Holly Jackson's newest thriller, Not Quite Dead Yet was a twisting roller coaster from the get go! Jet Mason was struck from behind and left for dead. But Jet was Not Quite Dead Yet! After waking up in the hospital and hearing she only had a week to live she decided to help the detectives find the person who attacked her. And so the roller coaster begins! Hang on tight, enjoy the ups and downs until the end!

I know that Holly Jackson is a hugely popular YA Mystery/Thriller author, and this is her adult debut - and, it really shows. Jet, our protagonist, may be 27 for the main events of this novel, but she just as easily could have been 16 or 17 - she, and most of the other characters, even those with adult jobs, marriages, and children, just didn't read as adult - I felt like they could all have just been teenagers. To me, the difference between an adult title and a YA title is not necessarily simply the age of the main characters of the book, but a sort of teenager vs. adult sensibility, and this book just didn't work for the on that front. So, expectations not met in that sense. That being said - if I consider this book as a YA thriller/mystery, it's a pretty good example of the genre - complicated characters with somewhat flawed reasoning, unresolved long-term issues, simmering town tension - I didn't hate it, I was just expecting something else from the marketing and classification of this one.

When you’re a thriller reader it can be difficult to find a unique concept, but Holly Jackson really offered something new with this one.
When our FMC Jet is brutally attacked in Halloween night, she has one week to live and solve her own murder.
Although I enjoyed the mystery of Jet’s story, for me the characters just lacked the depth I needed to really care about them. Jet’s character relies heavily on kind of an immature “I’m a fuck up but I’m quirky and funny” in a way that still feels very YA despite being an adult thriller.

Seven days to solve your murder or die forever?! Say less. I was hooked from start to finish. Holly Jackson is such a great thriller writer.

I want to ask a simple question:

What makes this book adult? Is it solely because the protagonist is 27 years old?

Because to me, that is not enough to qualify. Not Quite Dead Yet read like a standard YA novel, very similar to all of other Holly Jackson books I have read. Sure, MAYBE there were far too many "F" words to call in a young adult book. (just like how too many in a movie makes it be rated "R" instead of "PG-13.")

Additionally, this book did not have an original plot. Solving one's murder before they have actually died is an interesting concept and [ Jet actually does die which frankly I was glad to see and not some miraculous Hallmark ending (hide spoiler)]. But all of the family drama that ensues is literally what I encountered in another book. [ a sibling killing another sibling, someone not really being related, the biological parent being the ultimate murderer (hide spoiler)]. I was honestly disappointed.

This book is fine. And people will enjoy it. Just do not expect spicy. Don't expect originality.

3.75 ⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. It only took me a day to read. I’m a big fan of Holly Jackson’s AGGGTM series.
This book follows Jet Mason while she tries to solve her own murder. Jet is attacked at her home and left for dead. Jet suffers a head injury leaving her only a week to survive.
This book is a real whodunnit. It kept me guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book: solving your own murder before you die. This book was tragic, but I didn’t want to stop reading it. I couldn’t help but root for Jet and Billy. Very enjoyable read!

An incredibly fresh plot and such a fun twist! I adore Holly Jackson's writing. Not Quite Dead Yet was a thriller/mystery that kept me on my toes until the very end. Highly recommended for those in a reading slump and need something to jump start them back into reading!

Having enjoyed the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, I was excited to see how Holly Jackson would approach her debut in the adult thriller genre. The book did not disappoint and was immediately gripping. Although her writing style still leans toward young adult, I believe Jackson successfully infused the story with her own twists and humor. The premise is engaging, particularly the way the female protagonist seeks to uncover her killer's identity before her own death. This approach is unique, as most thrillers tend to follow the opposite trajectory.

I loved Jet as the female protagonist. I loved her chaotic and imperfect nature, and by the end of the book, I truly felt for her, especially knowing her fate. She fought hard and was determined to uncover the truth until the very last moment. The handwritten letters she wrote were a great addition. The suspense of her trying to find her own murderer was exciting, and Jsckdom left a breadcrumb trail full of clues along the way until we find out who waa her murderer.

This may be my favorite Holly Jackson book. This book definitely felt like a breath of fresh air after reading so many thrillers that are alike.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for my copy.

This was so fun and twisty! I thought I had it figured out early, but it bent a different way, and it was such a fun ride. Excellent foray into adult novels!

Another Holly Jackson book where the cops do absolutely NOTHING. This was pretty good! I do think A GOOD GIRLS GUIDE TO MURDER was a stronger story overall but I think that this one did a decent job in what it set out to do.

The premise was really fascinating and I did appreciate the fact that Jackson did not cheapen the story by finding some miracle cure and did actually end the story the way that was promised from the beginning. Solving your own murder is a premise I have heard of before, but I don't think it was done quite like this. The final reveal was also well done because you are actually finding out new information as the story goes along so there is no way to completely predict it at the beginning.

The romance was a little bit of a weaker aspect as it was blatantly obvious so Jet had to be so beyond blind to not see it. I'm not entirely sure if it was necessary either. This is a relatively short book, so we don't really get to see enough time between these two characters to really root for them together and having them be really close friends could have achieved the same end goal. But their changing relationship aspect did lend to another tragedy in Jet's eventual death. It was sad and a little hard to read her get closer and closer to death and that final scene was pretty rough and really well done.

The weakest parts of the story was that there just wasn't enough character work for me to really care about Jet and co. enough, and I also don't think there was enough wow factor or reveals along the way for it to be super super strong. There aren't a ton of details to uncover, the crew didn't have a lot of issues coming into this information, and there weren't a lot of suspects overall. While this did keep my attention for the whole story, I just wanted a little bit more. If there was more to the story, characters, mystery, deaths, then this could have been bumped into a higher rating.

As is, I think it was good. There isn't anything ground breaking here and I probably won't remember this in the long-run, But, that being said, I think this is a great one for potential younger YA readers and it isn't as scary as her other trilogy or other books in the genre making this a good choice for wimps alike myself.

Ingenious way to write a murder novel in reverse with the victim as the detective so!ving her own murder and unknown secrets of her past. I loved the intensity of all the twists and turns and like Holly says you can let the breath you've been holding.

Holly Jackson truly never fails to pull me out of a reading slump, and this one was no exception. Just like her previous books, this one was fast-paced, suspenseful, and had me turning the pages late into the night. The concept is so unique—I've honestly never read a mystery with a plot quite like this: Jet, the main character, is attacked and then told she has only seven days to live... which she decides to spend solving her own murder. How cool (and chilling) is that?

I was a little worried going in that the premise might only sound good, but Holly actually pulls it off really well. The pacing is tight, the tension stays high, and I was fully invested in Jet’s countdown from day one.

That being said—and it pains me to say this—this is sadly my least favorite Holly Jackson book so far. I've read all of her other books and I don't think this one quite measures up. It's not because it's her first adult book (I actually didn't mind this at all). The issue for me was mostly with the plot twists. A lot of them were just too predictable, and while there was one jaw-dropping moment, it was resolved pretty quickly and didn’t leave a lasting impact.

For me, a good mystery is defined by it´s twists, and unfortunately, that’s where this one fell short. Still, I’ll continue to devour anything Holly Jackson writes—because you can always count on her to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.

3.5 ★

Thank you so much Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In Holly Jackson’s new book we follow twenty-seven year old, Jet.
Who still doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with her life, always saying she can come to it later.
What Jet wasn’t expecting was not being able to have many more laters left.
On Halloween night Jet gets brutally attacked in her home by an unseen intruder. She miraculously survives. Only to find out she has an aneurysm just waiting to explode.
Surgery will most likely leave her dead on the operating table. Or she can have an estimated one week left.
Jet is determined to use that one week to solve her own murder. Who would have wanted Jet dead? With the help of her childhood best friend Billy, she’s determined to find her killer.

Another great thrilling mystery by Holly Jackson. The medical jargon at points can be quite in depth, almost made me feel a little wobbly. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Such a twisty turny mystery and absolutely insane! It’s so fun trying to figure it out alongside Jet & Billy. I personally didn’t guess it until right near the end and even then I missed all the clues that were secretly dropped like little bread crumbs. Holly Jackson never disappoints! 5⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I loved this premise and the author always does a great job. There were some things that didn’t track for me (mostly surrounding the main character’s physical ability) but I could let it pass to really enjoy this novel.

I requested Not Quite Dead Yet because I was intrigued by the title and I was not disappointed! Holly Jackson wrote a thriller that is unique and creative. Jet is assaulted and spends the next 7 days trying to solve the mystery of her murder. Sounds strange, but Jet knows she is a ticking time bomb and wants to find the person who attacked her. Jet and her friend Billy are both likable characters and I kept flipping the pages to try to solve the mystery along with Jet.
I would recommend this book and am thankful to the publisher, NetGalley and Holly Jackson for an advanced copy of the book.

Someone tried to kill Jet but didn't quite succeed. With a head injury that will kill her in 7 days, Jet wants to solve her own "murder" before she dies!

It's been a long time since I've read a mystery that kept me on my toes. Though the premise of the book is immediately heartbreaking, it also adds an urgency to the narrative.

I’m a huge fan of Holly Jackson and this did not disappoint. A young woman surviving her brutal attack only to find out she has a week to live and must solve her own murder. It kept me on my toes and I was shocked by the ending. Definitely a must read for murder mystery fans.

Sharp, strange, and impossible to put down — Not Quite Dead Yet is Holly Jackson’s most original twist yet.

Jet has never done much with her life — unless you count avoiding it entirely. But when she's attacked and left with a brain injury that's guaranteed to kill her within a week, she does something shocking: she starts paying attention.

Now, with her own countdown clock ticking, Jet dives into the mystery of who tried to kill her — and why. Her wealthy family is cagey. Her ex is suddenly supportive. Her small Vermont town seems to be filled with secrets. And someone really doesn’t want her asking questions.

Equal parts thriller, black comedy, and social satire - this is a unique twist to the every day thriller. Who do you trust when you're not even sure you'll make it to Friday?

#NotQuiteDeadYet #HollyJackson #RandomHouse #CountdownThriller