None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This is True gives serious Single White Female vibes. Alix, a podcaster, meets Josie in a restaurant on their 45th birthday. After they bump into each other again, Alix decides to interview Josie for her next podcast. As events unfold it becomes apparent that something is not right. Are the narrators reliable? Who can you believe? Did that really happen? All these questions ran through my mind as I read…this book had me guessing until the very last page.

None of This is True is the perfect name for this dark and suspenseful thriller because I am still not sure if I know what is true.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC to read and review.

Oh my gosh. This book was phenomenal. So fast pace and I LITERALLY couldn’t put it down!!!! If you’re a lover of domestic thrillers, I truly can’t recommend this enough!!!! 5 stars!!!

How could you have paced a book more perfectly than this?? This book WOW! I cannot believe how great Lisa Jewell is and she just keeps getting better!

OKAY BUT JOSIE THOUGH?!?! What an INCREDIBLY well-written character! While I love Alix and I was here for her journey, Josie my God. I cannot believe the thematic layers that were all over this book. Once you thought you knew everything you absolutely did not! I highly recommend this book for all lovers of thrillers and especially if you're a fan of Lisa Jewell. This is one not to miss this summer and it will be a great read for even early fall for a little bit of spooky vibes!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the eARC!

None of This is True
By Lisa Jewell

There’s Lisa Jewell books and then there’s THIS Lisa Jewell book! Guys, it’s her best book to date!

If you love a true crime podcast, mark your calendar for the August 8th PUB date for this psychological thriller…You will devour this book, feel completely mind blown, and question the sanity of every character. And the ending!!! What!? I need to talk!

None of This is True is about two women who have the same birthday and were born in the same hospital, but that’s where the similarities end.

Alix is a popular podcaster who interviews inspirational women and appears to have the perfect life. She has a beautiful home, two young children, and a husband who loves her, but occasionally doesn’t come home at night due to his excessive drinking.

Josie is married to a man who is twice her age and has two grown daughters. She is very unhappy with every part of her life and decides on her 45th birthday that she is going to make some changes.

When Alix and Josie both happen to celebrate their birthdays at the same restaurant, Josie becomes obsessed with Alix, who appears to be perfect. Josie makes sure to “run into” Alix and eventually convinces her to include her in a podcast. After hearing SHOCKING details from Josie, Alix realizes that there is way more to Josie’s life than she suspected. The problem…Josie is doing more than just sharing her story for Alix’s podcast. She is studying Alix’s lifestyle, taking little “trinkets” that she feels are special, and lurking outside of her house in the middle of the night!!!

Creepy and addicting are the two words that best describe this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest opinion.

💬What’s your favorite podcast? Do you like true crime podcasts?

This book had so many twists and turns. I was hooked from the start and had no idea where it would go. I said “wtf is going on?!” so many times while reading this! This was probably Lisa Jewell’s most dark/twisted book yet, and I loved it!

I loved the podcast element and looked forward to those chapters as we would learn more about Josie. All of the characters were unique (some crazy) and added to the storyline well.

Would've been 5 stars if not for one thing. <spoiler>If she hadn't killed the other's husband. That ruined for me.</spoiler> I was fully involved in this until that happened and I really wish it hadn't happened. But otherwise, really great book, so twisty.

Miss Lisa Jewell really said HOLD MY BEER I’m about to rock your whole world (sorry LJ if you don’t like beer🤪). And that’s exactly what she did with this one. She rocked my wholeeeee world, turned it upside down, and shook it all about. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I read this one in under 24 hours, in just a couple sittings. This one is worth ALLLL the hype and even more.

The prose immediately drug me in. While Josie is celebrating her 45th birthday in a restaurant, she spots another woman (Alix) also celebrating her 45th birthday. They have a little convo about it in the bathroom about how cool it is they are birthday twins. Turns out, Alix is a well-known podcaster. A few days later, Josie confronts Alix and wants to tell her “truth” on her next podcast series. Alix agrees and quickly realizes that Josie is keeping some darkkkk secrets. Josie becomes obsessed with Alix and things start going downhill fast.

The characters had such great development and you have no idea who to trust or what to believe. At times I felt sorry for some, felt curious about others, and despised the rest.

This one was absolutely mind-bending. I was addicted the entire time. This being my second LJ book, I can confidently say I love her writing style. All of her books will now have a comfy home on my shelves and I’m not mad about it. HUBS GET OUT THE WALLET!

🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️<< this is me running to purchase Lisa’s entire backlog.

Whoa-what a read! Twisty, dark, compulsively readable. It is clever in that there's the story, the podcast and the we know it's a hit because there's also the scene script of the Netflix adaptation. It reminds me that we are surround by bizarre people who have uniquely bizarre stories to share. I am still unsure what the "truth" of the matter is and who is lying about that night. I highly recommend you give it a go. I also can see that it will be easily adapted for the big (or small screen) in the future--assuming the strikes end.

Whenever a book receives such huge praise before publication day, it always makes me wary. Has it been so hyped up that I’m putting undue pressure on it to be amazing? That is not the case with None of This is True.

This book reads like a true crime documentary. The subject is the enigmatic Josie Fair. You’re not really sure what to think of her as she comes off as both naive and intelligent. The story is told mostly from the third person POVs of Josie and podcast host, Alix Summers, who have a chance meeting at a pub when both are celebrating their birthdays.

As Alix interviews Josie for a new series, we learn more about Josie, about her past, present, and what she hopes the future will hold. And as the story goes on, the more strange and stalkerish Josie comes off. Transcripts from that podcast and other interviews are placed in the middle of chapters to make for a unique storytelling experience that I absolutely loved. Throw in some twists and an ending that left me questioning what I read, but in a good way, and you have the recipe for an extremely successful, psychological thriller.

Thank you so much NetGalley for selecting me to receive an ARC copy of this book! I loved the Netflix series/podcast element of this story - it was definitely unique + added something extra to the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but couldn’t help thinking “but none of this is true” and the title gave way to a slightly predictable twist. I will never not pick up a Lisa Jewell book - her creative writing techniques will always keep me coming back for more!

This was a wild ride and a page turner; I stayed up way later than I should have telling myself "just one more chapter." There's just something about an unreliable narrator, and that twist during the ninth inning had me screaming (in the best way).

This was the first thing I've read by Jewell and I will definitely be going into her back catalogue.

Are you one of those girls who easily makes friends in the bathroom? Do you ever just have a lighthearted instant connection with someone...? ... Have you ever seen that person again and laughed at your paths crossing again? If so - this is the thriller you NEED to read in 2023.

THOUGHTS:
- My first Lisa Jewell book was Then She Was Gone and in much the same vein, Jewell's latest, None of This Is True, is dark and unhinged. I've been using that word to describe thrillers a lot lately because there are race-against-the-clock thrillers, psychological thrillers.. etc... but I'm realizing that the thrillers I've been loving the most are where the characters have truly lost their grip on reality.

- I tagged this one as a feminist read for a couple of reasons. #1 - when we look at age gaps in relationships, it's pretty normal to see older men/younger women. But as soon as the tables are turned and it's an older woman/younger man.. people aren't always as accepting. In None of This is True, we explore the uglier side of those older man/younger women age gap relationships that no one openly discusses. #2 - I loved that our heroine/FMCs are discussing their lives in relation to their husbands throughout and letting us in on all those intrusive thoughts we try so hard to file away!!

- None of This Is True would make a great audiobook for those of us with longer commutes!!! You'll be to work or home and not even know how you got there because this story sucks you in so much!!!

NOTES:
- CWs: Child abuse, ped0philia

**Thank you to Atria Books & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 “Podcast books are so hot right now,” -Me, trying to make books about podcasts happen. #sofetch

🥂𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽: 12-pack of White Claws: binge drinking, binge reading, tomatOH, tomAHto

✍️ Yikes! Worst book I’ve ever read. Struggled for weeks to get through it. Avoid at all costs.

Actually…none of this is true! 😛🙈Ha! Couldn’t resist.

In fact, I devoured this book in two days. Lisa Jewell is BACK with what I believe is her “bingey-est” book yet.👏

If you’re like everyone I see on Instagram taking long plane rides to Europe this summer, I highly recommend bringing this on the flight. Eight hours to Italy? No ti preoccupare! Crack this baby open and the plane ride will feel quicker than Lizzie McGuire exposing Paolo for the fraud he really was. That lip-syncing POS.

Speaking of frauds and getting back to the book, who’s lying? Who should we trust? This story about a podcaster interviewing a woman looking to re-invent herself will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page, where you’ll probably fall off your seat.

Hey how. Hey now. This is what thriller dreams are made of.

📊 Lisa Jewell rating on the way.

⚠️ May cause readers to wonder what their birthday twin is doing these days.

Podcaster Alex Summers is out celebrating her 45th birthday at a local pub when she crosses paths with a meek woman named Josie Fair. As it turns out they are birthday twins. Later they bump into each other again and they get to talking and Josie ends up talking Alex into doing a podcast about her. It’s not long before Alex realizes that things with Josie are extremely strange. Soon she starts to think it might have been a horrible idea to bring her into her life.

Y’all Lisa Jewell has done it again! None Of This Is True might actually be my favorite book of hers. It’s a fast paced psychological thriller that will quite literally have you saying WTF several times. I mean seriously some of the plot twists on this one were mind blowing crazy. I can’t say I loved any of the characters but they were very well developed. The chapters were also short so that made this a fast read. It’s also a mixed media book and I love that she wrote it in that format. I’ve become a really big fan of mixed media books. They’re just so fun to read and usually it makes the pacing faster. Anyways this was solid 5 star read and definitely one of my top reads of the month.

What a twisty ride!! I was hooked from the first page and could not put this book down. I really enjoyed this one, and both wanted it to end so I knew what happened but also keep going because it was so good. Thank you for this ARC NetGalley!!

I found this to be an entertaining psychological thriller novel. It was a fast read and I couldn’t wait to see how things played out. It gave major dark and creepy vibes.
Chapters alternate between Josie and Alix. Each one have a fascinating story full of secrets and lies, and it becomes clear early on: trust no one; nothing is as it seems.
Although, both characters were complex and I couldn’t get over their train wreck lives, I was really drawn to Josie. She was the most entertaining to read about and I had a hard time deciding if I was more fascinated or appalled by her.

None of This is True is an unputdownable rollercoaster!

What was this? I don’t even know. It’s right there in the title: none of this is true- but WHAT WAS TRUE?? That ending left me questioning so much. All I know is I could NOT put it down. I was invested.

In fact, I’m still invested. (AKA, I need to know what was in that room. It’s haunting me. I’ve been thinking about it ever since I finished this book this morning.)

If you enjoy:
Unreliable narrators
Podcast documentaries
Ambiguous endings (and I mean ambiguous- were my predictions right, were they wrong? Who knows 😂)
… then you’ll enjoy this!

One thing I do take issue with: I don’t like the suggestion that a minor may be responsible for a pedophile’s actions. Minors cannot consent. Period.

I read the ebook version of this story, but I think it would also be really cool to listen to the audiobook. I would love to hear the podcast/ Netflix parts come to life.

4 out of 5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. None of This is True comes out 08/08/23.

This has got to be one of her best yet. So many twist and turns. I was constantly changing my mind of what I thought was true. I loved how it was told. It was dark and twisty.. two of my favorite things in a thriller!

Definitely a plot driven novel so it lives up to its suspense label. The title is a bit of a tease/giveaway though as I spent the entire book doubting every character’s story. But this is a novel with multiple twists so, by the end, I wasn’t sure I could even believe the author’s conclusion! I enjoyed it a lot even though I’m left with an unsettled feeling fueled by a trail of lies…but whose?!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books/Simon and Schuster for the ARC to read and review.

This is my first Lisa Jewell book. I am really enjoying it and find it quite compelling and addictive. I imagine this will lead me to read others of her works.