Review by earth_to_cece - Not Quite Dead Yet

earth_to_cece 's review for:

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

4.5

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for facilitating early access to this book. This was my first time reading Holly Jackson’s work, and now I understand the hype! This book was very difficult to put down and exactly what I needed to pull myself out of a recent reading slump. I appreciated the fresh twist on a classic “Who Dunnit”-style mystery.

This is Jackson’s first novel for adults, but the main character’s personality and the sweet innocence of the romance subplot made this lean a bit YA for me. That said, these details (mostly) made sense within the context of the story, and I enjoyed Jet as a strong female lead.

I am not a seasoned mystery-solver, and I was able to figure out the murder culprit around the 90% mark. This didn’t take away from the rest of the story, though. Right after finishing the book, I was upset about a couple parts of the ending, but after digesting for a bit, I actually came to appreciate how Jackson’s choices upped my emotional investment. I would wholeheartedly recommend Not Quite Dead Yet to fellow mystery enthusiasts!

Content Warnings