13 minutes is a teenage mystery book filled with drama. Author Sarah Pinborough, has constructed a crime, psychological thriller with amazing characters (that are a little weird).

Introduction

Natasha Howland died in a lake for 13 minutes. However, no one believes it wasn’t unintentional. As she’s so popular and practically has everything handed to her on a silver spoon, why would she even think of committing suicide? Now she turns to an old friend, seeking help from her as she unravels the truth. But could either of them imagine how dark and bitter the truth is?

The Plot

Crafted so cleverly, Pinborough creates a tangled web of lies, mistrust, mystery and problems. The school setting is realistic and gives an insight to intense teenage friendships and relationships. The book is thought-provoking with its mystery and honestly a little scary. Although this gave me all the more reason to carry on reading due to the intrigue I felt. This book is so captivating and it may be predictable at times but not with the satisfying ending.

Characters

The characters aren’t as likable as the book, but they still have an air of intrigue and mystery despite how shallow and stereotypical they may be. They’re literally mean girls except on a whole different level with the added mystery and thrill of the plot. Readers learn information through the eyes of other characters as well as police reports, therapy reports and newspaper snippets.

However, it mainly switched between two girls, Natasha and Becca. Becca seems like she isn’t that crazy and isn’t as conceited as Natashsa. But then she does let emotions control her sometimes and comes across as a little bit crazy. Natasha is in the popular crowd and is proud of being called a Barbie. Throughout this book, the backstabbing and manipulation is brutal and there is always a motive behind a characters actions. As more is uncovered about everyone, it turns out that not everyone doesn’t know each other as well as it seems. Filled with physco girlfriends, stoners, mean girls and unreliable adults it’s bound to get interesting.

The Mystery

It’s good. The mystery of the plot is gripping that had me not wanting to put the book down. Everyone is so sneaky and gives you all the more reason to be doubtful of them. At first it seems that everything is set up so staged and the clues are basically handed to the police. However, this is not the case and Sarah makes us all feel suspicious of everyone. No one is not guilty here in my eyes.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it. The last book that had a mystery feel was One Of Us Is Lying and I did a review on that too! I’ve been enjoying mystery reads so if anyone has any good recommendations let me know!

This book surprised me and I didn’t expect to enjoy it as I did. The themes expressed are a lot darker, so this book is aimed for older YA readers!