2.79k reviews for:

Not Quite Dead Yet

Holly Jackson

4.23 AVERAGE

emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced
adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
challenging emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Great concept.
adventurous sad tense medium-paced

Holly Jackson you owe me some therapy 
emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have a basic criterion that, for right or wrong, needs to be met in order for me to both love and feel invested in a book. I have to like the main character. And Jet was one of the most unlikable characters I've had the misfortune of reading about in a long time. Hence, it was really hard to feel much sympathy about her impending death. The writing and behaviour of the characters also felt extremely YA - regardless of how many expletives the author kept throwing in to try and make the book more adult. The audiobook narration was often irritating, with half the characters' voices sounding like the high-pitched whines that come out of small children which one usually tries to block out. However, I think the concept of the story - solving your own murder - was an interesting one (even though I had to suspend belief a few times regarding how Jet could perform such physical feats without triggering her aneurysm). And I always love trying to guess the killer in a whodunnit (although I had a fair idea in this novel so there weren't any huge surprise twists for me). Despite my negativity, this wasn't a bad book, I was just hoping for the wonderful character development, gritty themes and nuance that made AGGGTM such an exceptional read.