Sadly, this one wasn't for me! I love the premise — bring someone back from the dead for 30 days?! Epic. But I found the pace to be a slog and the writing to be very YA-centered. All the concern over making Annie and Ryan friends again was just a little too "who cares" for me to finish the book. I set it down around 70% — but if you love YA contemporary fiction with the tiniest sprinkle of magical realism, this one is for you!

I really enjoyed this book up until about the 70% mark, and from there it wasn't bad, just kind of dropped in quality compared to the first half. The premise of the book is really interesting, and I really hoped we'd get a good explanation for the reason as to why this town has magical properties or what how the rules and Welcome Back program came to be, or how Ruth is supposedly immortal and a shapeshifter. But we get NOTHING of the sort, which was infuriating.

The ending was also really confusing {SPOILERS AHEAD}: Is Annie actually dead or not? Because I'm mad if she is - what was the point of figuring out the secret of how she died and having a whole book dedicated to solving the mystery? It just felt lackluster for it to end as it did, although the final part makes it seem like she's not? I'm confused.

The characters were a bit of a rollercoaster for me. At first I really enjoyed all the different personalities, but then I got really annoyed by Ryan. We're told how sweet and caring she can be under all her spikes and bite, but the only time we really get to see her be nice is at the very beginning when giving the fire ball candy to Wilson, and then basically never again. She's supposedly this really cool girl that everyone wants to date, but she just seems so mean that I don't get it. These kids also have no communication skills, and Wilson's relationship with her mom is very weird to me (although I do think it could be a realistic depiction for some people).

Overall, I still enjoyed my time listening to this book. I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would at the beginning.

Don’t let the cute illustrated cover fool you! This contemporary YA novel has a magical realism twist that I found incredibly intriguing and while the synopsis makes the story seem like a reunion with a love story, it is more of an exploration of grief, loss, and complicated family dynamics and friendships. I found the characters very relatable and aside from their friend coming back from the dead for 30 days, they were facing many similar struggles and situations as young adult readers who are getting ready to graduate. I really enjoyed how this story allowed the characters to reflect on their relationships with friends and family members and found their growth to be authentic.

While I enjoyed most of the book, I couldn’t get over how maddening the adults in the story were, especially Wilson’s mom. Think Loralei Gilmore but incredibly less self aware and totally reliant on her teenage daughter to pay bills, keep the household afloat, and then plan her wedding?! I appreciated how there was an apology in the end, but good grief, this mother epically failed her children and I wanted to scream.

My other issue was the pacing. Around the halfway mark, the story loses a bit of steam only to snowball at the end… but leave the reader with many unanswered questions AND an ending that still has me scratching my head.

I was able to listening to an advance copy of the audiobook and really enjoyed the listening experience, but I think the story can be enjoyed equally in either format.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I think many YA readers will be thoroughly entertained by and even relate to, but I do wish the pacing had been polished up a bit and that the adults had behaved more like adults and hadn’t consistently failed the young adult characters.

Cute, clean, and angsty, this YA romcom has it all with queer & paranormal elements. It feels young and the drama among these girls seems so obvious and communication would have been a big help among them, but… youth, ya know. I’d def recommend for high school & college aged readers. The audio narration is really well done- an especially fun experience.

An original premise makes this story about friendship, regret, and second chances engaging and heartwarming. Though a romance subplot is there, the story's main focus is friendship. Wilson is shocked to learn she's won the once-in-a-decade contest. The prize? The winner's choice of one person who died gets to come back to life for 30 days. Wilson chose her former best friend, Annie, even though things had gotten rocky between them before Annie's death. Wilson hopes for answers and reconnection, but when she learns there may be a way for Annie to stay permanently, she tried to figure out the wrong she's supposed to write. Wilson is likeable and engaging, and readers may see themselves in her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this audiobook for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This audiobook was cute and quirky and fun. I thought the premise was interesting. I really did like the characters and some parts of the audiobook were hysterical. I also really enjoyed the narrator! I would consider reading more books by Molly Morris in the future!

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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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I highly enjoyed this. And rated it 5 stars. I loved how different and unique it was ans i needed that in a book lately to get me out of my book funk. I listened to this the whole time i was at workand could stop playing it. Thr narrator really made this story. I loved the feeling behind the voice

Thank you St Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the chance to read Annie LeBLanc Is Not Dead Yet from Molly Morris. Great writing and a strongly acted audiobook, both formats worked really well for this story.

What a really thoughtfully executed YA book, I really loved the way that this story unfolded, how it became such a sweet coming of age, self discovery story about Wilson, Ryan. and Annie, their shared history, their friendship "breakup", and the chance to come back together (through a little unique twist of small town life in Lennon CA) to figure out what happened to their friendship and what comes next. The story focuses on 30 days to reconnect, to address past misunderstandings that happen in adolescence, to figure out what love and friendship is, and to realize how we often don't really know each other/don't show our true or full self. So very good!

Note, if you think the premise of someone coming back from the dead via a small town lottery seems like this is a book with a lot of suspension of reality themes, magical realism and that's not for you... ignore that feeling because this is just a way to tell a really good story, the nature of the little big of magic isn't the focus of the story at all!

This was a cute little story. I always love a speculative twist, and the thought exercise of what happens if we could bring a loved one back from the dead for thirty days is an interesting one. I didn't love Wilson, the whole I'm different because I like bands from the 90s thing is getting a little old, and I do think she was pretty blinded by her own desires. Ultimately she was called out on this and was somewhat receptive to it, but I wish it has been explored a little deeper. My favorite part was probably the blended family aspect.

The narrator was good, and the audiobook was well produced.