3.75, rounded up. This took me a long time, but held my attention throughout. You have to suspend your disbelief in many areas, but it is entertaining and keeps you guessing. I liked many aspects of it, but found it to be as messy as her other more recent stories. This is marketed as adult, but there are zero reasons for that other than maybe excessive swearing? It is fine for a YA audience & those looking to be entertained and not looking for super high quality writing will really like it.

This book was phenomenal! I was hooked from the start and I could NOT put it down. I flew through this one. This will definitely be one of, if not my favorite, book of the year!! I loved Jet&Billy, and the romance was so sweet! This book was sad but also hopeful in a strange way.

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an arc!!

Well I’m traumatized and deeply obsessed!!

Not quite dead yet follows Jet, a young woman who gets murdered on Halloween. Expect she doesn’t die and wakes up in a hospital bed only to get told she has seven days to live because of a brain aneurysm. So like any sane person she decides to solve her own murder before her inevitable death.

I binged this book in one day and feel even more in love with Holly Jackson’s writing!! The way she carefully crafts the most intense and spine tingling thrillers that leave you on the edge of your seat until the last page is something that inspiring writers can only dream of being able to do one day!

The writing was fantastic along with the entire premise and cast of characters! It truly felt like you’ve just stumbled upon someone’s life ending (literally and figuratively) It heart wrenching and terrifying and very disturbing. Holly Jackson knows how to peel back the humanity of people and show the absolute worst of what they could be. The book isn’t gentle to its readers and is far from kind either but it’s so deeply profound and the strength that Jet has is truly inspiring. Sure the book left me feeling empty, but it also left me questioning more about life and how often we play roles that others want to see us in instead of being our true selves! (very deep for a mystery book but it really put me in my feels guys!)

Overall, an incredible book that once again proves that Holly Jackson is in a league of her own!! I cannot wait to see what she writes next and am so so so thankful I have the opportunity to read her books early!!

Jet has 7 days to solve her murder. After being violently attacked in her home, Jet is dealt an even bigger blow: she will die within 7 days. Knowing that she has yet to accomplish anything big in her life, solving her murder becomes the only item on her bucket list... but can she solve it in time?

This was an absolutely gripping read. I read it in one sitting, barely taking a break to use the restroom. The plot was very unique, the characters were well developed, and the twists were plentiful but believable. It was very much a Holly Jackson original even though she was writing for a different audience.

Right off the bat, I had a personal decision to make. Jet and her dad have a disease called Polycystic Kidney Disease. My dad and I have it too. I was concerned about how it would be represented in the book. I almost stopped reading, but I put my faith in Holly Jackson, and I'm so glad I stuck it out. PKD doesn't get a whole lot of representation in the media and I'm very happy with the way it was portrayed. I saw so much of myself in Jet and was invested 100% in her story. This is absolutely a Read It!

Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

I absolutely LOVED this book! What a unique premise and non-stop engaging action! I couldn’t stop reading. I love Holly Jackson from her other books but this might be the best one I’ve read thus far.

Here's Holy Jackson's "Not Quite Dead Yet."

["In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.

Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. I’ll do it later, she always says. She has time.

Until Halloween night, when Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder.

She suffers a catastrophic head injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, the injury will trigger a deadly aneurysm.

Jet has never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her former best friend turned sister-in-law, her ex-boyfriend.

She has at most seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish something:

Jet is going to solve her own murder."]

I'll be honest with you. I read the first chapter of this, absolutely hated Jet, and put it down for a few weeks. I knew, from a craft standpoint, that hating Jet was probably a choice on the author's part, that we would eventually grow to love her as she made her redemption arc, which would only make her eventual death more painful. Granted, she didn't turn into a saint overnight. But she grew as a person and she grew on me.

After I got past the first chapter, I couldn't put this book down. The web kept tangling and weaving and coming together only to spiral off in several directions. You get a suspect, clear then, find two more in it's place. You get a motive and find even more suspects, even more motives, even more times of opportunity. So many secrets, so many lies, so many "oh I didn't tell you"s and "it's not important"s. It all just kept going and going and going until...

Until thunderclaps after thunderclaps of pain, waves and waves of tears and grief. This was one of the hardest endings to a book I've read in a while, and like "Call Me By Your Name", you saw the ending coming (doesn't make it easier).

This is arguably, Holy's best book to date. You HAVE to read it.

Trigger Warnings: dark humor, violence, medial emergencies, medical decisions, murder, death, and more.

#arc #arcteammember #netgalley
#notequitedeadyet #hollyjackson #thriller #murdermystery #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

thank you, netgalley for this e-arc

I want to start this by saying I skimmed basically 50% of this book because a lot of it was just boring and felt like it included plot points that didn’t need to be added and I felt like a lot of it could’ve been left out.

I feel for jet, but her saying every other chapter that she needed to do something for herself before she died was kind of just a lot, and I felt like it was very repetitive like she was just trying to fill-in some words every couple chapters.

The plot twists weren’t twisting as much as I hoped they would. I just kind of felt let down by this book. I love Holly Jackson and I loved her previous books, but I think this one just wasn’t for me.

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for an e-ARC of this book!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Jet Mason is the kind of person who always says “I’ll do it later,” but when she’s brutally attacked on Halloween (leaving her “not quite dead yet”) and wakes up in the hospital, a doctor breaks the news that, due to her head injury, she’ll suffer an aneurysm and ultimately be dead within a week. Destined to finally finish something in her life, Jet sets out to solve her own murder.

I have to admit that when I first started reading, I was intrigued but not fully invested. The beginning felt slow, but just past the halfway point the plot really picked up and I was hooked.

As for the characters, I didn’t love Jet at first, but she grew on me as we saw more of her personality and development. On the other hand, I loved Billy. He’s Jet’s childhood friend and the first one at the scene after the attack. He’s so sweet, and such a loyal, ride-or-die best friend.

The twists and turns take you through some complex family dynamics, full of secrets and lies. While I was able to guess a few of the twists, others definitely caught me off guard and kept me turning the pages.

If this book has caught your eye, I recommend pushing through even if the beginning doesn’t completely pull you in. It’s worth it for the eventual buildup and the way the mystery comes together in the end. While it may not top my list of favorite Holly Jackson books, it’s still a solid, enjoyable read that will fulfill your need for a good, complex mystery!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the e arc. I really liked the premise of the story. Starting out with the main character Jet’s attempted murder. She wakes up in the hospital and basically finds out she has a week to live and uses that week to solver her murder. I didn’t love the main character Jet but she did grow on me. I know this was the authors debut adult book but it still felt a bit like a young adult read with some of the characters. I honestly didn’t Iike most of the characters but I still loved the story and it kept me reading to find out what was going to happen. So overall I recommend this thriller, definitely an enjoyable read.

I read Hollys “A Good Girls Guide to Murder” and really enjoyed the first two books! When I saw she was coming out with a new book I was intrigued. The idea of this book is so interesting, and the writing style is unique. If you’ve read an early copy you know that she wrote this in a way where some of the sentences aren’t complete sentences. At first this kind of bugged me, but it grew on me and I found it interesting. I’m not sure if there was a specific reason she did that but it was something different then I’ve seen in books and it was intriguing.

I love it when I think I know who the killer is, and I am almost certain I am right. Only to be proved wrong and realize I wasn't even close to being right.

Something about Holly Jackson's writing reels you in, and you can't seem to put the book down. She teases you with information, feeding it slowly, and suddenly, you too are attempting to solve your own murder.

Things started to pick up in the second half of the book, but the first half was slow. I found it hard to be in Jet's POV, mostly because I found her to be juvenile and frustrating at times. After reading it more. I adjusted to her POV, and as more things were being revealed, I got invested. She was determined to solve her murder, and I admired that. But it was hard to root with her because she was immature, even in the face of her own death.

Despite my feelings about Jet, it had the Holly Jackson thrill and guessing game that I love. The plot, while slow at first, continued to have me hooked. And the only character I cared about at the end of the book was Billy!

Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for sending me a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This story starts with a community Halloween festival. Jet and her family are in attendance. Things take a twisted turn when Jet goes home and is attacked from behind. Jett wakes up in a hospital. The news is not good. Jet needs surgery, which she may not survive. Without the surgery, Jet only had a short time to live., Jet chooses not to have the surger, and uses her time to solve her murder. With the help of her friend Billy, they begin to uncover the secrets in their tight-knit community., As they rebel against them, they discover shocking secrets about their families and the community. It was easy to connect with Jet and. root for her.

This fantastic read kept me on the edge of my seat with each twist and turn. And the shocking ending—I did not see that coming. I highly recommend this book.

A grown-up woman's guide to solving her own murder (before it’s too late).

4.5 stars rounded up.

27-year old Jet Mason is dying - and she knows it. After barely surviving a brutal attack on Halloween night, Jet wakes from a coma to devastating news: a head injury will kill her within roughly seven days. With no clear suspect and time running out, Jet sets out to solve her own attempted murder - before it becomes an actual one.

The premise of author Holly Jackson’s chilling adult debut grabbed me instantly. In just seven days, Jet must confront the looming certainty of death and the even more pressing mystery: who tried to kill her?

Author Holly Jackson, of "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" success, transitions from YA to adult with confidence, though occasionally she seems a bit too eager to emphasize the shift. The swearing felt unnecessarily heavy-handed, as if to remind readers, “This isn’t for teens anymore!” The book’s themes and emotional depth speak for themselves, and the novel stands well on its own without needing that kind of reinforcement.

Jet is a compelling protagonist - smart, quick-witted, and layered with just enough vulnerability to make your heart ache. Her self-awareness and dark humor carried the narrative, and even knowing the clock was ticking, I kept rooting for her to somehow escape fate. The inclusion of Jet’s letters at the end added a raw, emotional undercurrent that elevated the story.

That said, while the seven-day countdown was a clever and effective plot device, the medical reasoning behind it felt thin. I'm no doctor, but letting someone with a traumatic brain injury - who just woke up from a coma, no less - leave the hospital immediately after waking up, drive around town, climb fences, and chase suspects strained plausibility. The doctor’s prognosis was also vague at best, so Jet’s total certainty that she had exactly seven days left felt more like narrative convenience than character logic.

Structurally, the pacing was solid, with tension building steadily as Jet reevaluates everyone in her life. The reveal of the culprit lands with a satisfying punch, though I found the very final chapter underwhelming. While I’d seen the conclusion coming, I had held out hope for a final twist that never came. The last escalation, in particular, didn’t feel fully earned or necessary - it dulled the emotional resonance of the book instead of sharpening it.

Still, "Not Quite Dead Yet" is a gripping, emotionally charged mystery with a truly unforgettable heroine. Jackson proves she can write just as fiercely for adults as she does for teens. I’ll be thinking about Jet for a long time.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Not Quite Dead Yet" is slated to be released on July 22, 2025.

Wow… I adore Holly Jackson and everything she writes - usually. I was so excited for this release; however, it missed the mark for me. The dialogue of these adult characters felt very childish, and I didn’t really find myself drawn to any of the characters.

honestly... disappointed. was hoping for grand horror and yet the characters were not it. still felt very ya which i just can't do. saddened since it was so hyped as her *amazing adult thriller* so sorry. don't egg me

I always enjoy reading Holly Jackson books. I first started reading her when I read the A good girls guide to murder trilogy, so from there I always have a good time reading her books. This is my first time reading a new adult or adult book from her so it took me a while to get into the book because I still had this young adult perspective of her in my head. But she proved me wrong and I thoroughly enjoyed myslef when reading this.
I want to give a huge thank you to netgalley and the publishing team for the advance copy.

Holly Jackson? Absolutely how dare you inflict this amount of trauma on me!

Here I was thinking I'm the best detective in the world picking up all the clues and foreshadowing, only to be proven...wrong.
This was such a great story and absolutely what I needed to pull myself out of a book slump.

The story starts off my introducing us to the cast of characters that are potential suspects for Jet's eventual murder. She wakes up in the hospital with a week to live and is determined to figure out who her killer is.

I think I went through all the stages of grief while reading this. Even though the synopsis literally says Jet is going to die I was in denial. Like I was thinking there's absolutely no way she dies, she's the main character, a miracle happens right, RIGHT?!?!?! My absolute favorite thing about this story is that it's not predictable. I was so sure it was at least 3 different people and all of my guesses ended up being wrong. I really love when a book can challenge me and make me think. You absolutely will be on the edge of your seat wanting to find out who the killer is. It broke my brain to be honest, but it was quite satisfying. I need something stronger than therapy after this. Ballantine and Holly Jackson, you'll be hearing from my lawyers!

Apart from being a really cool thriller, this book also explores what it really means to live. I think every character in the book is deeply unhappy, besides Billy. For Jet and her family, the root of their unhappiness is her mother. Both Jet and Luke are living in the shadow of their sister, thanks to their mother–Diane. Diane is 10/10 such a horrible person, selfish if you ask me. Anyway, I like to think that Jet found her true happiness while searching for her killer. For the first time, she's able to just be. There's virtually no consequences for her so it's sort of freeing. I don't think Jet wanted to solve the murder to finally do something "meaningful", but rather to do something that was just for her. In the end I think she learned her value and how important she was to those around her.

The book is 11/10, absolutely no notes.

I love anything Holly Jackson writes. This is her first adult thriller and it was so good! It’s almost 400 but it did not feel like and I sped through it.

Jet was attacked and now she has a week to find out who attacked her before she is dead.

I loved this book. I did not guess who the killer was and I love when I get it wrong. It was fast paced through out the entire book. Jet has the best Bad A** personality and was not leaving solving her murder up to the police.

Even though we’re told through out the book that Jet was solving her own murder. The ending broke my heart. Thanks Holly for ruining me.

Genre: Thriller
APK: Ebook
Pages: 385
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone

This is the first book I've read by Holly Jackson, and although it started off slow, it grew on me—and don't even get me started on the ending! The plot is pretty self-explanatory from the title, "Not Quite Dead Yet," but I was not prepared for the twists it would take. Jet's life was derailed when her older sister passed away, leaving her anxious as she tried to fill her sister's shoes. She struggles to meet her parents' expectations but never quite follows through. She thinks she has plenty of time—until she doesn't. Her brother Luke is married with kids, works for their father's business, and is the clear choice to take over when their dad retires. And then there's Billy, her lifelong friend, who has secretly been in love with her all along. When another tragedy strikes the family and Jet is attacked and left for dead, she becomes determined to solve her own attempted murder, because she’s not quite dead yet.

The story had an intriguing premise with numerous twists, some of which completely blindsided me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of most of the characters, especially Jet—I found her immature and repetitive. And you really have to suspend disbelief about a woman with a head injury leaving the hospital to solve her own murder; you’d expect she’d be dealing with a massive headache! There were a lot of suspects, and it was fun narrowing them down. But the real standout for me was Billy—kind, gentle Billy. Everyone needs a friend like him. Despite the slow start, this was an enjoyable read with a perfect ending!
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In a genre where predictability can sometimes be an issue, this novel refreshingly defies expectations. I can often anticipate plot twists and endings, but this one genuinely surprised me, delivering a satisfying conclusion. One of the most unique and compelling aspects of the book is its premise involving a dying character. Initially, I wasn't sure how I would connect with this element, but the author handles it well, making it not just work, but enhance the story's depth and urgency. It adds a layer of emotional resonance that elevates it beyond a typical thriller.