None of This Is True

Well, what can I say other than...Lisa Jewell has done it again!
None Of This is True is a thriller you absolutely won't be able to put down, jam packed full of twists, turns and moments that make your mouth drop.
Josie and Alix meet each other on their 45th birthday, discovering that they're birthday twins. After a few chance encounters Josie suggests that Alix (a fairly successful podcaster) do a podcast about her life, promising that she had an interesting story to tell. And boy did she.
From there the story delves into absolute chaos in the best possible way.
I know this is a book that people will be talking about all year!
Also, please find attached my spoiler free youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPr1SGGvRv0

This was an absolute treat to have this ARC. Lisa is one of my favourite authors! This made my day seeing this.

That being said this book had me hooked from the start. I really couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I loved the premise of the birthday twins doing a podcast together and oh what a wild ride it was. I love a story about a crazy character and this book did not let me down.

At first you feel sorry for Josie. She's a bit odd but maybe she's just a bit lonely. You wish the best for her and her new friend Alix. It seems like they are on the same page. They could be the best of friends. But would Josie make for an interesting enough podcast subject?

My heart was racing as josie became more and more intertwined in alixs life. Her control levels ramping up.

I won't give away much else except I LOVED the format and the different interviews with key characters for the podcast. You NEED to pick this book up. Lisa has done it again.

A BIG thanks to netgalley and Simon and schuster canada for this perfect thriller.

This title made me think twice about requesting an ARC, but then it is written by Lisa Jewell, so it had to be good.

Podcaster Alix Summer's trip to pick up her dry-cleaning & alterations meets a seamstress, Josie Fair. Josie convinces Alix to feature Josie as the subject of a podcast. Alix finds herself ignoring her instincts and is soon recording the horror stories of Josie's life. When Alix receives messages that suggest that Josie' stories are fabrications she is sidetracked by her husband Nathan's disappearances when binge drinking.

Told in chapters that start 6 months apart, took a bit of adjusting, but made the plot twists and turns moving quickly.

None of This is True is my new favourite Lisa Jewell book.

I love crazy and crazy this is with twists and turns, red herrings, gasp out loud moments and an ending that will catch you by surprise.

We meet Alix a podcaster and Josie a part time seamstress.

After meeting by chance and Alix agrees to do a podcast on The Birthday Twin (who is Josie since they share the same birthday), Alix begins to think that there is something not quite right with her new friend.

The story is told from Alix's view point and Josie's.

The tension mounts with every chapter as Josie becomes more obsessed and out of control taking over Alix's life.

I don't want to give anything away its a journey that the reader will be enthralled with and be asking themselves what is the truth.

Highly recommend None of This is True, get your copy and don't even put it on your TBR pile just start reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books for a mind boggling read that I wont soon forget.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada!! for this nice read! Oh this was good, I do have to say that the first 60 percent had my head wondering where this was going but the last 40 percent was the bread and butter of the read for me. I really enjoy a fast paced novel. I am not saying that the first 60 percent was not good because it was good but I really into the parts that will have you reading the book where ever you go! Lisa Jewell hit a home run with this. When it comes out, go get it!

There are a lot of positive reviews and early praise for this book and I can objectively say that it is absolutely deserved - this book is incredible.

Sometimes you slip right into a world or an authors writing and that's definitely what happened here. From the literal first page I was transfixed and NEEDED to know everything about these characters.

The storytelling sequence and mechanism in which events are recounted is very important to the impactfulness of the story, so I won't go into much detail about the plot. What I will say is that these two women meet, strike up a friendship of sorts and we learn about both of their families. I was rapt throughout and couldn't keep my jaw off the floor.

Lisa Jewell always delivers but this one feels especially crisp. The writing is tight, fraught with tension and left me questioning everything right until the end.

Incredibly huge thank you to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Canada and Lisa Jewell for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

"And I have to wonder, then, what it was all for. All the smallness of everything. All the quietness."

None of This is True is Lisa Jewell at her very best: compelling, twisty, unpredictable, and unputdownable.

Alix Summer is a successful podcaster feeling stagnant in the current iteration of her show and craving inspiration. Josie Fair is also feeling stuck in a life she isn't sure if she wants anymore. That's not the only thing the two have in common: they both share a birthday: same date, same year. When they run into one another on their 45th birthdays, both of their lives change course in ways neither of them imagine. As Alix begins to interview Josie for her podcast, she realizes she'll get more than she ever asked for, for better or for worse.

I could not put this book down. I mean it when I say this is one of Lisa Jewell's best.

The way the events unfold is so expertly paced. The tension builds and secrets unveil themselves slowly, like a drip of water, before gradually becoming a flood as Alix and Josie spend more time together.

Lisa Jewell has a knack for writing fascinating and flawed characters who find themselves navigating wild circumstances, which is on full display here. She's created one of her most memorable, fascinating and odd characters in Josie Fair. And what Jewell does so well is that she grounds her characters, making even the most precarious of situations and actions feel real and valid, and therefore more intense and thrilling.

One of themes of None of This is True is memory and trust. Who should we trust? Why do or don't we trust them? We may all see and trust our own experiences as the ultimate truth but what do we do when something begins to question that? Is there an ultimate truth or is it all in our heads?

Well now..as usual Lisa has pulled off her usual twists and turns and making this crazy book into a rollercoaster.

I can't say I loved all the characters but one character I did. Lisa knows how to make her characters come to life and this book is no exception.

Just Like all her other books I thoroughly enjoyed. A definite recommend

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for allowing me to read this arc.

All thoughts and opinions are my own

As expected, Lisa Jewell sucks you in within the first few pages. This is a quick read that’s unexpected and thrilling. Lisa Jewell is a master at twists and turns and keeping her audience utterly captivated.

Wow!! I loved this, and It brought me back into reading thrillers/suspense. You can never go wrong with Lisa Jewell. 5 stars for me

This is my new favourite Lisa Jewell book! If you love murder mystery books with unreliable narrators and podcast elements, you HAVE to pick up this book. I haven't felt a sense of dread this strong from reading a book in a long time. I was so creeped out that I felt I shouldn't read this book before bed but it was so good that I couldn't help myself. I can't wait to recommend this to my friends who like true crime.

Wow!!! I have always been a Lisa Jewell fan and consider her one of my most consistently good thriller authors. BUT, this book was on a whole other level. This is going to be my favourite thriller of the year. I cannot see anything beating it.

This book is definitely darker than most of the author's previous work and I was living for it. Also, the podcast and Netflix show developement elements were on point. I will be re-reading this with the audiobook as soon as I can get my hands on it. I want to experience the podcast elements as they were meant to be experienced! Multiple times in this book, I would read something and just think "What is going on?". I didn't know who to trust, what was true, and I can't wait for more people to read this book so I can discuss it with them.

**Read an ARC from Netgalley

Rating : 5 Stars

I could not put this book down, and could not stop thinking about it between sittings! It's weird and twisty with all the kind of family drama Lisa Jewell is so good at! The whole book had me wondering what was going on and where the truth actually lies.

Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better! I think I have a new favorite by her!

Thank you to @netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for this honest review!

This one is getting quite a bit of hype and after reading it, I would say it is well deserved. This book was packed with suspense and mystery and I loved how it was a bit creepy and dark. I had no idea where this story was headed and it was so easy to just keep reading because I needed to know what in the actual heck was going on!!!!!! Great story line, plot, characters, and twists made this a total binge read. Add this to your list, you will not be disappointed 😉.
4.5⭐️

Such a great thriller! The ending blew my mind. I never want to read thrillers again but I might make an exception for this one. So entertaining!

Holy smokes what a twisted tale! This book was incredibly well written! I read through this at breakneck speed, could not put it down. It grabs you from page one and holds you in its death grip till the last page. So many twists and turns. This was one crazy ride. Awesome characters woven into a super suspenseful, heart stopping plot. Absolutely brilliant!

If you know me, you know Lisa Jewell is my favourite author, so I was extremely excited to read this ARC last month! …And Boy - it did not disappoint.

This story had me intrigued right from the start! I loved how we got two point-of-views from both of the female main characters, and also had a dual timeline. Tying in the Netflix docu-series was such a great touch as well, and really made me picture the book play out as if it were actually on tv.

With both MCs being unreliable, this truly added to the suspense and intrigue of the plot, and honestly made me question everything and everyone in the book! I loved being able to go back and forth between both POVs and through the timelines, to figure out if Josie was actually the sane one or if she was the unreliable one.

I’m not going to explain the book any further, because I feel like going in blind would be the ultimate way to experience this chilling read.

This is probably my new fav Lisa Jewell book (sorry Then She Was Gone - you’ve been dethroned). If you are someone who wants a great suspense thriller where you’re always left guessing, and where the ending is unpredictable and leaves you wanting more; look no further. Add this to your TBR!

Thank you @simonschusterca and @netgalley for a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

📖None of This is True by Lisa Jewell- the hype is real with this one! I couldn’t read it fast enough. It was such a wild ride and I had no idea how it was going to end. Please tell me which Lisa Jewell I should read next, because I think I’m officially a fan!

I am not going to be able to do this review the way I want to without giving something away and I don’t want to .. so I’m just going to say

Holy hell. What a twisty, creepy, psychological thriller. It’s now in top place of my favourites by Jewell and going to be in my favourites list by the end of the year for thrillers

Top place
The End.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
********************************************************
Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true-crime podcast.

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Lisa Jewell can always be counted upon to write an excellent book and this one did not disappoint at all. So popular that it's ridiculous TV shows based on podcasts: drama shows, documentaries, etc-etc-etc (A little "The King and I" reference there for you....) but to find yourself the subject of your own true crime podcast must be awful. The book was wonderful to read and kept me hanging until the last page I will highly recommend it to friends family patrons and book clubs alike. (BTW this is on Netgalley twice for some reason so it is reviewed there 2x) #shortbutsweetreviews

Lisa Jewell’s latest is top-tier. An absolutely chilling and devastatingly riveting read. I struggled to put it down.

Do yourself a favour and pre-order this. Run, don’t walk. It’s that good.

NONE OF THIS IS TRUE is a psychological thriller where Alix, a renowned podcast host, finds herself as the subject of her own true crime podcast. Alix encounters Josie on her 45th birthday at her local pub where they discover that they share the same birthday. Josie bumps into Alix a few days later and tells Alix that she would make for a very interesting podcast subject, as her own life is on the cusp of big changes. Alix finds Josie a bit unsettling but can’t get over the temptation of wanting to know more… until suddenly she finds herself entrapped in Josie’s wake of terrible secrets.

NONE OF THIS IS TRUE is the third novel that I’ve read of Lisa Jewell’s and by far my favorite to date. She has truly outdone herself with this one. This is an addictive and riveting page-turner from the get-go, told in alternating perspectives (Alix and Josie’s). Alix’s chapters are a bit on the duller side but lend a moment of stability and normalcy to the story. Josie’s story is odd and a bit cringey but so captivating as she gives off an air of unreliability. The unreliable narrator can be a tricky line to walk but Lisa Jewell handles this masterfully and creates an enrapturing perspective.

The theme of a podcast has been cropping up a lot of late in thrillers but NONE OF THIS IS TRUE adds the twist of snippets of a Netflix series which add another layer to the plot without giving much context to the bigger picture until the end.

The tension builds as more secrets are unraveled over the course of the novel and culminates to a showstopper of an ending. The plot is rife with lies, half-truths, and multiple secrets that come together expertly. I loved that the ending wasn’t too neatly packaged leaving me with chills long after I was done.

Of note: this is a dark and sinister read with several triggers.I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before picking this up!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Atria Books (Simon & Schuster Canada), of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own.</i>

This was so good. Brilliant really. I’m still grappling with the revelations and the real truth.

Great character development, I never had Josie figured out she was layers upon layers of sociopathic goodness.

The modern addition of Netflix docuseries and podcast brought this to a wide audience.

Completely unputdownable.