I love Lisa Jewell, but this latest one didn't do it for me. Yes, the vibes were creepy, but I wasn't engaged or interested in the story.

Lisa Jewell just doesn't disappoint. I think this is my new favorite from her!
This was fast paced with some twists and a bit of an ambiguous ending, which I love...

I really wish I would have checked out the audiobook since there is a podcast element.. I would have loved to hear those portions through narration.. I think it would have added to the unsettling factor a bit.

I would recommend this to any true crime podcast lovers!

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was extremely excited to read None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell. I have read several of her other books and loved most of them. I saw all the raving reviews, but the hype did not meet my expectations. The mystery and suspense in this book was great. I loved the different perspectives and the podcast idea. Where my rating goes down is towards the end. It's hard to explain why I dropped my rating without giving major spoilers. I suppose I have a hard time with the victim blaming and age relationships between Walter and Josie. I have a hard time believing a 13-year-old girl is competent enough to engage in a relationship with a 40-year-old male who was grooming her. Overall, I am not the biggest fan of this book, however, I look forward to future releases by Lisa Jewell.

: Do you like books that have ambiguous endings or do you prefer things to be wrapped up nicely?

I usually prefer things to be wrapped up nicely. I really dislike cliffhangers, but sometimes I don’t mind if you are left to draw your own conclusions. That was the case here. I’m still not sure what to believe.

Alix, a popular podcaster, runs into Josie Fair on her forty-fifth birthday. Fun fact, it’s also Josie’s birthday and they were even born at the same hospital. A few days later the women run into each other again and Josie mentions that she thinks she would make a great subject for Alix’s podcast. When Alix agrees they begin their sessions. Josie’s life appears strange and complicated but Alix soon realizes that Josie is hiding some dark secrets. Only when Josie disappears does Alix discover that Josie has left a horrifying legacy in her wake. The question is though, who really is Josie Fair?

I have read Lisa Jewell novels in the past and I will say that this is by far her best work yet! I loved the mixed media of this one! The writing is wonderful and very suspenseful and atmospheric. The characters were well developed, and I enjoyed them. I also enjoyed how the pandemic was weaved in at the end. My only complaint, and reason this was not a 5-star review, is that the pacing was too slow for my taste. However, I felt this way about the previous Lisa Jewell books I’ve read.

In the author’s note, she mentions that this one is different than her previous works – and I agree – but honestly it worked so much better for me.

Check out Lisa Jewell’s best book yet on August 8th. It’s worth a pre-order.

Thanks to Atria Books, @atriabooks, and Netgalley, @NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

What a great ride this book was! fast paced, twisty, and great characters. This would make an excellent book club pick. I will definitely be suggesting it at our library!

I love Lisa Jewell. I think she writes such interesting books in a really smart way. I think she's best described as "domestic mystery" or "domestic thriller" and this new one serves the goods up - it's right in her sweet spot.

This book is propulsive. From the very start, I was reading as quickly as I could, those short chapters and changing POVs are just too hard to resist. I was "one more chaptering" my way through the entire thing.

The premise is really interesting, too, it's not the same old "woman goes missing" story that it seems we're constantly getting in this genre. This is something more. This book is dripping with creeping dread. It's like the old slow motion car crash. You see it coming - you see it fairly clearly in fact - but you just cannot stop watching.

This is what we have here. I was yelling at our main character over and over "don't do it!" don't DO IT! And yet, some part of me was so happy she was ignoring my sound advice bc she gives us a whopper of a story.

This book isn't overly gory and it doesn't have a ton of violence on the page, so know that. I'll also say that this would be fantastic on audio, it's the kind of book that will get you through a long car right with ease.

There are elements that I found a taaaaaad predictable but that didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book. And the ending was fine for me, though there are some people who are saying they found the ending a bit confusing, but that confuses me. That ending seemed more than clear to me.

I love Lisa Jewell. She's an absolute auto-buy author for me. If you haven't read her, I'd start with my personal all-time favorite of hers Then She Was Gone. That's a great introduction to this talented writer.

4.5 stars rounding up to 5 stars on Goodreads. I have been on a major winning streak for my reads.

I am a sucker for podcast themed books and this one was amazing! It is so twisty; your head will be spinning since you never know what the truth is. I was hooked by from the beginning and it didn’t let up until the end when you don’t know what to think and will leave you speechless! Lisa Jewell was always been one of my favorite authors and this book just shows me why. This is a book that every thriller fanatic should have on their TBR, it will not disappoint!

****Many thanks to @Atriabooks and NetGalley for my copy in turn for my honest review.

Seemingly random strangers meet discovering that they are both born on the same day in the same hospital. Their lives have taken different paths. One with a seemingly happy traditional family and a successful podcast. The other with a family full of dysfunction and no career. As the two strangers delve into a relationship through the podcast their lives start to take twisty turns and soon someone is dead. The author continues to have us guessing family relationships as she weaves a tale of deception and half truths against the backdrop of the most basic of relationships that of mothers and daughters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-copy for an honest review.

The blurb on the cover couldn't be more true, this is truly Jewell in her prime. Loved it from beginning to end. Could not stop reading. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love everything I've read by Lisa Jewell and None of This is True is no exception. This one ticks off several of the things that I love in a story: unreliable narrator(s), multiple POV, and twists and turns. I devoured this book in about a day and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.

Thank you, Atria Books, for the review copy!

Who doesn’t love a good true crime podcast story turned murder mystery? Alix meets Josie on what seems like a whim one day, and Josie asks if Alix wants to interview her for her female empowerment podcast. Josie’s story gets wilder and wilder, culminating in Josie showing up at Alix’s door in the middle of the night one night. When Josie disappears, Alix’s life changes.

This book had me flipping pages fast to find the resolution and kept me puzzling after I finished.. for better or for worse.

A solid, if lightly formulaic, effort from Lisa Jewell. I truly enjoy her books but the premises can seem very similar.

My favorite Lisa Jewell to date! Loved the characters, the twists and the entire plot! I couldn’t put it down. Amazing!

Well, well, well that was different! None of this is True is a thriller about two women who, through a chance encounter, learn they are birthday twins. Their unlikely meeting turns into a podcast in which shared stories become the motive for murder.

Will you be able to tell what is true and what is false coming out of Josie Fairs mouth~ I wonder right to the end.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This is one of my favorite Lisa Jewell novels. I don't know if I have read a more sociopathic character. I really enjoyed reading this book. The writing made it difficult to put it down and return to my real life. I thouroghly enjoyed my time reading and had to know how it ended.

Thank you to Atria & NetGalley for an ARC of None of This Is True. I was already a fan of Lisa Jewell's writing but this book solidified my love for her. She is an auto-buy author for me now. I love a dark twisty book and this one has it all. I was pulled in from the first few pages and couldn't put it down! 5 stars.

In true Lisa Jewell fashion, this is a dark and twisted story with an unreliable narrative that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. With dual POVs, a nonlinear timeline, and the faint feeling like the story you’re reading is very skewed, you will be on edge the whole time!⁣
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I have loved LJ’s books before I even knew bookstagram was a thing, and she continues to be one of my favorite go-to aurthors. This one did not disappoint. 👏🏻⁣
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Josie goes to a pub to celebrate her 45th birthday to find that another woman, Alix, is there also celebrating her 45th birthday. Josie is instantly drawn to Alix and her glamour. When she discovers that Alix is a famous podcaster who did a series on women changing their lives, she convinces Alix to interview her. ⁣
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Alix is dangerously intrigued by Josie, who seems to have an interesting and dark past. As she learns more and more about Josie, she feels overwhelmingly unsettled but can’t quite give up on the story she is uncovering.

Lisa Jewell is so creative in the way she sets up stories, and this one might be my favorite one yet! I loved the podcast/documentary interspersed in the story to help move things along, answer questions, and bring up more questions! I loved how the characters were written and thought they were so relatable in today's world. We all know an "influencer" and Jewell painted her so well. I think this one is going to be the book to read this fall. Overall, incredible!

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I can always count on Lisa Jewell for a fun, twisting, and maybe, at times, disturbing read. With none of this is true, she really hit the mark on all 3 . I normally read a few books at once, but I couldn't with this book, as I couldn't put it down. These are my favorite books the ones that have you so invested you stay up all night to find out how this roller-coaster ends.

Spoilers: This book does contain pedophilia and grooming of a minor. If this is triggering for you, I would avoid it.

Josie is out celebrating her birthday, like a sadsack, with her husband she can barely stand, quietly sipping on soup. She sees a gorgeous blonde with a gaggle of friends also celebrating her birthday, and she can't help but follow the blonde (Alix) to restroom. She tells Alix they are "birthday twins" and learns they are the same age and were born at the same hospital. Alix turns out to be a prevalent podcaster with a large social media presence. Josie begins to place herself in the position to see Alix and sparks up conversation, which leads to Josie inserting herself in Alix's life when she suggests they do a podcast together.

First off, let me say that I inhaled this page-turner of a book. I loved the format of podcase/netlfix documentary style, then the switch off between Alix's point of view and Josie's point of view. I love a good unreliable narrator. This book was positioned to be my favorite read of the summer UNTIL then end. And man oh man, what a let down. In order to keep my review spoiler free I will say that I was so gravely disappointed by the redemption arc of a certain character. There is no redemption for that man, and also the sentence about "some would say a bad man" is so mind-boggling infuriating. Another undeserving man gets a redemptive arc at the end, of course a man. But then the complete and utter woman-shaming/blaming of one particular mother is absolutely bonkers.

"Her boy sits inside every night with eyes wide staring at a screen. Her girl cries over mean things said to her by other girls on a piece of plastic and glass she allows her to have access to. Her husband hands her cash as if she put a gun to his head. She sits in her recording studio pulling words out of women who've had a much harder life than her, who have suffered and survived, who have worked so hard and succeeded against all odds.... [but] she is not a feminist, she is not anything, she is a trinket, a flibbergibbet..."

Special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Atria Books, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.