Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

Title: Almost Surely Dead

Author: Amina Akhtar

Publisher: Mindy's Book Studio

Pub Date: February 1, 2024

Rating: 3.5

Brief Summary: Dunia is a Pakistani American woman who leads a normal life, until one day she vanishes without a trace and becomes the subject of a true crime podcast

What I Enjoyed: The mystery was very suspenseful and well executed. It reminded me of Celeste Ng novel.

What I Disliked: Some parts were a little boring.


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I am a big fan of Amina and so I was very excited for Almost Surely Dead... and it did not disappoint! I loved the mix of timelines and the element of the true crime podcast. I honestly did not guess a lot of the twists. I also liked learning more about jinns and the book went in a creepier direction than I thought it would... and I'm here for it. I loved it and I'll definitely be recommending the book to people!

More often than not, I dislike multi pov books. However, this one did not disappoint me. I love a great thriller and toss in the podcast aspect and I was engrossed in the story. I loved how Amina Akhtar put a cultural aspect into the story as well.

Dunia is almost killed on the subway. Got the next few months, crazy things happen happen to Dunia. Then one day, she just disappears. A podcast pocus up her story to try to solve the mystery.

This was an overall good story that held my attention. The writing wasn't the best so I figured a 3 star was a good rating.

A big thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I am not sure why, but I didn't like any of the characters in this book. For me to really enjoy a book, I need to like someone. This one had no redeeming people in it for me.

This involves more of the supernatural than I am comfortable with. It wasn't like a Stephen King, but it did have aspects of the paranormal and or folklore that makes me uncomfortable.

This is one of those I would recommend to those that like more horror and not just a cut and dried mystery.

I am giving this 4 out of 5 stars. The writing was good, but it was not my kind of book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!! I think with slightly deeper (or perhaps slightly different) editing, it could have been a masterpiece. And I will admit, the fact it comes sooo close to greatness (in my opinion) makes the fact it just fails to reach it more disappointing. This should be higher than a 4 star, but I can't quite call it a 5.

My personal qualms with this book are very few. The podcast portions may serve much better in an audio format. (Admittedly,I am someone who doesn't listen to true crime podcasts! So hey, maybe the author is recreating things more than I could ever know.)

There were a (very few) moments of dialogue that sent me out of the narrative, but thankfully never for too long. My main quibble keeping this book from being a 5 star is just that the pacing felt a little uneven. Or perhaps it's better to say that it changed for me. When I first started reading, the story felt paced like a thriller, and I was absolutely devouring it. Coming back in after having to stop, however, I noticed the pacing felt a lot more mystery. I still think it's a very good book; I just think that the rest of the story doesn't quite hold up to how iconic the set up is.

This story has a 5 star opening, for sure. If you have a couple of hours available and think you could just read this book straight through, it is very possibly a 5 star read for you.

You may love this book if:
- you enjoy South Asian folklore or are interested by it
- you enjoy unreliable narrators, struggles with mental illness, feeling disconnected from your family + culture of origin, and complicated family dynamics
- you enjoy interwoven timelines (this story has snippets of a podcast dedicated to Find Dunia, Dunia herself during the time she was dealing with almost being murdered, and Dunia as a 5 year old)
- you enjoy your mysteries with a strong paranormal twist
- you enjoy an ambiguous ending

I loved reading this book, the plot was really intriguing and it kept me hooked all the way through.

Absolutely fantastic. This is such a unique thriller that kept me captivated from start to finish. The MC was so relatable and the podcast sections had me rolling my eyes in the best way. I don’t feel like I can say much without giving spoilers, but I tend to be overly critical of thrillers and I loved this.

I’m delighted to say that I have given this book 5 out of 5 stars.

‘Almost Surely Dead’ is a book that grips you right from the opening chapter. The story follows Dunia and her disappearance while simultaneously delving into a plethora of sub-plots and topics such as South Asian culture, folkore and religious elements.

This book was really fun and showed many different perspectives such as child Dunia, adult Dunia and most intriguing, the transcripts of the (deliberately) insufferable true crime podcast hosts capitalising off of the disappearance of a woman of color.

The narration was the most interesting part. I felt as though child Dunia and adult Dunia were different and similar in an alluring way. The author made a good choice showing us her thoughts in those two different periods of time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 • 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 • ⁣𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪
𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 • 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦
𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: 1 February 2024

This was a rush of a read. Simultaneously fantastical and relatable. Fast and furious.
I just could not look away until the end. I was left wanting more. An entrancing read.

Every month I diligently pick out my Amazon First Reads selection, congratulate myself on getting a free book, and then proceed to never look at it again. 😂 This is the first time I actually read my Amazon first reads selection. I’m not sorry I did!

ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖:
• 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚒 & 𝙿𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒 𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎
• 𝙹𝚒𝚗𝚗 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜)
• 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝙲𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

Traumatized by a near death experience on the NYC metro, Dunia, a former pharmacist, is now the subject of a True Crime podcast. The show hosts a series of interviews with the lead Detective and Dunia’s friends and family, beseeching listeners to phone in clues & evidence to help locate her, dead or alive.

In another timeline, we see Dunia’s childhood to present day. Recently broken up with by her stalkery ex-fiancée, the estranged black sheep of her family, not a “good desi”, Dunia wonders if she is losing her mind. There was so much here to unpack: exoticism, desi folklore, being too “kala” (dark), south asian stereotypes, discrimination, victim blaming.

𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘜 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦.

fantastically weird psychological thriller by an awesome author. i never expected what happened at any point. tysm for the arc.

I loved the format of this book, from the flashbacks to present day to the podcast episodes. I was intrigued by Dunia’s culture and the folklore of the Jinn. I didn’t want to put the book down until I found out what happened to Dunia! Will definitely read other books by this author!

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

I liked this book a lot. Dunia was an interesting character with her beliefs and at times, I wasn't sure what was real. The podcasters were perfectly annoying and I loved their pitch at the end of each episode. I like how the story evolved through the different views of each character. One part that didn't quite fit was why the Detective was so dedicated to helping Dunia but it worked. I would recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and all of the intricate twists and turns. The chapters are short and told in the present, the past, and a podcast. This made it a very interesting reading experience and kept the pace moving. The characters are intriguing and drew me into the story right from the beginning. I couldn't put this one down!

Thank you NetGalley and Mindy’s Book Studio for the advanced copy of this book. I have not read anything by this author before but this was thrilling. I enjoyed the podcast true crime, even though the hosts were annoying. I liked the shift in perspective for Dunia from her childhood to her adulthood to the podcast. I really enjoyed this book. The cultural elements were interesting as well.

3.5 stars
Potentially more after I listen to the audiobook. Updates to come


So far I have loved everything the Mindy Studio publishes. I also just LOVE LOVE LOVE MIndy Kaling so yes, I am definitely bias.

This is the first book that I thought was just alright. I was most invested in the podcast portion of the book as I really think it works well for mystery thrillers! Especially when done via audiobook as it literally is like you are listening to a podcast.

To me, the pacing was just a bit off, some parts were really a slog, but I would say this was not what I was expecting and I think people should go in blind reading this. I also think this might work better for me as an audiobook so I will avoid posting my review to goodreads until I listen to the audiobook.

A podcast has started to investigate the disappearance of Dubus Ahmed. Dubus was an average New Yorker, daughter of immigrants, and pharmacist. Until one day she is attacked on the subway and it kicks off people trying to kill her.

Wow this one turned out to be something completely different than what I expected. I would avoid spoilers and reviews (don’t worry you can read mine; it’ll be vague). I liked how it evolved and her past history was intriguing as it was slowly revealed.

“Great, now my childhood monsters had become grown-up ones.”

Almost Surely Dead comes out 2/6.

This was such a heartfelt and interesting read for me. I’ve never read a book with this type of concept, so it was definitely intriguing. It felt a bit slow and repetitive at times, and some of the writing came off as a bit juvenile, but I loved the format of podcast transcripts being included. I felt so deeply for the main character and I didn’t want to put it down. A quick and enjoyable read!

The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Dunia Ahmed was a successful pharmacist living a reasonably normal - if not entirely easy - life while coming to terms with the death of her mother and a bitter disappointment in her lovelife.

But then, things went completely off the rails when an attempt was made on her life. While this was initially considered to have been a random crime, it was followed by further attempts to kill her. This, even after the person suspected of making the initial attempt had been taken into custody. So who was actually responsible?

The traumas of her early childhood and memories of her sleepwalking habits at the time returned to haunt Dunia. And unfortunately, she began to succumb to cultural superstitions, becoming convinced that there was more to what was happening than logic could explain.

Then she disappeared.

And now, people are wearing T-shirts with her name on it. Because in this media-obsessed age, Dunia's case drew public attention after it was featured in a true crime podcast. Yet nobody seems to know how (and where) Dunia herself is, though it is believed that she is almost surely dead...

This was an interesting story with an original premise. Creepy and compelling, it holds the readers interest throughout. While South Asian readers will be familiar with the folklore elements contained in the book, it should be interesting for western readers to be introduced to such legends and lore.

This is a genre-crossing novel, and will be enjoyed by those who like psychological thrillers and multicultural and folklore elements. It gets 3.5 stars.

This book had me at paragraph one. I was so excited about the set up, and then it honestly just fell flat.
I felt like this story had so much potential and as much as I enjoyed the folklore from another culture, the supernatural aspect just didn’t do it for me.
I still think this book is a page turning totally unique thriller. I enjoyed it. I guess I just had higher hopes for the ending. 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC