13 Minutes

by Sarah Pinborough

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?

13 MINUTES by Sarah Pinborough is a gripping psychological thriller about people, fears, manuiplation and the power of the truth. A stunning read, it questions our relationships - and what we really know about the people closest to us . . .

• ISBN10: 1473214033
• ISBN13: 9781473214033
• Publish Date: 18 February 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

This book made me glad that I'm not a teenager anymore! Basically every girl in this book was a bitch except for one, and that includes the main character.

Becca is basically the goth girl in her grade, despite formerly being friends with the ultimate Barbie, Tasha. But when Tasha is pulled from the cold river, nearly dead, Becca doesn't hesitate to run to her side. Tasha seems eager to have her back in her life, no longer completely trusting her other besties, Hayley and Jenny. So eager that she asks Becca to help her figure out how she ended up in the river.

Becca is torn between not trusting Tasha's motives and longing for the friendship they once had (and the belonging that being in Tasha's good graces leads to). But Becca is not immune from being a mean girl -- she doesn't treat the other people in her life much better than Tasha does.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this story, and though I wasn't completely surprised by the who in the whodunnit, I was surprised by how it all ended. I would definitely read another book by this author.

[Leah]

This was an interesting read, it didn't have me entirely hooked, but I liked it enough to keep reading and I was super curious about what exactly had happened to Natasha. And I'll tell you it was pretty good. I liked the direction the plot took, and it definitely surprised me. Becca was a fantastic character, and she kind of held the book together I thought, if only because she seemed to be the only sane one.

Was it a YA novel? No, I don't think so. It was too wordy, more a psychological thriller than a YA novel. Sure, it explored the relationship of teenagers, but that doesn't make it YA. And if it was YA it should definitely come with a "for older readers" sticker, because it was very honest about drug use, sex, etc.

I liked the book, I just wasn't intensely into it. And it needed just one more chapter to tie everything up properly, because what happened after that final page? Why do authors just leave you with questions, it drives me absolutely insane. Especially when an extra 1000 or 2000 words would sufficiently finish the novel, and leave no questions about what happened after.