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Death, grief, gaslighting, addiction, alcoholism, brief mention of drugs and cancer
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cancer and Drug use
sarakdot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a fabulous thriller with a touch of (maybe?) magical realism? Psychological warfare? Hard to say!! But, I absolutely enjoyed every minute. The beginning was so different from anything I’ve ever read that I knew it was going to be a gripping story. What else was super intriguing to me was that I didn’t particularly think any of the characters were ones to root for but I was still fully invested! This is an amazing debut by the author and I can’t wait to see what she does next!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Grief, and Gaslighting
hanniee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail