Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

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⭐⭐⭐⭐ Not Quite Dead Yet — Solving Your Own Murder With One Week Left (4/5 ⭐)

Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: Adult Mystery Thriller
Published: 2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5)

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS

  • Graphic violence

  • Terminal illness / death

  • Child death

  • Suicide (discussed)

  • Substance use

  • Arson

  • Gun violence

  • Family trauma

  • Police detention

🚨 FULL SPOILER WARNING 🚨

This review contains FULL AND COMPLETE SPOILERS, including the ending. If you want to go in blind, bookmark this and come back later. 🧠🔪

🧠 Premise: A Week to Live, One Murder to Solve

Not Quite Dead Yet is Holly Jackson’s first adult novel, and honestly? The premise absolutely slaps.

Jet Mason (I’ll say it: I hate the name Jet) is brutally attacked in her own home. She doesn’t die immediately — instead, she’s told she has less than seven days to live due to a traumatic brain injury. Surgery might save her… or kill her faster.

So what does Jet decide to do with her final days?

Naturally: solve her own murder.

Is that what I’d do? I genuinely don’t know. But is it believable that someone would want answers before dying? Absolutely. And it’s a premise I truly haven’t seen done quite like this before.

🔍 The Investigation: Red Herrings Galore

This book kept me constantly guessing, and I fell for the misdirection over and over again.

Jet retraces the night of the attack using her Apple Watch data, Ring cameras, and sheer stubbornness. Suspects stack up quickly:

  • Her missing ex-boyfriend JJ

  • Bitter local Andrew Smith

  • Shady Mason Construction employees

  • Her own brother Luke

  • And eventually… people far closer than expected 👀

There are fraud schemes, family secrets, gentrification resentment, and a decades-old covered-up drowning that slowly unravels. The town feels rotten under the surface, and Jet realizes she never truly knew her family — or her privilege.

🧱 Mason Construction, Corruption & Family Secrets

One of the strongest elements here is how Jackson ties privilege to corruption.

Jet’s family owns Mason Construction, a company that’s quietly been:

  • Committing fraud

  • Intimidating workers

  • Destroying parts of the town

  • Covering up past crimes

As Jet gets closer to the truth, the story becomes less about who attacked her and more about what her family has done — and who they’ve hurt.

And honestly? That moral rot is where the book shines.

🚔 Two Things That Didn’t Quite Work for Me

These are minor, but they bugged me:

1️⃣ The Jail Situation

Jet is locked up for up to 48 hours for suspected arson — while police know she has maybe two days left to live.

Would that really happen?
I’m… skeptical. 🤨
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it stretched my suspension of disbelief.

2️⃣ The Billy Confession Moment

As Jet is literally dying in Billy’s arms, she briefly suspects he’s her attacker. Billy tells her he is the killer so she can “die believing she solved it.”

I’m sorry — WHAT?

If I were innocent, I would:

  • Deny it

  • Swear to find the real killer

  • Literally do anything other than falsely confess to murder

That moment didn’t ring true for me at all.

🔥 FULL ENDING EXPLAINED

Jet ultimately dies from her aneurysm, believing she was wrong about Billy — and she was.

After her death, Billy continues the investigation and uncovers the truth:

  • Jack Finney, Billy’s father and a police sergeant, was the attacker

  • He used Billy’s hammer

  • He was protecting Luke, who had killed Jet’s sister Emily years earlier

  • Jack had an affair with Jet’s mother, which led to Luke’s birth

  • When Jet’s mother ended the affair, Jack grew resentful

  • He attacked Jet to keep the family’s fraud and secrets buried

In a final, brutal moment:

  • Luke overhears Jack’s confession

  • Jack tries to flee

  • Luke shoots and kills him outside the Mason home

Justice comes too late for Jet — but the truth does come out.

💭 Final Thoughts

Despite a few logic hiccups, this was a great reading experience.

✔️ Unique premise
✔️ Compelling twists
✔️ Emotionally satisfying ending
✔️ Strong adult debut from a YA author

Jet may not be my favorite character (or name), but I was fully invested in her last seven days.

⭐ 4 out of 5 stars ⭐

📚 If You Liked This, Try These Next

  • The Reappearance of Rachel Price – More dark family secrets

  • Five Survive – Survival + ticking clock tension

  • The Night She Disappeared – Small-town mystery with buried truths

  • Wrong Place Wrong Time – Time pressure, parental desperation

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