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chantelleatkinswriter 's review for:
Not Quite Dead Yet
by Holly Jackson
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
This is a tricky one to review as I have adored all of Holly Jackson's other novels and was so excited to read this. Unfortunately, it is my least favourite of her books so far. That's not to say it is not a good read and the plot itself is interesting and twisted enough to keep you reading. Jet is a 27 year old woman who has never finished anything she started. She's snarky and really quite unlikable, then, on Halloween night she gets bashed over the head in her parent's home and left for dead. When she wakes up she is told that although she survived, a massive brain aneurism will kill her within a week. She decides there and then to solve her own murder and actually see something through for once. Without giving any spoilers as to who bashed her head in, here is what I liked and didn't like about the book. Didn't like= set in America when I much preferred The Good Girl's Guide To Murder being set in the UK. I didn't like the Americanisms in the language, it made the writing feel lazy and not edited enough. I don't mind Americanisms in dialogue or if the narrative is first person, but this was all over the place and really irritated me. It felt like there were words missing all the time. Didn't like any of the characters. Jet did grow on me, but not a whole lot. Everyone else was either vile or boring. Didn't like the ending which felt a bit rushed. What I did like was the fast pace where each chapter ending had me quickly turning the page to start another. I did like not having a clue who attacked her and I did like the other dark family secrets that began to come out as the story progressed. I was really torn between a 3 and a 4 rating for this but went with 4 because it is a good twisty read that will keep you guessing - it just let me down compared to her other excellent books.