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rebekkavanh's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ellajasminex's review
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ash6775's review
4.0
If you want to read a book about likeable characters then this is not the book for you. I love to read stories about where you relate and like the characters but hated the characters in here (except one) but the plot was so interesting and compelling it kept wanting to know what would happens next.
The twist and turns really happens after the second, It was a little slow paced but I like where the story was heading so it wasn’t a big problem for me and I liked the twist at the end the second half of the book really turned the tables.
The twist and turns really happens after the second, It was a little slow paced but I like where the story was heading so it wasn’t a big problem for me and I liked the twist at the end the second half of the book really turned the tables.
vacantbones's review
4.0
Be my best friend forever.
Confession: YA thrillers featuring catty mean girls are my guilty pleasure. Don't get me wrong, they're not all created equal. And I genuinely despise when people act like this IRL. In a book, though? So good. I mean, so bad, but soooo good.
13 Minutes is, according to the jacket flap, about Natasha, suspicious of her two best friends after a freak accident that nearly leaves her dead, and Becca, the discarded ex-best friend she turns to for help. But this story goes so much further than just the simple questions being asked here: how did Natasha end up in the river, and why are her friends acting so strange? I've probably read several hundred YA mysteries in the last fifteen years or so, but this one still managed to catch me off-guard and stun me with its revelations.
Excellent writing, intriguing format and use of multiple POVs, and a wicked story. I would've liked if the book acknowledged that Aiden perhaps shouldn't have been entirely shocked that a 16 year-old girl would act jealous and immature in the context of a relationship with a 19 year-old, but that's okay. My inner teenage reader really enjoyed this read!
megsbookishtwins's review against another edition
2.0
I received this free from the publishers via Netgalley
DNF 30%
Natasha was dead by the side of an ice cold river for 13 minutes. Natasha doesn't remember what happened, and she can't be sure her friends weren't involved. When she starts to distrust her friends, she reconnects to an old friend to discover what happened that night.
I really did try to get into this book, but it just wasn't for me. I usually love mystery-psychological-thrillers, the reason I requested this one in the first place, but this one just couldn't hold my interest at all. One reason was the pacing because it was an incredibly slow placed book, which I usually don't mind in psychological thrillers. However, I believe that Sarah Pinborough failed where other mysteries succeed - she couldn't keep the suspense going. She couldn't keep me guessing or keep me reading. I felt like I had little incentive to continue reading - few developments and not enough reveals. I got 30% in and still felt no closer to any answers to what happened to Natasha as when I were 10% in.
I also had trouble distinguishing between the narratives. What made it worse is that it switched from first person narrative to third person narrative depending on the character whether it was Becca or Natasha. I assumed this was a book focusing on Natasha, whose narrative was first person, but there was an awful lot of focus on Becca, whose narrative was third person. I preferred Natasha as well, so the fact that there was barely anything from her was another reason I DNF'd.
Overall, not one I'd personally recommend.
DNF 30%
Natasha was dead by the side of an ice cold river for 13 minutes. Natasha doesn't remember what happened, and she can't be sure her friends weren't involved. When she starts to distrust her friends, she reconnects to an old friend to discover what happened that night.
I really did try to get into this book, but it just wasn't for me. I usually love mystery-psychological-thrillers, the reason I requested this one in the first place, but this one just couldn't hold my interest at all. One reason was the pacing because it was an incredibly slow placed book, which I usually don't mind in psychological thrillers. However, I believe that Sarah Pinborough failed where other mysteries succeed - she couldn't keep the suspense going. She couldn't keep me guessing or keep me reading. I felt like I had little incentive to continue reading - few developments and not enough reveals. I got 30% in and still felt no closer to any answers to what happened to Natasha as when I were 10% in.
I also had trouble distinguishing between the narratives. What made it worse is that it switched from first person narrative to third person narrative depending on the character whether it was Becca or Natasha. I assumed this was a book focusing on Natasha, whose narrative was first person, but there was an awful lot of focus on Becca, whose narrative was third person. I preferred Natasha as well, so the fact that there was barely anything from her was another reason I DNF'd.
Overall, not one I'd personally recommend.
chloe_loux's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I do not miss being a teenager girl.
bethanlouux's review
5.0
Slightly slow starting but oh my gosh! So many twists and turns it's unbelievable and keeps you hooked. I couldn't put it down!
cindyc's review
5.0
Sarah Pinborough has quickly become one of my favourite authors. I love the way she writes and the way she seems to be able to captivate me with every single book. I have thoroughly enjoyed her mystery/thriller/with a tinge of the supernatural books Mayhem and Murder. When I saw Orbit was going to publish another Mystery/Thriller by her hand, Young Adult this time, I couldn’t wait to read it. I finished the book in mere hours, reading through the night because I just couldn’t put it down.
I don’t usually read a lot of thrillers, though my mum swears by them. The few I have read (and enjoyed) all had a similar backbone: the mystery of the crime and the slow build-up to the revelation in the end. For some reason, I always see through all the smoke and mirrors and guess quite early what happened and who was involved. This mostly doesn’t bother me, but it does take away some of the surprise. 13 Minutes had me completely fooled. I didn’t realise what exactly had happened until it started to dawn on the main character.
Becca is a teenage girl and just like all girls her age, friendship-wise things can be very tough. Her childhood best friend, Tasha, dumped her for a more beautiful and malleable posse. Even now, when Becca has a boyfriend she loves more than anything and a new good friend, it still stings. So when Tasha is fished out of the river one morning and revived, Becca feels a pull towards her. They had been best friends, right? Tasha doesn’t remember how she ended up in the river or what happened the night before. As their friendship starts to rekindle, Becca tries to find out what happened to her friend.
People who have read Pinborough’s books before know that she has a to-the-point kind of style, not shying away from explicit scenes. I think the raw nature of the book is one of the things that made it so compelling. Whether it’s sexuality, emotions or shocking twists, Pinborough isn’t afraid to go all in. It’s what makes this book feel so real
The intricate web of friendship and love was intriguing and painfully recognisable sometimes. I have made some of the best friendships in my teenage years, people that I consider family now that I’m in my mid-twenties, but in high school drama is never far away. Pinborough explores all these different friendships, putting them to the test and twisting our perception of everyone involved so that you’re left with no clue what the hell is actually going on or who is trustworthy or not.
13 Minutes is a mix between Mean Girls, coming-of-age and the better psychological thriller. It brings all the good aspects of these together in a riveting story that will feel familiar to anyone who has been through or is going through their teenage years and it will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Highly recommended. I can’t wait for Pinborough’s next book!
I don’t usually read a lot of thrillers, though my mum swears by them. The few I have read (and enjoyed) all had a similar backbone: the mystery of the crime and the slow build-up to the revelation in the end. For some reason, I always see through all the smoke and mirrors and guess quite early what happened and who was involved. This mostly doesn’t bother me, but it does take away some of the surprise. 13 Minutes had me completely fooled. I didn’t realise what exactly had happened until it started to dawn on the main character.
Becca is a teenage girl and just like all girls her age, friendship-wise things can be very tough. Her childhood best friend, Tasha, dumped her for a more beautiful and malleable posse. Even now, when Becca has a boyfriend she loves more than anything and a new good friend, it still stings. So when Tasha is fished out of the river one morning and revived, Becca feels a pull towards her. They had been best friends, right? Tasha doesn’t remember how she ended up in the river or what happened the night before. As their friendship starts to rekindle, Becca tries to find out what happened to her friend.
People who have read Pinborough’s books before know that she has a to-the-point kind of style, not shying away from explicit scenes. I think the raw nature of the book is one of the things that made it so compelling. Whether it’s sexuality, emotions or shocking twists, Pinborough isn’t afraid to go all in. It’s what makes this book feel so real
The intricate web of friendship and love was intriguing and painfully recognisable sometimes. I have made some of the best friendships in my teenage years, people that I consider family now that I’m in my mid-twenties, but in high school drama is never far away. Pinborough explores all these different friendships, putting them to the test and twisting our perception of everyone involved so that you’re left with no clue what the hell is actually going on or who is trustworthy or not.
13 Minutes is a mix between Mean Girls, coming-of-age and the better psychological thriller. It brings all the good aspects of these together in a riveting story that will feel familiar to anyone who has been through or is going through their teenage years and it will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Highly recommended. I can’t wait for Pinborough’s next book!
justelw's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
3.0