An odd book with characters you feel connected to will always hit for me. I would put this one in the same category of Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas - meaning, I don't really know what's going on but I'm having a great time.

A small town where, for 30 days, one person gets to come back from the dead, we meet Wil, who now has to deal with the return of her ex-best friend and suppressed feelings due to well, her dying.

We follow Wil throughout the 30 days Annie is back, navigating loneliness, love, and outgrowing people from your past.

This was a fun book that started out a little slow, but the characters keep you sucked in throughout the story.

I didn't really know what to expect coming into this book. I was expecting some romance and maybe some adventure, but the story blew me out of the water. There was so much heart in the three main characters, and I felt myself hoping so hard for the ending I wanted.

Winning the town lottery to bring back her best-friend from the dead is the best thing to happen to Wilson this summer. She’ll have her friend back and everything will be right again. When she finds out she might be able to have her back for good, the quest is on to make amends and find the joy in today to make a tomorrow possible.

Drama! (chuckle) There is lots of drama when friends break up and then never repair the tear when tragedy strikes. Molly Morris takes us through the ups and downs and the secrets hidden within friendships. I will give one spoiler away as it really pertains to how the story flows and it is that Wilson holds the trio together. When one friend is the constant peacemaker while roads are splitting apart to different futures - it isn’t easy.

I actually felt sorry for Annie LeBlanc. One may think getting to come back from the dead for a set period of time is a good thing. It also emphasizes everything they no longer have or will have. Then there are Annie’s parents. Morris doesn’t shy away from the aftereffects of death’s impact.

Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead is about chasing dreams that are no longer there. The realization of the lost ideas and the creation of new ones. It’s about friendship and what we are willing to do to keep our friends.

10/10 this premise was so cool and the execution was also just as cool. It really showed the characters and just how much they needed each other.

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the premise and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, which made it difficult to put down. I also enjoyed the trio of friends and how the book focused on their own struggles and how they dealt with them as the story progressed. Though the ending left me with a few answers, I still enjoyed this book a lot overall & would 100% recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Once every 10 years, the town of Lennon, California holds a secret contest called “The Welcome Back,” allowing one person to return from the dead for 30 days. Wilson Moss unexpectedly wins the contest and chooses to resurrect her ex-best friend, Annie LeBlanc. With only a limited time on Earth, Wilson aims to mend their friendship. Morris’s quirky tale combines realistic relationships with an intriguing, fantastical premise—a sweet read for ages 14-18

- ANNIE LEBLANC IS NOT DEAD YET is an inventive, high concept YA novel: a magical town brings back one person from the dead for 30 days every ten years. This year, Wilson gets to bring back her BFF Annie, who died by accidental drowning a few years ago.
- Despite the fantasy element, this book is really a coming of age character study. The central trio of friends were broken apart by Annie’s death, and now they’re forced back together as the clock ticks down.
- Unfortunately, I’m not sure the author pulled it off. It feels like Wilson hardly spends any time with Annie while she’s back. Even when they go out to parties together they’re often separated. And (SPOILERS!!) no one asked Annie what felt like the most obvious question to me until nearly the end of the book, and all the misunderstandings were cleared up in a matter of minutes once Annie answered it.

Anyway... for obvious reasons, I requested this book from Netgalley since it made me think of the LeBlanc fam, especially Jules LeBlanc who used to go by Annie LeBlanc. So...

Anyway... I finished this book more than a month ago but got too busy to review it properly until now. (Whoops!)

The best way to describe this book could be summarized in one word: strange.

It was a book that started off, in my opinion, a bit slow. However, once you get into it, you become sort of sucked in by the book's weirdness. It's a book that makes you ponder what the heck is going on, what happened, and how did we get here?

Not only does it have an interesting plot and concept, it also has interesting characters. I found that the concept, thought explored a bit shallowly in my opinion as it left some unanswered questions, to be unique and befitting of the strangeness of the book.

However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I didn't enjoy the characters the most. I thought that Morris did a great job creating imperfect complex characters, each going through their own struggles. The characters felt raw and real. What intensified this was the connections and relationships between characters, showing the fraughtness and tenderness of teenage friendships. It portrayed grief, love, and relationships quite well.

Finally, a few people mentioned this, but the ending of the book was bittersweet and left me with lots of questions. Though I am someone who prefers books to be wrapped up, I thought that this was done intentionally, showing that you never know what could happen in life.

Overall, 4.3 stars.

Every 10 years, in the small town of Lennon, Welcome Back happens, a competition where one lucky winner can bring someone of their choosing back from the dead for 30 days. This years winner was Wilson, chose her best friend Annie. Before her death, Wilson, Annie and their other friend Ryan had a falling out and they no longer spoke. Wilson discovers a possible loophole for Annie to stay past her 30 day timeline, but she'll need Ryan's help to fix their friendship.

This was a fun read, with an interesting concept. I enjoyed all of the characters, who all had unique personalities and went through a lot of character development by the end of the story. I think the complex relationships between the different characters were the best part of the book. Wilson, Annie and Ryan were so intertwined with one another, but had such a toxic friendship. They would have been able to solve all of their issues so much quicker if they had one conversation with each other. I thought that Wilson and her mother's strained relationship was really well done, and like how it developed in the end. I wasn't the biggest fan of the epilogue, and did feel like we were left with some unanswered questions in the end, but overall I did enjoy me time reading this!

What a fun & unique teen read! More YA needs to be unafraid of getting a little weird with it. I could imagine whole sets of stories in this magically realistic universe; if Molly Morris was writing cozies for adults she'd be making bank.

‘Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet’ is a book about a “Welcome Back Ceremony” where a small town, Lennon, holds a contest to bring one person back from the dead. Wilson, this year’s winner, chooses to bring back Annie, one of her ex-best friends, much to the anger of her other ex-best friend, Ryan.

Annie is back for 30 days and Wilson makes it her mission to reunite and refresh their friendship trio, to a lot of resistance from Annie and Ryan.

That’s all I will say to protect anyone from spoilers.

It was a little confusing, a little messy, and a little all over the place, but ultimately I enjoyed it. And really, isn’t that what being a teenager/young adult is all about? It really spoke to teenagers and their friendships and while I am past that stage, many of us know how friendship drama can persist when some people are stuck in their high school phase well into adulthood.

Rounded up from 3.5 stars to 4.

In a small California town, one person is chosen to return from the dead for 30 days. Wilson Moss submits her best friend’s name, Annie LeBlanc and is shocked when she actually wins. She wants to undo the past years before her death and get back to when the two of them along with their third best friend, Ryan spent all their days together, at least for 30 days. But, some things can’t be undone.

I was surprised when I started reading this that it’s a young adult book, as I usually don’t choose this genre. And I liked it so much - way more than expected. The characters are rich and relatable, flawed, but human. The storyline is creative and intriguing, with many thought provoking ideas that would be absolutely perfect for a book club discussion. I might just read a little more young adult in the future!

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Every ten years in the city of Lennon in California, one person can return for the dead for thirty days. Wilson Moss entered the contest, but she didn't think she would win. Now she resurrects her best friend, Annie. Is that a problem that Annie ghosted a year before she died?
Besides, when Wil finds out a loophole to keep Annie for good, she has to ask for help to their third best friend, Ryan. Who hates them both and they didn't speak since they awkwardly kissed times ago.
Wil is lonely and in order to put a stop to it, she will do whatever it takes. But along the way, she will have to confront some truths about her relationship with Annie and Ryan.

Annie LeBlanc is not dead yet is a very original story about loss, loneliness, grief and moving on. It's intense and brutal, intriguing and well written and you can't not feel for Wil and her loneliness and her complicated relationships with her best friends and the complicate relationships between them all.
The story is very creative and painful and I really enjoyed reading this book. It's captivating and a very fast read, but you will feel a bit changed by it.

Every ten years in the strange little town of Lennon, California, one person is chosen to return from the dead…

If that isn't the most intriguing tagline for a book I don't know what is! This was such an interesting and fresh YA contemporary novel! Based on the synopsis I went into this book expecting a YA reunion style romance with a magical realism twist and what I found instead was a deep exploration of grief, a coming of age story, a look at family dynamics, friendships, and life as a whole as these friends enter a new phase of their life with graduation on the horizon. I really enjoyed the depth of emotions explored in this book as well as the complex relationships presented while also still remaining relatable and age appropriate for the audience this was written for!

From me, this gets a 3.5 star rating! I really enjoyed so much but also struggled a bit with pacing, the slightly confusing ending, as well as some of the adults in this story. overall though, nothing too crazy and definitely a book I can recommend to fans of YA magical realism stories!

This is such an interesting premise, and I was excited to read it. A small town has a tradition every ten years of bringing someone back from the dead for 30 days. They run it as a contest, and the winner gets to pick who returns. This year, Wilson wins the contest and decides to bring back her ex-best friend, Annie, to see if she can figure out what happened in their friendship and repair it.

While this was different from anything I've read before, I had a hard time connecting with the characters or even really liking them, which made it hard to fall in love with the story. I do like the way Molly Morris writes, though, and I will definitely check out more from this author.

Annie Leblanc is Not Yet Dead has one of the most unique premise’s I’ve ever read and I found the writing to be really strong as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this story. At times the main friendships seemed unhealthy, but it all resolved well, and it also just felt realistic. Being a teenager is messy, as are queer friendships and trio friend groups. Additionally, I really liked the setting of this novel and the conclusion. Overall, I really recommend this book! The themes and characters are strong, but most of all, it’s unlike anything I’ve read before.

The concept of this one was fascinating and immediately drew me in, but the execution left a lot to be desired. It was a little too quirky for me, and I had trouble following the plot and character development. An overall enjoyable read, but could've used some fine-tuning.

Super fun concept and solid writing! It was such a unique premise that had a lot of potential. But, overall I think there were a few too many subplots that made the book feel longer and slower than it really was. Could be tightened up a bit for its YA audience.

New me to author and so glad i found a new favorite. This book was different and unique and i loved the authors idea. Each year someone one comes back from the dead. This book is great for teens. It deals with hard hitting topics. The characters are also teens themselves

So often, I go into a book expecting it to be one thing and it ends up being something completely different.
That was the case for me with this book. I think I was expecting a fun supernatural romp and what I got was a coming-of-age story with some supernatural stuff thrown in.

The fact that Annie had come back from the dead, the way their town was somehow a living organism that was capable of making decisions and keeping people away, all of this super interesting plotting took a side seat to relationship drama and teenage angst.

Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, necessarily. In some cases, only adding a brush of magical stuff in a story does work and it is a YA novel, so teenage drama is par for the course.

But it didn't work for me in this book. I keep wanting to scream 'THIS GIRL LITERALLY CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS MORE IMPRESSED BY THAT?'

This book just didn't work for me, and it sucks because it started off pretty strong.

I think a lot of my problems with it came from my hatred of the main love interest, who was just a terrible person.
I could not for the life of me figure out why Wilson was into Ryan. She was just aggressive and mean. At first I thought we were going to find out that she secretly had a heart of gold but when we got to the point that she was shaving her best friend's head despite the girl not being into it at all, I realized that she was just a bitch.

I think if Ryan had been a better character, this book would've gone up at least one star for me.
As it is? 2 stars.