Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

107 reviews

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional mysterious sad 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

This book was absolutely wild.  The lies piled up the more the mystery was uncovered.  It was such a creative murder mystery, being solved by the victim was not something I’ve read before.  It was still incredibly sad though, even with Jet making jokes to lighten the mood.

Sophia is such an insufferable person.  Worst friend, wife, daughter-in-law, like dude, she was the worst.   Jet was so correct with the letter she wrote for her at the end.

Also it was so messed up for the chief of police to pull the main characters hair and press on their head… knowing she had a serious head injury… what was that? 

Read For
✓ Sarcastic Humor
✓ Childhood Friends
✓ Murder Investigation 
✓ Irredeemable Characters
✓ Family Secrets (so many)

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Spice Level: n/a
Sad Level: 💧💧💧💧

Plot: 10/10
Pace: 9/10
Ending: 8/10 
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyability: 9/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Would I Recommend? Yes
Favorite Character: Billy

Favorite Quote: ❝ That final week, not quite long enough, not quite dead yet. But if it’s a frog to you, then it’s a frog to me too ❞

POV: First Person
Pages: 392
Format: Audiobook 
Language: English
Release Date: 22, July 2025

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional 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

Loves the characters, loved the mystery, loved the plot twists.

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Sobbed

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes

SPOILERS AHEAD

i dunno why i still hoped for a happy ending even though the blurb alone made it quite obvious that jet would in fact be dead in the end, but hey. a girl can be delusional. honestly, i gotta give holly her flowers for being brave enough to pull off a truly bleak and tragic but still explosive (if yk what i mean haha) ending. i'll never not be impressed by how she never loses her touch and always manages to keep me hooked with her trademark rollercoasters of twists and turns no matter how familiar i am with her writing style. unfortunately, not even the fact that i very much enjoyed this book can stop me from ignoring said ending and writing an alternate one in my head where billy dies too despite his promise to live for jet because i have free will and i will use it however the fuck i want.

that being said, a very enthusiastic 4.75 stars for miss holly jackson as usual. she never misses. 


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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional 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

 “I think I’ve spent so long waiting for it all to begin, for life to really start, that I missed out on what it was really all about.”

This was everything I need right now. A fast, fun thriller that left me speechless by the end. I did not see all of those twists coming, and I did not see that ending coming either! Billy and Jet reminded me a lot of Pip and Ravi from AGGGTM, which was nice. When I read the blurb, I thought that this would be similar to How to Survive Your Murder, and I'm so happy that I was wrong, because this book was so much better! And the ending didn't make me mad like Five Survive did. There's something about Holly Jackson's books that I can just binge. But I am also very traumatized now. Holly Jackson needs to pay for everyone's therapy bills.

Also, this book isn't YA, and that's probably because of all the swearing lol.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Yes

“He’d had to do that twice. Hold the woman he loved in his arms as she lay dying.”
      5★

i thought i knew the killer all along. but then the final twist at the end...

there's no questioning that i love holly jackson's books, and her adult debut was no joke. it was funny, sad, mysterious and trauma-inflicting all in one. jet and billy's friendship was so cute i was sobbing when
she died at the end. when billy told her that he was the killer and she figured it out, i was so happy because i never guessed who the killer was in any holly book. but that final twist at the end where billy's dad was the actual killer had me in shock😭
i highly recommend this book if you loved aggtm.

🚫 trigger warning - death, murder, child death, blood, violence, fire

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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