13 Minutes

13 Minutes

Sarah Pinborough

Goodreads Link
Book Depository Link

American Release Date: October 3rd, 2017

I received this as an Advanced Reader Copy from Flatiron in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I don't know where to start when describing this book because it's not like anything I've ever read. Now, granted, it's not exactly in the genre I read, and that certainly has something to do with how much I enjoyed it, but it still really defies a description. It's a dark and moody British high school drama that features a cast of rather despicable characters doing mean things. The whole time it keeps you second guessing who to trust and also wondering what actually happened the night Tasha died for 13 minutes.

There are some characters in literature (*cough cough* looking at you ASOIAF) that are so evil and so awful but so well written that you can't help but absolutely love them as characters if not people. Basically every single person in this book is that way for me. It's not on the scale of some epic fantasy, but perhaps because it's based so much in the real world did it feel creepier and more awful when they did things. Basically, these are the mean girls- they ditch friends when they get bored, they create and spread rumors when they dislike someone, they steal boyfriends when they hate someone- that high school dramas warn you about. Except, from my own experience, these felt very real and very much like some of the people I went to school with. Even working with what could be very stereotypical character traits these are all well-defined and three-dimensional characters. The three barbies- Natasha, Hayley, and Jenny- balance well against each other and felt like they had not just a history with each other but also that there is a tension between the three of them. Becca, the narrator for the majority of the book, is also incredibly believable... all the way until the end. I liked Becca a lot, and I felt incredibly sad for how insecure she was, but at the end it's like a switch is flipped and she becomes some sort of uber-sleuth, which I couldn't believe. A caveat for the reader: even though she's out protagonist you're not going to be rooting for her the way you normally might.

Because this is a mystery/thriller there's not much I want to say about the plot lest I give it away, but I can tell you all about the writing which is just so absolutely beautiful. It was delicate and evocative all at once, capturing the lines of a character and then taking it a tad further to make it real. Even as awful things were happening I couldn't help but love what I was reading because of the spell the words seemed to be casting. I don't think there are specific quotes I find beautiful, since it's not, in a way, a beautiful book, but it's the mastery of the language and text itself that are so engaging. I turned every page eagerly and stayed up late into the night just to read it for the sake of reading, alongside reading it because I wanted to know what happened next.

TL;DR? Rather dark and moody but definitely a great YA thriller to pick up if you're in the mood. You're not going to walk away with a favorite character but you'll be able to appreciate everything, particularly the beautiful and engaging writing.

"Mean Girls for the Instagram age." --The Times (London)
The New York Times bestselling author known for her thrilling twists is back:
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.
Natasha doesn't remember how she ended up in the icy water that night, but she does know this--it wasn't an accident, and she wasn't suicidal. Her two closest friends are acting strangely, and Natasha turns to Becca, the best friend she dumped years before when she got popular, to help her figure out what happened.
Natasha's sure that her friends love her. But does that mean they didn't try to kill her?


13 Minutes is a psychological thriller with a killer twist from the #1 internationally bestselling author Sarah Pinborough.

Sarah Pinborough is a critically acclaimed adult and YA author based in London.

Sarah was the 2009 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story and also the 2010 and 2014 winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella, and she has four times been short-listed for Best Novel. She is also a screenwriter who has written for the BBC and has several original television projects in development.
Her next novel, Behind Her Eyes, coming for HarperFiction in the UK and Flatiron in the US (January 2017) has sold in nearly 20 territories worldwide and is a dark thriller about relationships with a kicker of a twist.


You can follow her on Twitter @sarahpinborough

Cover linked to Goodreads; cover, description, and author bio taken from Goodreads.
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Like This? Read That

The title of this post is pretty self explanatory, but basically I'll try to connect books I've read (and loved) lately with popular pop culture in an attempt to brainwash get more people to read books I've enjoyed.

First up is Truthwitch/Windwitch.

These books are perfect if you enjoy Game of Thrones- the TV show, not the books. I love A Song of Ice and Fire, and while I enjoy the show I do have some issues with it. HOWEVER now that you're probably waiting for the next season to (eventually) get here this is the perfect series for you to pick up. The Witchlands have a bunch of plot lines, with unique characters, and fantastic twists. I still feel like the series in the process of setting up a lot of even more major plot lines but I'm ready for the long haul with these fantastic reads.

Now I know another series people are patiently waiting on is Throne of Glass, and yeah I know Chaol's book is right around the corner but I know not everyone is satisfied with that and people really want to see the conclusion of Celaena's story (which was recently pushed back even more). If you're a fan of the first two books I recommend picking up the Graceling trilogy, but most specifically the third and final book Bitterblue.

You don't need to read this series in any particular order and can pick up this one first, last, or second (really it doesn't matter). There are a lot of similar plot devices used in this book as in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. I also think Graceling main character, Katsa, reminds me quite a bit of Celaena. Fire, the middle book in the series, is much more like the ACOTAR books if you're interested in picking it up.

I've been a huge fan of Cassandra Clare for a while and my favorite series of hers is easily Infernal Devices. It's definitely got the only good love triangle I've ever read probably because Will, Jem, and Tessa are all completely in love with each other. If you're interested in a book that has a similar dynamic I recommend The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.

Now, it doesn't have the steampunk element at all, but the time periods are similar and Monty and Percy remind me a bunch of Will and Jem. AND they're actually, canonically gay and bi in this book so I don't have to be over here fighting people saying Will and Jem aren't (seriously; fight me).

I just finished reading 13 Minutes and while it's not my normal genre I was swept away by this book. It was so good! It was dark and moody and had me both freaked out and unable to step away from the book.

I've seen it compared to Mean Girls but I would say this is nothing like that. Honestly it's more like Gone Girl, but I've never actually read that book or seen that movie, I've just read an in-depth synopsis. Really I would recommend this book if you enjoyed 13 Reasons Why (and not just because they both have the number 13 in the title). They're both dark dramas with a high school at their center, and they also both deal with very adult themes.

Those are my recommendations for now! Have you read any of these books? Any you would recommend if you enjoyed these? Are you now curious about picking any of these up? Let me know in the comments!