This is such a twisty thriller that keeps you turning the pages until you’ve read it all! Jet has days to live - and to figure out who tried to kill her. Does it get any better than that?

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. Unfortunately this book is a mess. The opening is all over the place, and the author just info dumps all over the reader. There are too many characters introduced with no defining characters to keep track of, and I immediately disliked the book and DNFed it

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC.

I struggled to get into Not Quite Dead Yet. Specifically the first chapter I felt like I was plunged into a story I should have already been deep into. But once I moved past it and kept going I found this book gripping and intriguing. Holly Jackson is so good.

Jet, 27-years old, has been living at home after having dropped out of law school. She is still waiting for her life to begin and accomplish something great. Unfortunately for Jet, she is attacked on Halloween night in her family home, and is now left with only 7 days to live due to a deadly brain aneurysm forming.. She decides that solving her murder is going to be her big accomplishment. Jet never thought anyone was after her before, but soon she starts looking closer at everyone in her life including her family. The only person she has to help out is her childhood friend Billy. Will she solve her own attempted murder before her death?

Holly Jackson does it again. I could read anything by her and be obsessed. I really thought this was such an interesting concept to add to her normal mystery stories. It gave it a much higher stakes thrill knowing that no matter what Jet was going to die in seven days. Jet was a hilarious character to me - she had a lot of growth through these seven days and it was written really well that character development did not take away from the plot. The plot itself did move a bit slowly in the beginning, but damn classic Holly with crazy crazy things going on in a story..did this story seem unreal at times? definitely, but did I eat it up for sure. I also loved the way she ended the book - so unique and so like her - it reminded me of all the transcripts from A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I wouldn't have known this was her first adult book though as it read similar to her other books. I look forward to seeing what else she has to write especially if she starts working more in adult fiction.

･ﾟ 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 ·˚˖‧
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 - 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑹𝑪!

❝ If you've gotta die, might as well be funny about it❞

╰𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚎╮

✦ Pub Date: 22 Jul 2025
✦ Rating: 4,5/5
✦ Genre: Adult Thriller
✦ POV: 1st Person
✦ Spice: 0/5
✦ Age: 16+
✦ CW: De*th, G*re, Bl*od, M*rder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire injury

࣪ ִֶָ 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘 ·˚˖
When Jet wakes up in the hospital and learns she was declared dead for two minutes, she knows someone tried to kill her. And she only has six days to find out who...

·˚˖ 𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 ˖˚·
I’m so grateful I got this book!

First of all, the idea is wow, I’ve never read anything with a twist like this.
I loved how it felt like a puzzle. Some characters were easy to suspect, others were barely revealed or had hidden layers, so we followed the crumbs with the main characters and kept uncovering new things. I figured out who was guilty around 75% in, but that didn’t take away from the thrill at all.

I don’t even know what else to say, I couldn’t put it down, and I cried at the end. Thank you 😭

·˚˖ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 ˖˚·
▪︎ Jet — According to her family, she always puts things off (I totally get it, I do that too), but this time she doesn’t have the luxury of procrastinating. That’s why she shows such fierce determination and just goes all in, and honestly, my heart hurts for her💔

▪︎ Billy — Jet’s kind and gentle friend who found her… such a soft soul, a total sweetheart 🥹 I loved their dynamic, those little moments of laughter in the darkest days really got me. Sometimes I even forgot they were adults because their bond felt so pure and genuine.

▪︎ Side characters — Not too many, but each one plays a role. Each hides their own secrets, and honestly, many of them annoyed me, which I think was exactly the point.

࣪ ִֶָ ⊹ 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 ·˚˖
↠Halloween Vibes
↠Small Town
↠Everyone’s a Suspect
↠Unrequited Love
↠Limited time

I was very excited to get this ARC through Net Galley! (Thank you Net Galley and publisher!)

After being viciously attacked in her parents’ home, Jet wakes up in the hospital. Having survived this attempted murder, she learns that it is almost certain that she will die from an aneurysm within the week. She checks herself out of the hospital against her family’s wishes and resolves to spend her final week finding the culprit. As Jet investigates, we are drawn into a web of long-buried family secrets and small-town politics.

As the mystery unfolds, there were a lot of twists and turns that kept me engaged. I loved Jet as an FMC. She is strong but also flawed and insecure about her accomplishments. I felt for her as she grapples with her family’s past and her own impending death. I usually don’t like romance, but the romantic subplot supported the story and didn’t distract from it. I will say the ending scene was not 100% satisfying to me. However all the subplots were interesting and I enjoyed tying all the threads together. Overall, this is a great poolside mystery!

Holly Jackson’s debut adult thriller, “Not Quite Dead Yet,” follows a woman trying to solve her own murder, except she isn’t actually dead.

Twenty-seven-year-old Margaret “Jet” Mason has a reputation for quitting. After her older sister, Emily, tragically drowned at the age of seventeen, ten-year-old Jet has spent her life trying to live in Emily’s shadow, attending the college Emily would have chosen and following her intended career path of becoming a lawyer. But when Jet drops out of law school and breaks up with her boyfriend JJ Lim after he proposes, she’s left feeling directionless.

Jet moves back into her childhood home in Woodstock, Vermont. On Halloween night, she runs into several people she can’t stand. Later that evening, she is brutally attacked. She wakes up two days later to learn that she has a traumatic brain injury and a fatal aneurysm. With surgery carrying a 90% fatality rate, her days may be numbered. But Jet isn’t dead yet, and since the police are fixated on JJ as the primary suspect, she takes it upon herself to solve the case, enlisting the help of her childhood best friend, Billy Finney, whose father is the local police sergeant.

As Jet investigates, she works through a growing list of suspects. Each time she eliminates one, a new crime surfaces. Nearly everyone in the story has something to hide, heightening the suspense. However, Jet’s physical capabilities in the wake of her brain injury, sprinting, climbing, and staying awake for days, feel implausible, even within the bounds of fiction.

What’s more troubling is her decision to withhold critical evidence from the police, even as she uncovers other murders and attempted murders. Her reluctance to involve authorities means several characters escape justice, which can be frustrating for readers who expect resolution.

Despite these issues, the novel delivers strong pacing, well-written red herrings, and a consistently engaging mystery. While not without flaws, “Not Quite Dead Yet” offers a fresh premise and a protagonist whose inner conflict adds depth to the thriller’s twists and turns.

When Jet is brutally attacked on Halloween night, she considers herself lucky to wake up in the hospital. But when the prognosis is dire and she's given 7 days at most to live, Jet determines to find her own attacker. Follow the clues as Jet and her childhood best friend, Billy, race against the clock to solve the mystery before Jet dies.

Holly Jackson's first adult mystery does not disappoint. Although Jet is 27, this feels like a good step up for fans of Jackson's YA titles. A few language things that would keep me from purchasing it for high school, but otherwise, pretty PG content for an adult book.

Holly Jackson delivers another gripping thriller in Not Quite Dead Yet, keeping readers on their toes with her trademark twisty narrative and sharp pacing. Her writing style shines here—taut, suspenseful, and full of misdirection that leaves you second-guessing every clue and character motive. Just when you think you've figured things out, Jackson throws in a new thread that flips the story on its head.

Character-wise, Jet was a bit of a mixed bag. At times, her impulsive decisions and attitude grated on me, but by the end, her emotional growth and resilience won me over. Her strength in the final act showed a depth that made her journey worth sticking with. On the other hand, Billy was the real standout. A true sweetheart, he was unwavering in his support—always present, always patient, and never asking for anything in return. His quiet loyalty was a beautiful contrast to the chaos swirling around Jet.

Overall, Not Quite Dead Yet is a solid and satisfying read—cleverly written, emotionally grounded, and full of the kinds of twists that Jackson fans will love.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy - all thoughts and opinions are my own!

4.5 stars
Wow this book was crazy!
This book follows our main character Jet. After a Halloween Fair, someone sneaks into her house and attacks her. The attack doesn't kill her, but she is told in one week she will suffer a brain aneurysm and die. Jet is determined to spend those 7 days figuring out who tried to kill her.
Jet isn't a perfect character. She has spent her 27 years telling herself she has her whole life to figure out what she wants to do and accomplish. She now has 7 days to fit in the whole rest of her life and she is absolutely determined to find out who killed her. I hated Jet's mom. She blamed Jet for her sister's drowning 17 years ago. She never thought Jet did anything right and always blamed everyone else for everything. I did like her dad. He was much kinder. After fighting with her mom, Jet decides she doesn't want to spend the last 7 days of her life at her house. So she moves in with her childhood best friend Billy. Billy was so sweet and innocent. He really wanted to do everything he could to help Jet find out who killed her.
This book was so hard to put down. The urgency of Jet only being given 7 days to live made everything so critical. There were so many valid suspects and so many clues that could have lead to any of them being the attacker. I continuously felt like I needed to turn the page and find out what happened next. Jet keeps getting symptoms of the brain aneurysm getting closer and it just made my almost feel physically ill imagining knowing you only have days to live and your whole right arm has gone numb or your vision fracturing. It was very vivid.
The end made me absolutely sob. The whodunit was someone I remember saying to myself "you know, I bet it is *this person*" in passing. I never locked in on anyone specific as the attacker, but I did have the passing thought. I'm not going to say whether or not it was an obvious suspect, or someone more in the background. The reasoning was clever and brought all the clues and secrets around full circle. I'm pretty sure the first line of the acknowledgements is Holly apologizing for the traumatic ending. And rightly so.
Holly Jackson knocked it out of the park once again and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

This was a twist packed read with a spiral of secrets, suspicious family dinners, and a countdown that feels more like a fuse. It’s glossy, grim, and weirdly funny in all the right places.

Since I am an avid mystery and thriller reader, a lot of what I read has a lot of sameness to it. While I always enjoy it for the most part, everything tends to blend together when thinking back on my reads each year. That being said, for a book to really stick out, it has to have some unique quality to it. This book is the perfect example of that. This is a story of a woman left with seven days to live on a mission to solve her own murder

This is my first read by this author, and I was left very impressed. The protagonist, Jet, was bold, blunt, hilarious, and just plain real. She is one of the most real characters I have come upon recently. While the writing did seem to border on young-adult, it didn't throw me off as it normally would. It made an otherwise sad story fun and entertaining. This was a bingeworthy, fast-paced story with a lot of heart that will stay with me for a while. Four solid stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Holly Jackson writing miserable FMCs solving murders, arguing with police, and punishing horrible men is my favorite genre.

Jet Mason, coming from an incredibly wealthy family, has never quite finished any of the goals she's created for herself. But when an attack and a head injury leaves her with seven days to live, she commits to solving her own murder.

This is Holly Jackson's debut adult novel and it is clear that she thrives in this age range. Her YA books are incredible, but she has never been afraid to push the limits of how dark she can go there. Taking the limits away really let her classic writing style thrive, especially with a plot like this. Not Quite Dead Yet is dark and gritty and heart-breaking, but there's a little positivity in there too.

One thing I love about Holly Jackson is that she's never afraid to embrace an emotional plot. So often, people just expect endings to be happy and perfectly tied up. But I love when that isn't guaranteed. One of the other things I love about Holly Jackson is that she has a strong understanding of how to balance emotions. This book made me sob, but it made me laugh and smile as well. It makes you look at your life a little differently. It allows you to see the beauty in simplicity and small things. Especially in thrillers and mysteries, there can be a lack of connection to the characters. Holly Jackson, though, always makes her stories and her characters feel so human.

Another thing I always notice in Jackson's books is that she has perfected pacing. Sometimes scenes need to take up a little more time, and she always understands when they do. She also knows exactly which scenes need to move faster. Just like the balance with emotions, there's a wonderful balance with speed and twists in this story. There's never too much or not enough going on. Everything comes at just the right time. And everything is so wonderfully unpredictable.

Her twists are not only perfectly placed, but thought out so well. She manages to catch readers off guard with each twist, but looking back always shows that the answer was right there all along. Every word she writes has a purpose in the end. Even when there are unanswered questions or elements left with more of an open ending, it always feels right.

And we need to take a moment to appreciate Jet Mason. People are too often afraid of more unlikeable, mean female main characters. Men in books get away with so much, so we need a mean woman to balance that out sometimes. I don't think anyone can write an mean, miserable woman that is still so easy to love the way Holly Jackson can. I know a lot of people won't find Jet to be the most likeable main character, but she's one of my favorite main characters I've ever read about. I love how miserable she is. I hope Holly Jackson continues to make her FMCs a little worse with each book.

Not Quite Dead Yet is one of those books you could talk about for three weeks straight and still not feel like you've talked about it enough. This is easily Holly Jackson's best work. It's dark and emotional, but I think readers will find some love and hope as well. It will break your heart and maybe not quite put it back together again. Though I don't think anyone will truly mind the hold this book has on them. It's impossible not to fall in love with this story.

Review on Goodreads (sophreadingbooks https://www.goodreads.com/sophreadingbooks) as of 7/17/2025
Review on Instagram (sophiesreading https://www.instagram.com/sophiesreading/) as of 7/21/2025

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson was the first book I have read by this author, and I will admit I was a little disappointed. Based on the premise of a young woman who is going to die in seven days and aims to find her attacker during those days, I expected this to be a top notch thriller. Although this book claims to be written for an adult audience, I found it to feel more like a YA thriller.

Jet was a likable character with a dark sense of humor. When she joked about her ability to be a little reckless (such as gorging on fries) because she is going to die in a few day anyway, I found myself with a wry smile. The pacing was quick enough to keep the story interesting, but the plot seemed to spin in circles. The only other character who was fleshed out was Billy, Jet's childhood friend, and the tender relationship between the two of them was the best part of the book.

Perhaps I was not the right audience for this book, but I believe Holly Jackson's fans will enjoy the ride.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this one SO much because of how much I've absolutely loved Holly Jackson's other books, but unfortunately I didn't really like this one. I thought the story overall was an interesting concept- it was fun that she was trying to solve her own murder, but the pacing felt off a lot of the times. Also, I know this was her adult debut, but it still felt pretty young to me. Yes, the characters were older, but because they still acted so immature, it felt quite YA still. It also felt like just because it was an adult debut, there was a lot of swearing kind of just thrown in just because? I have nothing against swearing in books when it makes sense, but this just felt kind of thrown in just because she knew she could since it was an adult book. It wasn't necessarily terrible, but it definitely didn't meet my expectations.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine for an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Let me just start off by saying that this book was insane in the best way possible. I always always always love a Holly Jackson book but this is one of my all time favorites from her. This book is funny, heartbreaking, and exhilarating. The very beginning of the book was a little slow, but it quickly picked up the pace and I found myself wanting to neglect things happening in my real life so I could read more about Jet and Billy. These are some of the best characters that Holly Jackson has written, and Jet felt so real. I found a piece of myself in her that I don’t normally see in book characters. I don’t think I will ever forgive Ms. Jackson for the emotional turmoil she put me through at the end. I did not sign up to be sobbing at 12am!

Final thoughts: please read this book. I loved it so much - just make sure you have your therapist on speed dial after finishing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advanced reading copy of not quite dead yet. This book will be released to retailers on July 22, 2025.

I am not a thriller reader normally. I’ve read the good girl books by Holly Jackson and loved them, but thrillers are normally not my go to genre. When I do read thrillers, I prefer YA thrillers because I’m a scary cat! Not quite dead yet is Holly Jackson’s first thriller that is geared towards adults and not the YA genre. The language is definitely adult. The violence is the big departure from her normal YA mysteries. The first act of violence is very descriptive, which I wasn’t expecting.

In not quite dead yet we meet Jet. Her real name is Margaret, but she has always gone by the nickname Jet. The book starts at a Halloween fair and we quickly gather that Jet is the family disappointment (or the blame for everyone else’s decisions). Throughout the book, we realize that Jett may not be as much of a disappointment that her mother and her brother think that she is. There are so many pot twists in this book and there are so many characters I did not like. As in most thrillers, most of these characters are flawed. I will admit who I thought did the murder, ended up being the flawed good guy. I did not see the last twist!

The real good guy in not quite good yet is Billy. Billy, who we are introduced to at the Halloween fair is the one who finds jet after she is attacked. He then is who she leans on in her last week of life and ultimately solves jet‘s murder. The more the story goes on the more you find out, you wish that Billy and Jett should have had more time together because I wanted them to have the romance HEA so badly!

This is a solid 4.5 ⭐️ read for me. I will round up to 5 ⭐️ for Goodreads and NetGalley. It’s predictable in that you know Jet is going to die, but the twists are crazy! I read it in a day. It’s fast paced and my heart just broke that Jet doesn’t get the miracle I wanted her to have. For Holly Jackson’s entrance into adult thrillers, it’s definitely a good one!

4.5 stars~

This was such a captivating thriller! Holly Jackson is one of my favorite authors, so when I saw this book, I knew I needed to read it immediately. I loved not only the mystery, but I also loved the relationships that we see throughout. Reasons for this not being a full 5-star are purely that I thought the resolution seemed a bit quick, and I figured out the mystery pretty early on- like I want to say within the first 15-25%. I am so impressed with how Holly Jackson can catch me off guard and make choices I definitely do not expect. It’s hard to say the aspects I love the most without giving spoilers, but this reminded me of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder in the best way, which I definitely needed since I’ve been wanting something that reminds me of one of my top thrillers. I’m thrilled to have signed up for one of her book tour events and will be receiving a signed physical copy of this book! ❤️

If you want a thriller with an amateur detective, trying to solve her own murder on a strict timeline, I definitely recommend checking this one out! Even when I figured it out, I was left guessing and wondering about other aspects of the book up until the end.

Thank you a million times to NetGalley and Ballantine for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for the arc! Hollys writing has really improved here, not to say that her other books are bad, they’re not. But this one is just SO good. Great plot, characters, and it kept me hooked.

I tore through this book, but what’s new for me and a Holly Jackson novel?
This book was absolutely amazing and a devoured every second. I could tell right from the start that this was one of those books that would leave me missing the characters, characters that Holly always brings to life so well they feel like your friends. This story is witty, emotional, and honestly heart wrenching at times. I will be recommending it to all of my friends and family.