This past month, VPM’s Fiction Book Club read Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson. Jackson also wrote The Reappearance of Rachel Price, which was the club’s November choice. It was rated very highly by the club, so they had high hopes for this month’s book. Thankfully, Jackson did not disappoint. Not Quite Dead Yet was an exciting and high stakes book that kept the club captivated at every turn.
The book follows protagonist Jet Mason, starting off at the annual Halloween Fair in Woodstock, Virginia. At the fair she talks with her ex, her brother and his wife, her childhood best friend, the chief of police, her parents, and a few people from town. Jet ends up leaving the fair early despite her parents request for her to stay late and clean up after the fair. She finds cookies in the kitchen left by her sister-in-law and eats two of them while walking to the living room. There, she is struck over the head three times – twice in the back and once on her left side. Jet wakes up in the hospital alive after being found by her old childhood friend, Billy Finney. At the hospital, she is told that she only has seven days left to live. Determined to accomplish something in that short time, she decides that she is going to solve her own murder.
Throughout the book, we follow Jet as she searches for the truth of her murder. She teams up with Billy to uncover countless family secrets that could change everything. They face challenges such as pushback from the police, Jet’s limited time, and people in town who don’t want her to uncover the path to finding her attacker. This book keeps you captivated with each piece of information that is revealed, and each secret is darker and deadlier than the last. While following Jet and Billy’s story, readers can connect easily to the characters and their story. Holly Jackson beautifully writes a friendship that builds after years of separation and the camaraderie that emerges as they together. The book is filled with many unexpected twists and turns, in classic Jackson fashion.
The book club rated this book highly, but says that The Reappearance of Rachel Price was a little better. Despite this opinion, the club still highly recommends Not Quite Dead Yet to people that are fans of mystery and thriller! Holly Jackson has written a number of other YA mystery books, including A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder and Five Survive. The club hopes to read more of her work in the future.
