Review: 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough


13 Minutes

I was dead for 13 minutes.

I don't remember how I ended up in the icy water but I do know this - it wasn't an accident and I wasn't suicidal.

They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you're a teenage girl, it's hard to tell them apart. My friends love me, I'm sure of it. But that doesn't mean they didn't try to kill me. Does it?



Lately I've been super into mystery style contemp books and when I saw 13 Minutes I just knew that I needed to read it. This book only took me a few hours to get through because I barely put it down the whole time I was reading it. I was so gripped and there was no way I was going to get distracted before I found out what happened to Natasha.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that the plot itself was this big mystery with loads of twists and turns and secrets, but the characters are pretty much relateable - there are the popular kids who sneer and whisper but have their own vulnerabilities (like Natasha), then there are the kids that have smaller friendship groups (like Becca) but still can be happy that they have a few people, then there are the really lonely kids with just one or two friends who act as the laughing stock (like Hannah), the kids who nobody really notices until they aren't there anymore. The characters themselves really worked and they carried a story which may seem a little bit... insane... otherwise.

This is quite a twisty book as well - just when you think you have figured everything out there's a curveball thrown and you don't know who to trust and who to blame. It was extremely well executed and despite a few small failings with regards to inconsistencies the ending seemed really justified. I can't say much more than that, but it was good.

Sarah Pinborough is clearly a great author as well. She wrote a brilliant story and great characters and the writing itself was really good, she really got me absorbed in the story and it was very well done.

Overall, 13 Minutes was a very well written, twisty story. I hesitate to make any comparisons normally, but I can definitely say that this is like Mean Girls meets The Heathers meets Gone Girl. A brilliant book that I really did enjoy. 


Book released July 14th 2016 by Gollancz.
Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

1 comment

  1. I'm really into Mysteries right now too!! I haven't heard of this book before, but it sounds really good!! I'm always on the lookout for the good YA Mystery/Thrillers bc I feel like they are the hardest ones to find!! Great review!

    ReplyDelete

Tell me your thoughts on the post, the book, the world. I like volcanoes, feel free to tell me about volcanoes.