Mood confession time: This was my first book by Holly Jackson. All I knew about her was that she's the queen of YA murder-mystery thrillers and the author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Since my mood lately has been all about exploring other genres, I saw this one, her first dip into adult fiction and decided to give it a shot.

What Lit My Mood

Twists on twists: Jackson has a way of making you think you’ve solved it, only to turn the tarot and reveal a whole new card.

Page-turner energy: An easy, fun fast-paced read (and listen) with secrets lurking in every corner.

The wickedly clever hook: Jet Mason is brutally attacked on Halloween and wakes up with a head injury that’s basically a countdown clock with seven days left unless she risks a dangerous surgery.

What follows is a fresh spin on the high-stakes, race-against-time setup, with Jet and her neighbor Billy hunting down whoever tried to kill her. I devoured every page.

Jet who’s never been great at finishing anything, suddenly turns sharp, stubborn, and as the clock starts ticking.

Where My Mood Flickered

Jet’s snarky, dark humor sometimes reads younger than her 27 years, leaning into rebellious energy. That said, I still loved her fiery, messy, determined energy.

Bonus: Audio vs. Read
I did both and preferred the audiobook. It was easy to stay focused, and I really enjoyed the narrator, who managed to make Jet’s voice sound more grown-up than her younger leaning dialogue.

Witchy Mood Meter Rating:
Fully Aligned — Fun plot, fast pace, and Jet’s fierce, messy energy cast a spell that had me listening every chance I got. A dash of YA didn’t break the magic.

Verdict:
A twisty, fast-moving mystery that’s easy to binge, especially in audio form. Add it to your altar and summon it when you want something entertaining and addictive but fair warning, Jet’s age might make it feel more YA than full-on adult suspense.

The countdown is on. Are you ready to race the clock? grab it now before Jet’s time’s up.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review – Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

Holly Jackson’s adult debut is everything I hoped for and more. Not Quite Dead Yet is a razor-sharp, emotionally charged mystery that grabbed me from the first page and did not let go.

Jet Mason is flawed, messy, and absolutely unforgettable. After a near-fatal attack leaves her with a ticking time bomb in her brain, she’s got just days to figure out who tried to kill her—and why. What follows is a brilliantly plotted story full of family secrets, betrayal, and heartbreak, all wrapped in Jackson’s signature jaw-dropping twists.

This isn’t just a thriller—it’s a story about wasted potential, complicated relationships, and the drive to finally take control of your own story. The pacing is flawless, the reveals hit hard, and Jet’s voice is raw, vulnerable, and bitingly witty.

Holly Jackson proves she can dominate the adult mystery genre just as effortlessly as YA. Dark, twisty, and utterly consuming—Not Quite Dead Yet is a must-read.

Holy crap Holly Jackson! That was a twisty mystery and I absolutely love the premise of solving your own murder while you are still alive. I was not expecting to cry that much in a thriller, but here we are.
Jet is badass, I love how she uses this week to live her life, try to solve her murder, and freak out as many people as possible by using dark, death humour. Billy is loyal, caring, helpful, and clearly madly in love with Jet and we are all wondering how she didn't see it before this week.

I was able to guess the bad guy before the reveal, but that did not keep me from enjoying this wild ride. There were so many intersecting stories that lead to the reveal and it was just fantastic.

I will definitely be reading more of Holly Jackson's work in the future.

3.5/5 stars

This is the author’s first adult thriller.

The main character is 27 year old Jet (although she does act younger IMO). The book is set starting on Halloween. Something terrible happens to her. And Jet has a week to solve the crime. The blurb gives away the crime and main premise. But since I like going into books blind I’m going to be intentionally vague. I will say that the premise is super interesting. But very morbid IMO.

Jet is very unique. She isn’t super likeable. She’s crass and definitely not sweet or particularly nice. But she really grew on me.

My favorite thing about this book is her childhood best friend Billy. I loved him. And I loved that he was Jet’s partner helping her try to solve the case.

At times this book made me feel slightly uncomfortable. But I was invested in seeing how things would play out. There are lots of lies and secrets. And I disliked most of the characters. But the book was interesting and I wanted to see how it would end.

The book features a chronic illness (polycystic kidney disease). I really enjoy seeing chronic illnesses showcased in fiction.

Overall this was a very interesting thriller. I’m not sure that I was completely satisfied with the ending. But it was nice to see the author branch out from YA.

You can tell Jackson is a skilled YA author, as her attempt at fiction for adults fell a little short for me. It still read as YA, making the reading less enjoyable for myself.

An overall decent story, but execution was mismatched.

Very interesting premise! I haven't read Holly Black before but I'm excited for her adult debut! A lot of fans have grown up reading Black's books and will likely gravitate to a familiar name, I found the main character a bit arrogant and annoying, but still interesting!

i've started going into books blind, and sometimes that works out well for me and others not so much. with this book, i had no idea what it was about other than a woman was going to try and solve her own murder. from that understanding, i assumed it was going to be a paranormal-esque story; her solving it while she's a ghost in the in-between or something. well i was wrong, and i was glad i was wrong. bc how it actually happened was way more terrifying.

following a brutal attack, jet has a week to live due to a rare medical event. wanting to try and be useful during her last week alive, she tries to solve her own murder. jet had me howling with how witty and sarcastic she was. however, it got to the point where i thought "when is she going to acknowledge how shitty this situation is?". i did get that moment, and it was heartbreaking still, but i wish it happened a little sooner. i just truly needed her to scream into the void at least once!

overall, I had a great time with this book! it's been a while since i read a thriller, or anything by Holly Jackson, and it was so fun! the pacing was quick, the mystery had me second guessing everything, and the humour was hilarious. for Holly's debut adult novel, it was a smash for me! ¡ can't wait to see what she writes next! (or if Not Quite Dead Yet gets picked up for a movie adaptation)

i was absolutely thrilled to have been approved for this arc! i requested it not thinking much would come from it, so i squealed at the approval email & thank you so much @netgalley and @penguinrandomca!

Another amazing Holly Jackson book! I was hooked so fast! I love the idea of a character solving their own murder. As always i had my theories and thought I was right but ended up ended up being wrong! I absolutely loved this one and cant wait for her next one!

Spoiler free ARC review :) ˙✧˖°📷 ༘ ⋆｡˚

» The Blue, Gracie Abrams «
0:58 ─〇───── 3:16
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
I never could've seen you coming, I think you're everything I've wanted


⋆୨୧⋆ <b>my thanks</b>
Thank you SO MUCH to Holly Jackson, the publisher, and Netgalley for letting me receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. ♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚For books by a NYT Bestseller, these copies are UNBELIEVABLY competitive, and it practically brought me to tears that I got it. All of my friends, family, some teachers and even classmates can tell you that I'm a Holly Jackson fan. She was the author who brought me into the genre of YA (thank you to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder!) I am now a huge YA reader and book reviewer, nearing 1k followers on Instagram and to be honest, I probably wouldn't be here without Holly. Five Survive & AGGGTM absolutely blew my standards for mystery or thriller books out of the park. Believe me when I say that Holly is one of the greatest queens of fiction in history. It's honestly my dream to one day see her in a book tour (COME TO CANADA PLS), or to get a signed book, a physical ARC, or something from her one day. Hopefully it'll happen one day :)

⋆୨୧⋆ not quite dead yet - the overview
GASP? GASPPPPPPP? This story is about 27-year-old Jet. Arguably the biggest procrastinator you may ever know; she's gone through her entire life starting, but never finishing.
She has seven days to solve her own murder. A couple hits to the head and now she has only a matter of days before she's dead. Can she solve her own murder before she's gone? Will this be the first thing that she truly finishes? Or is finishing something truly what matters in the end?
The book also has a heart-wrenching, wonderfully told romance subplot that will definitely interest many of you ;)
Found family, TEARJEARKER!!! , solve-your-own murder, and more tropes.

⋆୨୧⋆ characters
Jet - An actual genius. The amount of dots this girl connected compared to the time she had left is MIND BLOWINGGGG. She did not once consider giving up.
Billy - Jet's childhood best friend. Oh my gosh. He was so full of love and deserved so much better. Everything he did was so good and he is unarguably the best character in the whole book.
"Just nice to look at."
"Yeah," Billy said, but he wasn't looking at the stars, he was looking at her.

Side characters - all annoying. except for her dog. the Sophia girl annoys me SO MUCH. I genuinely believed for over 40% of the book that she committed the murder (not saying she didn't though...). And the fact that I share a name with her. Goodness gracious.

⋆୨୧⋆ the plot
You are going to think EVERYONE did it. I mostly believed that it was Sophia, sometimes I thought it was others, I guessed the person who did it more than once too. But you never know for sure. The romance storyline also has you BEGGING to see something happen and waiting desperately for what's next. Everything is weaved together so intricately and perfectly that it reminds me of the shock I felt reading Holly Jackson for the first time.

⋆୨୧⋆ writing
The writing towards the end got me unbelievably emotional. Holly Jackson did it again. The only comments I have are that the pace of the book was honestly a bit too slow, and this: I honestly believe that Holly should have written this book as a YA. The only thing that made this book "adult" was the 160+ f-bombs (in my opinion unnecessary.) This was easily editable and then she could have made it YA. The main characters also did not read as adults - I felt more like I was reading about teenagers or young adults, because of their behaviour and how the romance was written. As a YA reader, I enjoyed this book a lot, and I think it could have performed better or received more hype if it was targeted for younger audiences. I had to confirm on my bookstagram more than once to people who were interested that it is, in fact, completely okay for young readers to read this.

That's it for now!! Please read this <3
Also, once again, I am SO GRATEFUL for the ARC :)
If you enjoyed my review, follow my goodreads for more or follow my bookstagram @bookreviewsbysof
:)))))))

I think this should have been classified as a YA. Main character being 27 didn’t match, although I did love her personality. A lot of over explaining and predictable twists, not a lot of thrill. Set in october but no real fall feeling or reason for the Halloween setting. A quick fun read that could have been edited down without any loss.

⤿ 3.25 stars

This was overall a solid read! because i love holly jackson’s ya’s so much i was maybe expecting more, but that’s not to say this was a bad book at all 🫶 i loved the plot of jet being murdered… or, well, almost. after being hit with a hammer, she is left with a deadly aneurism and one week left to live, and to solve her own murder 🙂‍↕️
there were some twists in here and dark histories unveiled. one thing though is that i did wish we found out a bit sooner who the killer was, though it definitely took me by surprise. it just felt all too sudden with it all happening in the epilogue.

jet was a lovable character and i loved her wit, determination, and cleverness. if i was told i only had one week to live…idk what i’d do tbh. but jet got up and decided to do something. i admired seeing the way her brain worked and how she was able to figure things out from the little information they had. and of course, billy was adorable and the best side kick!

in all, i had an enjoyable time with this one even if it wasn’t personally the most remarkable in my opinion, and i would still definitely recommend this book! all of jolly jackson’s books i have read to date have been twisty and wonderful reads too!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of “Not Quite Dead Yet” in exchange for an honest review!

I’m traumatized even though I knew how it would end. I mean the ending had me crying and I don’t think I’ve ever shed tears while reading a book, ever. Every time I think about this book since I finished it has me unwell which just goes to show how incredible of a writer Holly Jackson is!

This book had me solving Jet’s murder with her. While I figured out who the killer was it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. Every piece of the puzzle clicked together so nicely in the end.

At first I thought Jet was a rude and blunt character who was a little bit of a jerk but as the story progressed she grew on me. Now that I know why she’s so rude I don’t blame her for it. Billy, her childhood best friend who helps her solve her own murder was her polar opposite in the best way possible. I loved their friendship!

Despite the tragic ending there were so many beautiful themes in between these pages! The beauty that can be found in being human and having your days numbered was one that resonated with me in particular. It was surprisingly heartwarming in a bittersweet sort of way.

I loved every minute of this book and hope Holly Jackson never stops writing traumatizing stories! (I’ll be sending her my therapy bills)

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin random house Canada for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was VERY excited for Holly Jackson's adult thriller debut but like many other reviewers, I felt that this gave off strong new adult/YA vibes with the FMC being a recent college grad who still lives with her parents, hangs out with her high school BFF and the narrator felt VERY childish too. Despite that though, the plot was twisty, there was EXCELLENT disability rep (the FMC has a TBI and has inherited polycycstic kidney disease from her father). If you like rich people behaving badly stories and twisty domestic thrillers with cold case crimes, I highly recommend Not quite dead yet!! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ACL in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book and needed to keep reading! Not Quite Dead Yet gave me some of the vibes of A Good Girls Guide to Murder in the aspect of solving a murder, a fiery FMC and a partner in crime! I needed to know what happened next and Holly kept me reading!

As someone with my own brain issues, I really resonated with Jet’s journey, trying to do anything and everything while working through a diagnosis. I’m lucky to not have the same result as Jet but it is hard hearing your health isn’t what you hoped to be, and with so much more life to live.

I will say one piece was that I found Billy and Jet to be a bit juvenile. They’re in their last 20s but I got the vibe of teenager Pip. Other than that, LOVED IT!

Really interesting concept of someone surviving almost being murdered and having a week to attempt to solve their murder before they die.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I love a thriller because of the fast pacing. I really enjoyed all the different characters Jackson had in this book and learning their backgrounds. But I felt like this book's pacing was a bit off. I would have appreciated more twists sprinkled throughout rather than most being right at the end of the book.

I'm definitely looking forward to picking up Holly Jackson's next adult novel.

⭐ 4.25/5

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘵, by @hojay92 is a fast-paced mystery, with short chapters.

Holly Jackson is one of my auto-buy authors and I'm so incredibly grateful I got to read this eARC!😍

Just like all her other books, this one did not disappoint. Always so easy to read and to get into, it gets you hooked right away!

Although I guessed the plot twist, it was still very interesting and I still wanted to see how it was gonna play out! And I say I guessed it, but I did by like 80% of the book so it's still very well done! It's just that after a specific event it felt very obvious to me, so for it to not be for the main characters was a bit meh for me. But like I said, it's still very interesting and enjoyable! AND, I absolutely didn't guess the last page (IYKYK oh my my)

The pacing was perfect! Never a dull moment!
I also liked how the book ended. I didn't know what to expect or how she was gonna wrap everything up but I really liked how she did it!

I can't recommend Holly Jackson enough! She's one of the best and will forever remain an auto-buy!

📆 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘵 releases today! So go ahead and RUN to your nearest bookshop!

Thank you so much @penguinukbooks @netgalley and @hojay92 for this eARC ❤️

The premise of this one immediately grabbed me—how could you not want to cheer for someone on a ticking clock, racing to solve their own murder?

After waking up in the hospital from a brutal attack at home, Jet learns she has just one week left before she will die of a brain aneurysm. Her top priority before time runs out? Finding out who her murderer is. As a late twenties woman who hasn’t yet hit her stride, Jet is living with her parents back in her hometown after dropping out of college, but she never thought she’d made any enemies. Unfortunately, a blow to the head will make you give everyone a second look! Teaming up with childhood best friend— turned handsome guitarist—Billy, Jet dives into a series of misadventures while facing a looming deadline.

As a character, Jet took a long time to grow on me. She eventually did, but it was a slow burn—much like the book’s plot. The gravity of Jet’s impending death (something I feel most people would struggle to handle gracefully) never really lands, and the reactions of her friends and family didn’t feel quite genuine either. Though this is marketed as Holly Jackson’s first adult novel, Not Quite Dead Yet felt strikingly similar in tone and maturity to her YA series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Jet may be a decade older than those characters, but she winds up in the same kinds of situations, and it didn’t feel geared toward adults.

Despite my issues with the book, I enjoyed the ending and though it may not top my list, it’s worth a read if you’re intrigued by the storyline.

Holly Jackson, best known for her hit YA series A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, brings her trademark suspense and sharp character work to the adult thriller scene with Not Quite Dead Yet—and the result is a gut punch you won’t see coming.

The story centers on Jet Mason, a 27-year-old drifting through life in the shadow of her wealthy Vermont family. After a vicious Halloween night leaves her with a fatal brain injury and only seven days to live, Jet decides to solve her own murder before time runs out. With her childhood friend Billy by her side, what follows is a race through family secrets, small-town grudges, and the looming spectre of mortality.

Jet is the heart of the novel—raw, flawed, and darkly funny. Her voice leaps off the page, balancing regret and resilience in a way that feels painfully real. The slow-burning tension between her and Billy, the tangled family relationships, and the sense of urgency all combine to create a story that’s as emotional as it is suspenseful.

Jackson writes with the same crisp pacing and addictive style that made her YA books impossible to put down, but here she adds grit and a heavier emotional punch. The twists land at just the right moments, and the blend of family drama with the central mystery keeps the stakes sky-high.

What works? The premise is irresistible: solve your own murder before you die. Jet’s narrative voice is unforgettable, the emotional beats hit hard, and the pacing never lets up. If there’s a drawback, it’s that some readers might find the ending polarizing, and a few side characters don’t get quite as much spotlight. Suspension of disbelief is required in a few spots, but the payoff is worth it.

Jackson’s first adult novel is clever, heartfelt, and packs a real punch. If you want a thriller with brains, heart, and a protagonist you won’t forget, Not Quite Dead Yet delivers.

Really good!! I’ve never read anything by this author before and I enjoyed this a lot.

One minor thing I didn’t like though is why are they sniffing all the time lmao. It’s like “…” she sniffed. A creative choice but a strange one nonetheless.

I liked the ending and I liked that the story kept me on my toes; it didn’t feel like the author wanted to spoon feed us the mystery and reveals, but it also wasn’t totally out of left field.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On Halloween night, standing in her home eating a themed cookie, Jet is attacked from behind - bashing her skull and leaving her for dead. Except she wakes up two days later in the hospital, so she isn't dead... yet. She can either opt for surgery that only has a 10% survival rate, OR she can wait for the inevitable aneurysm to form and burst in about seven days. She has a week to live before the trauma to her head kills her, and she wants to spend it solving her murder, so she can die with some closure.

I'm not sure I read the synopsis for this book - I just saw murder mystery by Holly Jackson and it was adult instead of YA, and I was sold. But truly, I read this book in two days - and it's 400 pages and I have a baby to take care of!!! I truly gravitated to this story at every reading opportunity I had, and maybe chose it over sleep, just a little. So many twists. I never suspected the killer - and I suspect EVERYONE - so I liked it that much more.

CW: murder, violence, death, blood, fire, hospitalization, mentions of suicide and alcohol abuse, gun violence