Not Quite Dead Yet
Book of the Week: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
Reviewed by our friend (and Books & Co bookclub leader) Imogen đź“š
“Holly Jackson’s new novel, Not Quite Dead Yet, has one of the most interesting concepts I have read about to date.
Jet Mason, an underachieving 27-year-old, is attacked on Halloween and receives the news that she will be dead in approximately a week, due to a head injury that will trigger a deadly aneurysm.
Jet then teams up with her childhood best friend named Billy, and sets out to discover her murderer before her time is up.
I found the first 150 pages a bit slow-going, but when the investigation ramped up, I devoured it and ended up finishing it in a couple of days, despite it being a nearly 400-page book.
This is Holly Jackson’s first attempt at an adult novel, and I have to say, even though I liked her young adult books a lot, this is not a bad start. You can empathise with the characters and there are some special touches that you don’t often see in books which I enjoyed enormously. The last couple of chapters were very tense, and the ending was quite unexpected, but I found myself cheering on Billy as he did what he (and I) thought was right.
As with all of Holly Jackson’s books, she weaves an intricate web of lies, scandals, and deceptions that don’t quite make sense trying to unravel in your brain but make perfect sense when put on paper, or on one of Pip’s murder boards.
I hope this review makes you want to read Not Quite Dead Yet, as I highly recommend giving it a go.
On another note, Holly Jackson, if you see this, I am willing to proofread any drafts you may have, young adult or adult! You can contact me through Books & Company.
Thank you for reading!”