Loved the concept, the pacing, Jet! Please make more adult novels, I’ll devour them. Thank you for the ARC!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: July 22, 2025
📖 400 pages

🧠 She'll Solve Her Own Murder
🏠 Dark Secrets
📒 Affairs + Blackmail
🕸 Found Family
✨️ He's in Love, She's Clueless

I enjoyed this one so much. The premise is so unique, the characters were well-developed, and the constant twists and turns made it impossible to stop reading! Everyone had their own dark secrets, and Jet and Billy wasted no time uncovering them. Jet's growth in her final days was amazing, and I definitely cried a couple of times.

If you're looking for a snarky FMC who solves her own murder, a cinnamon-roll bestie who's head over heels for her, and unexpected twists galore, Not Quite Dead Yet is perfect for you!

Thank you so much, Random House Publishing, Ballantine and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

#NotQuiteDeadYet #NetGalley

wow. my emotions were all over the place while reading this, but i loved it. i loved jet, and it was very interesting and fun to follow her through her crazy story. i did think that this felt more like YA than adult, but i still enjoyed every second of the book. i also think that maybe i’ve just read too many mystery and thrillers, because i did somewhat predict the ending, making it a little less exciting than what i had hoped for. i may update this review in the future, but i’m leaving it as is for now to avoid spoiling it for anyone :)

Listen, I will read ANYTHING that Holly Jackson writes.

This is her first step outside of Young Adult and it was such a good step. This story was insane, incredible, and most importantly original. I absolutely loved the concept of someone solving their own murder before they die. It kept me on the edge of my seat, especially at the end.
I loved all of Jet's remarks to her death and absolutely loved the relationship between her and Billy. Now I did put a couple of things together before the big reveal, but that didn't take away from how much I enjoy the book. 10/10 recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group!

No book will be loved by everyone. This one wasn’t for me. Although the main character is an adult, she acts like a bratty teenager. This read 100% like YA to this reader. I skimmed a good portion of the book just to finish. I did enjoy the unique premise, but it was a real struggle to connect with any of the characters who were all very unlikeable. And the plot was so unrealistic that it was difficult to finish. I’m sorry I don’t have better feedback for this one. 2.5 stars rounded up. I hope others will love it.

Meet Jet, a 20-something women who is the title character, assaulted early on in this mystery and left for dead. Trouble is, she has a chronic kidney disease that will kill her. within a couple of weeks after her assault. She sets out to find her almost-killer and along her madcap journey we get introduced to her dysfunctional family members, including her younger sister that is accidentally drowned as a teen. Jet's family is intricately tied to her neighbors, the father being a policeman who helps to investigate her "murder" -- as Jet refers to the event. This elaborately plotted mystery held my attention up until the big reveal at the end, and kudos to Jackson for taking the time and the effort to pull this off and provide the details that fill in the family's oddball relationships as Jet tries to figure out what happened to her leading up to her assault. I highly recommend this book for these reasons.

4.5 ⭐

This book gave me emotional trauma 😭😭 I'm not ever forgiving Holly Jackson for what she did to me 💔

I've read this book in one sitting; start... Cry... Bam Finished! I simply couldn't put it down.
I loved Jet and Billy so much 😭😭. The plot?..... Unpredictable, the suspense?..... Top tier, the thriller?..... made me on the edge of my seat.

And the ending? Yeah..... we're not talking about the ending 😭 😔

It's heartbreaking that nearly no one is innocent 😭 I believe this is what man's ego and ambition lead to.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!..... Did I just read this right???? I got approved 😭😭😭 thank you so much Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine 💙

Phenomenal! Holly Jackson brings her trademark character-driven, twisty mysteries to the adult space. I fell in love with the characters-- especially Jet, who is just so much fun to read. Definitely her most emotional book to date-- have tissues ready!

I do not have enough words to describe how much I loved this book.

Not Quite Dead Yet, follows Jet, a 27-year-old girl who is attacked on Halloween night, leaving her gravely injured. Due to her injuries, in 7 days Jet will suffer an aneurysm that will kill her. With her life having a sudden expiration date, Jet must solve her own murder and discover the truth behind her attack before her time runs out.

I have read every book that Holly Jackson has written, and this one is fighting for a spot as my favorite. As her adult debut, I was not sure what to expect, but in true Holly Jackson fashion, this ended up being a pulse pounding, emotional, and amazing mystery novel. I could honestly rave on and on about this book because there were so many things I loved, but I’ll keep it short.

The plot was so incredibly unique and unlike anything I have ever read before, and it was executed perfectly. There were high stakes, plot twists upon plot twists, a wonderfully written friendship/romantic subplot, and of course an ending that had me clutching my heart.

I loved reading about Jet, this woman who was sarcastic, always cracking dark jokes, and had a fire in her that was so engaging to follow. You couldn’t help but root for her and cheer as she stepped into the role of detective as she tried to solve her own murder. On the opposite hand, we also had soft spoken, sweet, Billy. The perfect sidekick and balance to Jet’s impulsive and headstrong personality. Reading about these two was so fun, and it really felt like these were real characters that I couldn’t help but fall in love with.

The writing was great, the full circle moments were so satisfying, the ending was genuinely impactful and had me reflecting on my own life, and I couldn’t help but want to read the book all over again the second I had finished.

If you love mystery/thrillers and are looking for something that will keep your mind racing, have you laughing, crying, and looking at life through a new lens, definitely read this book. You will not regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine – Bantam for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc

Firstly I need to say that I’ve come to the conclusion rewind it back put me in a bit of a slump so nothing is sounding as interesting to me right now
So this felt like the perfect book to pick up, mistery ya, fast paced, short chapters. And it really was a fast read and interesting enought that kept me reading. It’s probably my favorite from Holly Jackson, but something about it didn’t scratch the entire itch for me, but then again I think it might be my slump talking for me, cause I can’t pinpoint anything that actually bothered me about this
Definitely recommend! If you enjoy hollys writting I’m sure you will definitely devour this

Omg. This book was suspenseful, heartbreaking, page-turning perfection.

Jet was such a likeable FMC, her funny one liners and her don’t care attitude was so fun while trying to solve such a serious issue, her own murder. Billy was an amazing sidekick and I loved their dynamic! This was my first @hojay92 book, but now I’m definitely going to check out “A Good Girls Guide to Murder” because I loved her writing style.

This book comes out July 22, and if you are looking for a suspenseful book that will rip your heart out, make sure you mark your calendar!

Holly Jackson is a master of creating suspense. I wasn't sure how she was going to handle an adult title, but she more than exceeded my expectation. I'm not afraid to say I bawled my eyes out reading the last handful of chapters. You know what's going to happen at the end, you know Jet is going to die, but I kept waiting for the miracle to happen. The fact that she finally "lived" when she only had a week left, the fact that she realized the boy next store was meant for her all along.... then finally finding out who killed her a week before she died.... Holly Jackson makes you feel all the feels.

» No Complaints - Noah Kahan «
0:53 ─〇─────3:24
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

✧˚ · You can love something without needing it to love you back · ˚✧

No spoiler review

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4 Stars
Single Third Person POV
Spice Level 🌶️ - 0/5
⤷ Literally no sexual content, talk of “screwing around” but that’s it
Age rating - 15+
⤷ F-bomb used over 160 times, along with every other cuss word out there. There were some very intense scenes

Thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

⁺˚⋆｡° 🧠 My Thoughts 🧠 °｡⋆˚⁺
Er. Ma. Gursh.
Miss Jackson you gave me such a heart attack at the end 😭😭😭
Here I was like “Dang nothing is happening, this is gonna be a 3 star fs” and then I was screaming, crying, freaking out, and was considering chucking my kindle out the window.

There were definitely some things I didn’t like at first, but they for sure grew on me. I’m glad I didn’t dnf because I’m in SHOCK rn bro. Idk what to do with my life now.
And the fact that I got to read this months before it came out so I can’t rant to anyone…*depression noises*
Though I can’t rant about everything because that would spoil, you’re in for a ride in this review.

(also shout out to Ari for listening to all my obsessive rants over facetime as i was freaking out)

⁺˚⋆｡° 🛻 The Plot 🛻 °｡⋆˚⁺
This plot was so good and so well thought out, though it was a little slow at the beginning,
Something I loved about it (as dumb as it sounds) is she actually died. They didn’t magically find a cure at the end that no one was expecting. Holly Jackson literally went through with her plot, even though it was heart wrenching, which is what I love in a book.
While I didn’t like the fmc I have to say that the characters were so deep and realistic, as well as the setting. It felt like everything was happening real time and I was a part of the story watching it go down. Jackson’s writing is literally amazing.

Also
GUYS
BILLY….
*swoons*
I will get into this more when discussing the characters.
But he’s my MANSSSS 🤭

Also I need to say thank you for all the Noah Kahan references because that made my heart happy lol.

Just a warning it was SO slow at the beginning but the plot itself was action packed, interesting, and overall enjoyable. Even though I did guess the final plot twist, how the scene played out still shocked me.

⁺˚⋆｡° 💀 Characters 💀 °｡⋆˚⁺
➥ Jet: Ngl I hated her for most of the book, I was literally praying that she would please just die already. Instead of being like “oh I’m a pain I should turn my life around” when she was faced with death, she used it to manipulate people into doing what she wanted. On top of that, how freaking hard she had to be hit over the head to be so dumb to not realize that Billy was head over heels for her. I HATED her…but she got slightly better at the end.
╰┈> Cynic - Noah Kahan ♫₊˚.
➥ <b>Billy:</b> I loved this man. All he wanted to do was be loved back. He didn’t deserve her as she constantly took advantage of and manipulated him, but the fact that he wrote a song for her is what did it for me. He was so sacrificial and just so freaking sweet. The end y’all…the end…
╰┈> Fall Into Me - Forrest Blakk ♫₊˚.

⁺˚⋆｡° 🎤 Conclusion 🎤 °｡⋆˚⁺
All in all: you need to read this book.
If you don’t like it at the beginning I seriously urge you to see through to the end because it is seriously worth it. I’m so excited to be able to watch everyone’s reactions when this book comes out lol.
Please leave a like if you can! And please PLEASE read this book (you’re soul will be crushed mwahahaha–I mean…you’ll love it)

Happy reading!!

Jet lived her life thinking she will always have more time, that she will finally find what she loves and will one day make her family proud. But then her time runs out when she is murdered. Well, sort of murdered. Jet is attacked and with a ticking time bomb in her brain, has only a week left to figure out who killed her. Wow, what an incredible concept for a murder-mystery book. Holly Jackson always has such a talent of creating characters you genuinely enjoy as well as crafting mysteries that you never see coming. This was a very quick read and will be perfect for fans of murder mysteries or Holly Jackson's other work. I look forward to reading more of her adult fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Quite Dead Yet is Holly Jackson's first outing in the adult market, but I gotta be honest, this read like every other book she's written. The hook in this one is that the main character Jet is bludgeoned one night and left for dead, but not quite. When she wakes up in the hospital, she discovers that the head injury she sustained is in fact lethal, but it will be because of an aneurysm that occurs due to the type of injury she has. With approximately a week to live, she is now trying to figure out who killed her.

I fear I may be in the minority in some ways on this one, but for me this seemed fairly unbelievable and the story frankly went on for too long. Ever since the last book in the Girl's Guide to Murder series, I've had a love/hate relationship with Jackson's writing, and this book unfortunately fell on the side of not liking it very much. Much of the story is spent trying to figure out who it is, with lots of red herrings, but the end just had too much. Too many random reveals, too many motivations for characters doing shitty things, it just all became rather convoluted.

Oh. My. God. Holly Jackson has done it once again folks, releasing another banger!! If you were wondering, the book is just as good as it looks. The amount of one liners in this book from the main character, Jet, alone was insane. This had me hooked from the first few chapters but it’s hard not to when Jet is the classic sarcastic, funny type of girl we all eat up. Let me tell you though this gets intense and messy so beware. I’m not gonna lie the last half had me tearing up a lot and it’s been awhile since i’ve felt so strongly about a mystery/thriller like this. With her having to solve her own murder in a week, emotions are HIGH!! Don’t even get me started on Billy either, precious, sweet Billy. He was quite literally everything and, this could be a hot take, honestly made the story ten times better. Also very, very big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this masterpiece of an ARC!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go read this!! Hopefully your throat won’t hurt after from a boulder of tears sitting in it like mine is currently haha

Holly Jackson's first adult mystery novel! Jet is feeling stuck back living with her parents in her small town, overcoming personal health issues, and still feeling the weight and shadow of her older sister's death that occurred 17 years earlier. She is altogether unhappy with where her life. After once again telling her mom she will do something "later" she arrives at home on Halloween. She is brutally attacked. She has survived this initially but due to her other health issues combining with the head trauma she has approximately one week before the aneurysm is set to burst. Meaning she has a week to solve her own murder.

The first half was a little slow for me. There were A LOT of characters introduced on Halloween night, and I had a hard time caring. Once we hit around 60% I was definitely more invested and was following all of the twists and turns. Think twice about who you trust.

This book had me going back and forth on who the killer was until the very end. It was very different to have a protagonist that you know will be dying by the end of the book, but still getting super attached to them. The mini-mysteries that show up throughout the story do a great job of making you question what you thought you knew. Like with any other Holly Jackson book, you have the romance subplot between the main character and their sidekick. Overall, this is probably my new favorite from this author.

I was so graciously given an ARC of this title.

This was my first read from Holly Jackson, and I enjoyed it! If you love murder mysteries and whodunnits...this is for you!

I enjoyed and loved this book! This is the first book I’ve read from this author! She wrote it with emotions, romance, thriller, suspense, the characters, I could relate!