The objectives of this research are: (1) to determine the percentage distribution of the Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in reading section of the Official High School English textbook entitled “Life Today”, and (2) to determine the dominant cognitive domain of the Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in reading section of the Official High School English textbook entitled “Life Today”. This research is qualitative research with a content analysis research design. The data were drawn from the instructions and questions in the reading section of an English textbook twelve grade titled “Life Today” that implements the Merdeka curriculum. The data validity of this study used researcher triangulation with expert judgment from a professional English teacher. Data analysis was conducted using the Interactive Model by Miles, Huberman, & Saldana (2014). The results of this study found that the distribution of HOTS in the reading section of the “Life Today” textbook reached 20%. In addition, this study found that the dominant HOTS cognitive domain is analyze (C4) that are 16%. This indicates an imbalance in the distribution of levels of thinking and HOTS cognitive domains. The researcher suggested English teachers to add learning resources through other sources that implement HOTS evenly to improve students’ critical thinking skills in reading comprehension to achieve the objectives of the Merdeka curriculum.