Thank you Net Galley for the arc.

jet was attacked on Halloween night and suffers a head injury that will result in an aneurysm and her death. She has 1 week to figure out who did it.

I absolutely thought I had this figured out and boy was I wrong! This was so good, it was a book I didn't want to put down at all.

Thank you sooo much for this e-arc! This was by far my most anticipated read of the year and it completely lived up to my expectations. There’s just something addictive about Holly Jackson’s writing, and once I hit the 50% mark, I couldn’t put the book down.

HOWEVER that ending hurt me & I was almost sobbing through the last few chapters

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast-paced and kept me hooked until the end. I thought the plot was very unique and I enjoyed reading about the background of the families in this book. It is very well written and easy to keep up with. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7702208422

I read this on the plane back from Montana in one day, and man, it was a page-turner! Jet is 27, and suffers from a rare kidney disease that makes her life difficult. She's living back at home while trying to figure out her next steps, and is still reeling from the loss of her sister, Emily, to a freak pool accident when she was just a child. Trying to live up to her family's expectations of what Emily would have done has left her bereft and lost, but she still feels like she has time to figure it all out. That all changes when she is brutally attacked in her home on Halloween with a hammer and left for dead. She survives, but has a rare brain injury that doctors say will lead to a fatal aneurysm in one week. One week to solve her own murder! So that's what she does...she enlists her childhood neighbor/best friend Billy to help, and since he's always been in love with her, he agrees.

Together, they navigate the suspects, gather evidence, and break the law along the way, outsmarting the police, and racing against the clock to figure it out before Jet's time literally runs out. Jet has to unpack her family's trauma and their secrets as well as her history with Billy and their connection between Emily's death and her own murder. It was a wild ride, and I so enjoyed it!

Jet is definitely an unlikeable narrator, but that's to be expected when raised with a dysfunctional family and having suffered such a tragic loss as a child. She was rude and biting, but also quite funny, and her self-deprecating wit at the expense of her impending death was certainly a coping mechanism. I didn't really find myself liking her until she wrote her end-of-life letters and that's at the very end! She also doesn't really come off as a 27-year-old adult. So even with all the cussing and violence, this one still read very YA to me and not as much Adult. (There are mentions of sex in conversation, but there is zero spice in this book at all). Also, the big reveal about her brother Luke and his role in Emily's death was shocking, but also, what?!? The family just gives him a pass? That part really angered me that those implications weren't dealt with more in the plot, but still, this one was a wild, plot-fueled ride like Jackson's other books, so if you enjoyed those, you'll like this one and get through it quickly! Billy was the best character of all with his quiet love and longing and his role with the ending was so satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Bantam for the e-ARC!

As someone who isn't a regular thriller reader but has appreciated Holly Jackson previously, I approached this book with an open mind. However, I found myself struggling to connect with it. The plot, for me, felt overly contrived, relying on a series of twists that often seemed gratuitous rather than essential. The characters, while present, weren't developed with enough nuance to evoke much care or concern for their fates. Despite its many narrative shifts, the story didn't quite land, and I regret that this particular read wasn't for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

If you want a cozy mystery with a twist, this is it. Make sure you have plenty of time to finish the second half of the book in one sitting, because you will NOT want to put it down.

Margaret 'Jet' Mason is a 27yo who 'will do that later' and 'has time' until she doesn't. She's attacked in her childhood home and given a grave diagnosis. That she has one week to live. And what does she do? Sets out to solve her own murder, of course.
Jet teams up with her childhood BFF, Billy, and together they look at the clues from all of the directions.
But is she able to solve her own murder with her death being her deadline?

This took me foreverrrr to get into. Jet was so unlikable 😭 i feel like that was probably the point but i had a hard time reading about her when she was so annoying and rude to everyone 😂 By 50% some stuff started happening that hooked me a little more!! I think worth the read but I didn’t love

This is probably one of the coolest thrillers I've read! Solving your own murder before you die? such a cool concept. Our fmc was annoying but I felt bad for her. Sort of saw the twist coming. Overall a solid thriller.

The second I saw Holly Jackson’s name, I knew I had to read this—and Not Quite Dead Yet did not disappoint. She brings her signature twisty storytelling to her first adult novel, and it’s just as sharp and addictive as her YA thrillers.

The story centers on Jet, who learns she only has a few days to live after a violent attack. With time running out, she sets out to uncover who’s behind it—and ends up digging into secrets she never saw coming. The emotional layers really landed for me, especially around loss and grief, and the characters feel so grounded and real.

Also, I didn’t figure out the ending for once, which made it that much better.

If you’re a fan of Holly Jackson, you’re in for a treat. Fast, gripping, and full of heart.

The second I saw Holly Jackson’s name, I knew I had to read this—and Not Quite Dead Yet did not disappoint. She brings her signature twisty storytelling to her first adult novel, and it’s just as sharp and addictive as her YA thrillers.

The story centers on Jet, who learns she only has a few days to live after a violent attack. With time running out, she sets out to uncover who’s behind it—and ends up digging into secrets she never saw coming. The emotional layers really landed for me, especially around loss and grief, and the characters feel so grounded and real.

Also, I didn’t figure out the ending for once, which made it that much better.

If you’re a fan of Holly Jackson, you’re in for a treat. Fast, gripping, and full of heart.

3.5 stars

Not Quite Dead Yet is a book I was very excited about. Holly Jackson wrote the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy that I loved. The idea of trying to solve your own murder in the seven days before you die really caught my attention. The start of this book really had me hooked. Jet suffered a horrific injury, and I have to say that I'd I would want to see who did it behind bars before I died as well.

I'm conflicted about this one though. While I loved the concept and I kept on wanting to read to find out what happened. That being said, I wasn't as invested as I had hoped. I think this book wanted to do too much. Besides Jet coming to terms with her condition and being assaulted, there was also a lot of family drama. This made the pacing feel off for me at times. I mean, this story already had a lot to do with just Jet dealing with the consequences of her assault and finding the person who did it to her.

I will say my favorite this in this whole book was Billy. He was such a caring and helpful character. He was really in Jet's corner and would clearly do anything and everything for her. It was clear Jet was very important to him. The last 5% really did hit me in all the feels and I can say that I didn't expect the twist at the end. Not everything was wrapped up, but Holly Jackson really made me feel for these characters at the end. All in all, Not Quite Dead Yet was an entertaining read.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on July 17th.

Holly Jackson’s first adult novel, Not Quite Dead Yet was a winner for me, I loved A Good Girls Guide to Murder and this was a more grown up, darker murder mystery.. where the victim is trying to clove her own murder. Yep, how clever is that! i love Jet and her former best friend Billy running all over town getting into strife while they track down who wanted Jet dead.

Imagine waking up in hospital after being attacked in your own home, only to learn that your brain injury will kill you in less than a week. What would you do? Jet decides to spend that week finding out who wanted to kill her.. Family secrets are revealed, making Jet doubt everyone in her life. She is one tough cookie and I loved her dark humour, her brutal honesty and her raw emotion.

This book made me laugh and of course it made me cry. Having a protagonist that you know isn’t going to be alive at the end of the story is tough, especially when she is so likeable and you want her to succeed and be happy.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine on NetGalley for my early copy of this book to read. A fun and inspiring story that is published on July 22nd.

MS HOLLY GIRL AT IT AGAIN! I absolutely devoured this book as I did with all her other books. There were some parts that kinda seemed far fetched but guess what? I DONT CARE I ATE IT UPPP. Although it was clear where the ending was going with the fmc, a part of me was hoping for a miracle but when I read them NOTES?! Ugh. You’d def enjoy this if you liked AGGGTM!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC!

I LOVED Holly Jackson’s “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” (though I have my gripes with book 3), and just love the way she puts together a story. So of course, I was beyond excited to get my hands on her debut adult novel “Not Quite Dead Yet.” And as I expected, this one did not disappoint.

The premise was unique enough that it made the book feel fresh, while retaining classic murder mystery elements that also made the book a perfect genre fit. I really enjoyed the characters’ layered and complex relationships, and the more I found out the more I felt compelled to keep reading and unraveling allllll the secrets. It was more of a melancholy who-dun-it than most, but if you love the genre like me then I think you’ll appreciate this interesting twist on the concept.

Jet comes home early from the Halloween Fair—only to be brutally attacked inside her parents' house. At the hospital, she's given an impossible choice: undergo a high-risk surgery with only a 10% survival rate, or live out the seven days she might have left. With the clock ticking, Jet is determined to uncover who tried to kill her before it’s too late.

This story was masterfully written, packed with suspense, shocking twists, and emotional depth. The relationships between the characters added layers to the plot, and the setting in Woodstock, Virginia, brought a vivid sense of place. I loved Jet—she’s fierce, smart, and resilient.

If you enjoyed A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, you need to read this. It’s just as gripping—maybe even better.

I enjoyed AGGGTM, so I was intrigued when I saw this was her foray into adult fiction and had to check it out. The first 3/4 of the book, I couldn’t put it down. The plot and premise is really interesting (albeit a bit unbelievable, but this is fiction) and it’s pretty well executed. The ending isn’t my favorite, even though it’s very clear we are going to lose Jet. I don’t love books without a HEA, so maybe that’s why I didn’t care for the ending. It also started feeling a bit too dramatic for me towards the end.

She does a great job of fleshing out characters, and by the end you’re really devastated by Jet’s fate. Minor characters even grow on you (not you, Sophia), you want the best for Henry and JJ even though they’re minor characters. The main reason most people wouldn’t suspect the killer is because everyone seems so damn nice and real in this book. I had this pegged early on, but I knew it was going to be some farfetched shenanigans at the end.

The writing is a bit too immature for me personally to be considered adult. There’s not really a lot of explicitly adult themes in this book (in fact, pretty on par with AGGGTM), so I was relying on writing to really elevate that for me, and it didn’t quite get there. It was still very good, don’t misunderstand me, but I wish it had been a bit more adult in some themes.

A solid read though at 3.75⭐️

holly jackson is without a doubt my favorite mystery/thriller writer in the ya space, so i was beyond excited for her first adult thriller, and she did not disappoint! firstly, i love the concept behind this book. a woman has 7 days to solve her own murder? absolutely brilliant. with the timeline like that you expect the book to be fast paced and this one definitely was! once i started it, it was so hard to put it down and i read most of it in long sittings. honestly, i could've read it in one sitting had i not had to do silly things like work. this book pulled me in from the very start and i never wanted to stop reading.

something that i think holly jackson excels in are plot twists. whenever there's a plot twist in a mystery/thriller, after the reveal i want to say to myself "oh, i should've seen that coming!" because the clues were there for me, but they weren't obvious and holly jackson does that so well. some stuff i figured out, mostly because i just guess what would be the most wild/out there thing and i'll be close because she always comes up with wild stuff, and then there was one twist that i was just on the periphery of but oh man was that reveal worth it.

this book made me laugh and cry and i just loved these characters. if you've enjoyed any of jackson's ya books, you've got to read this one!

5 ⭐️
Expected publication date - July 22. 2025

WHAT I LOVED - EVERYTHING! This was a great book, I would have to say what (or who) I loved most were the main characters, Jet and Billy. Jet was a take no bullshit, wise cracking young woman, and Billy was a sweet guy, willing to do anything for Jet.

WHAT I LIKED - The mystery itself was intriguing and was told in a very unique way. I don't think I ever read a book where the murdered woman was solving her own murder BEFORE she died. That's pretty badass.

WHAT I DISLIKED - I don't think there was one situation, or sentence even, that I didn't like. They ending was pretty sad, but there was no avoiding that!!

WOULD I RECOMMEND? 100% ABSOLUTELY! This one had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn't put it down!

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

I’m absolutely thrilled to have received an eARC of Not Quite Dead by Holly Jackson—huge thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and of course, the queen of thrillers herself, Holly Jackson!

Having previously read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I was already familiar with Jackson’s fast-paced, twisty storytelling. But while I loved that series, the YA themes didn’t always fully resonate with me. Not Quite Dead changes the game. This adult thriller delivers everything I love about Jackson’s writing—sharp pacing, layered characters, and jaw-dropping plot twists—with a darker, more mature tone.

The premise is brilliant: Jet, a 27-year-old heiress from a powerful Vermont family, is violently attacked on Halloween night and wakes with the knowledge that she has only seven days to live before a fatal brain injury takes her life. With time running out and nowhere else to turn, she enlists the help of her childhood best friend Billy to solve her own murder—before it's too late.

What unfolds is a gripping, emotional, and ultimately heartbreaking mystery. The character development is rich, the stakes are high, and the ending? Absolutely devastating in the best way. Those final letters will stay with me for a long time.

Jackson weaves together suspense, romance, and a satisfyingly twisty plot with ease. Just when you think you have it all figured out—she flips everything upside down. I couldn’t put this book down, and I can’t recommend it enough to fans of thrillers that go beyond the surface.

Bravo, Holly Jackson. You nailed it.

For starters, this book has such a unique premise! Jet is the victim of a crime and the injury she suffers leads to an impending aneurism that will take her life within the week. With the time she has left she is determined to solve her own murder. I really connected with Jet as a character and I liked how frank she was about her situation. The hometown characters of her life provide a wealth of suspects and motives. I had a lot of different ideas of who committed the crime but didn't figure things out until almost the end. That made the read so enjoyable and kept me furiously turning the pages. I really liked all of Holly Jackson's YA books and now I can't wait to read what she creates for her adult readers next. Thanks to Holly Jackson, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Not Quite Dead Yet was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I’m a huge fan of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson and the premise of Not Quite Dead Yet is so unique and intriguing. Unfortunately, this book fell a bit flat for me.

I found myself not wanting to pick this book up for the first 60% or so because the pacing was a bit slow and I didn’t find any characters likeable. I found the main character, Jet, particularly unlikeable in the beginning so it was a little difficult to root for her. However, once I reached the 60% mark, the pacing picked up, the characters, especially Jet and Billy, grew on me, and I found the plot to be much more engaging and fun to read.

I really enjoyed the last 40% and uncovering all the small-town secrets was really fun. I correctly guessed who murdered Jet around the halfway mark but Holly Jackson is such a talented thriller writer that I ended up changing my mind and suspecting other people for a while before realizing my original guess was correct towards the end of the book. Jet had great character development but her character arc was a slow burn so it took reaching the end of the book to see her growth. The entire book was very dark and the tone was extremely tense but there were moments of levity and humor, which I enjoyed. I really liked the ending because I never could have predicted it and it was much darker than I expected.

Overall, I liked this book and I think fans of Holly Jackson will enjoy it! I recommend Not Quite Dead Yet to anyone looking for a dark small-town mystery/thriller with a unique premise! It would make a great Halloween or fall read!

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