NetGalley ARC | Twenty-Seven Minutes

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐

Ugh.

Phoebe Dean was killed in a car accident ten years ago. In those ten years, the small town where she grew up has been trying to understand why her brother, Grant, waited twenty-seven minutes before calling for help after the accident. Had he not waited so long, Phoebe might have been saved.

Phoebe's memorial is just days away and everyone is on edge. Gossip abounds as all the regrets, grief, and delusion collide. The four who really know what happened that night are pulled deeper into the storm because someone knows the truth and is ready to spill the details.

Unfortunately, I can't give a spoiler warning, because I don't know what happened. I made it 54% and could no longer suffer through the nonsense of this ridiculously boring book. I would not typically rate and review a book I did not finish, but given that I made it over halfway with this, I am going to.

In that entire 54%, nothing happened. There was all this talk about secrets, but the characters were all so uninteresting and caricature-ish that I truly did not care what those secrets were. I don't mind multiple points of view - if they're done well. The problem here is that all four lacked distinct voices.

From what we see of Phoebe, she was an absolute fucking psycho about her brother. Becca is also mentally ill, but in a different way. I didn't care why Wyatt is sick. I didn't care that June is doing whatever she is doing. Grant has given up on life.

By 54%, nothing had happened. All the talk of 'secrets' was basically summed up as, "We will never know what happened", despite the fact that Grant knew. No real plot, and no clues to even guide the reader. It felt like we were just supposed to wait until the end for the reveal, and enjoy the absolute nothingness along the way. Lack of strong characters could have at least kept me going but no, we don't even get that.

In the Goodreads summary this is billed as "Perfect for fans of Jane Harper" and that is an insanely massive insult to Harper. Her books are brilliant, masterfully told stories that keep me hooked from the start. Nothing of that kind even came close to happening in this book.

Not recommended.