Book Review: 13 Minutes

[Joey Stark]

Book Title: 13 Minutes
Author: Sarah Pinborough
Genre: Thriller, Young adult (caution: not appropriate for younger readers!!)

Natasha was dead for 13 minutes. Pulled from a river by a passing jogger and missing her memory, Natasha has to try and piece things together to work out how she got there, but her best friends are acting oddly and suddenly Natasha feels safer seeking out her childhood friend Becca. Danger lurks on the horizon and now Becca's life is embroiled in it too.

I have mixed feelings about 13 minutes. I did enjoy reading it and I was hooked in places, which if nothing else, shows it was a successful mystery.

The characters weren't particularly likeable. Becca seemed to be the moral compass of the book but I couldn't find any relation to her at all. Despite it being set in a UK high school, I felt less engaged then previous US YA books. Maybe I'm the wrong demographic, but the whole 'mean girls' posse thing was not doing it for me at all.

I did think the book had decent second wind I wasn't expecting. About 70% the way through I though all the mystery had abated, and I was completely wrong, but it lost some of its strength in its ending. The ending could have been much more satisfying and less obvious, especially since Pinborough clearly has some skills with creating twists and forward planning demonstrated earlier in the book.

The mystery and thrilling aspects were good, I was definitely hooked for some of it but the characters and ending left me wanting.