From the best-selling author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, comes Not Quite Dead Yet.
This book will be released on 17th July 2025. Thank you to Hot Key Books for providing an early copy to review! If you want to pre-order it, check here:
SUMMARY
Not Quite Dead Yet follows Jet, the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. She’s 27-years-old, still living at home, she’s just broke up with her boyfriend and still waiting for her life to really begin.
But on Halloween night, Jet is violently attacked in her home by a stranger and ends up with a catastrophic head injury that means she will die within a week. She didn’t really think she had any enemies but becomes determined to solve her own murder before she dies.
AGE RATING?
Not Quite Dead Yet is Holly Jackson’s adult debut and honestly? My one critique is that it just didn’t really feel very adult. This isn’t really something that is an issue for me because I didn’t pick this up because I wanted an adult thriller, I just wanted a Holly Jackson book but I can imagine adult audiences thinking this reads a little young.
There’s nothing about it that feels any different to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or The Reappearance of Rachel Price. Sure, the main character is older than the main characters in her previous books but Jet still felt the same. She was still living at home, acted in impulsive ways just like younger characters, nothing about the story felt older. As I said, this isn’t a bad thing for me but could definitely be something other people will be disappointed about.
INCREDIBLE THRILLER
If there’s one thing you can say about Holly Jackson it’s that she knows how to write a gripping, engaging thriller that will keep you hooked right up until the very end. Not Quite Dead Yet is just as exciting as her previous novels. And, it has such an interesting concept. A main character that knows she is going to die in 7 days? Amazing.
And, for anyone curious – yes this book is also set in the US. Vermont, specifically this time. It’s honestly a great setting because it starts on Halloween and the rest of the book is set in autumn. It does reference Stick Season by Noah Kahan a few times.
One thing I loved about this book was the characters. Jet is kind of unlikeable which is always my favourite type of main character. She can be rude, impulsive, and brash. However, imagine you knew you were gonna die in a week and were determined to find out who did it. I imagine you’d act a bit like that, too. One thing about Jet is that she’s said to have put everything important off in life. She kept saying she’d do everything later, which just makes her whole story all that bit more sad because now she doesn’t have later. She’s done nothing in her life and now she has no time to do anything except find out who killed her. Maybe it’s a lesson a lot of us need to learn.
Jet’s family are a set of interesting characters. They all have very interesting dynamics which makes the story all that more enjoyable to read. I suspected a lot of her family at different points, but one I never suspected was her brother, Luke, because he seemed dodgy and suspicious right from the beginning and obviously you never suspect the characters that seem the most guilty. Her parents were so frustrating to me. Honestly, we don’t see a lot of them in the grand scheme of things, but her mother was, like, crazy. Sure, you don’t agree with the choices your daughter is making but she is going to die in less than a week. BE NICE TO HER.
I really enjoyed Jet’s friend, Billy. He was just a lovely man, extremely supportive, always there for her. Their relationship was a highlight of the book.
I thought I had it all figured out a few times, but I didn’t fully guess what happened. It was an enjoyable read, it made me cry, it had me on the edge of my seat. This could be a good entry point for people that have never read Holly Jackson books, but is also perfect for people that already know and love her books.
OVERALL
5 stars.
Not Quite Dead Yet is released on 17/07/2025.
Pre-order here: AMAZON | BOOKSHOP.ORG
