At this point in Lisa Jewell's career, I shouldn't have to tell you to read her books. This thriller is by far one of her absolute best. It will probably remain in my top 3 books of 2023.

The way her writing hooks you in from the very beginning; it's not a common occurrence in most books. I couldn't put this down. I thought I knew what was happening halfway through, and then boom- she throws multiple twists at you until you truly just have to keep reading.

Pick this one up ASAP. You won't regret it.

Thank you Atria Books for providing me with an eARC of NONE OF THIS IS TRUE!

#bookreview

@lisajewelluk #noneofthisistrue

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a slow start but started to pick up at around the end of part two. The twist was somewhat predictable because of the title, but there was another twist to change your thinking. It brings me back to when I read #Verity by @colleenhoover, where you're not sure what the truth is. Do you believe the main character who is a liar through the whole book or the other character who you barely know and is only in the book for a short time. It also seems this book is possibly set up for a follow-up but could also be left by itself.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

What did I just read?! This book was incredible. I absolutely devoured it. The format incorporates narrative pieces interspersed with transcripts of podcast interviews making it so much fun to get different perspectives. Alix and Josie are incredibly complex and well developed characters. It is incredible how Lisa Jewell is able to write characters so well that you don't really notice when your feelings for them start to change. I highly recommend this book - especially if you can read it in one go.

For most of this book, I was on board and really loving it! The premise was interesting and the podcast set up while flashing back was great.

What I can't get behind is justifying and giving a smooth over for a 42 year old that thought it was okay to accept advances from a 13 yr old (who apparently 'stole' him from her mother) COME ON! In no world, in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM is this okay.

As a child sex assault survivor this book left me feeling all kinds of ICKY.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Lisa Jewell, and honestly I think her best to date, which is saying something! 5 stars!

Josie and her husband, Walter, are celebrating her 45th birthday at a local pub when Josie notices a crowd at another table celebrating the birthday of Alix, a popular podcaster. Turns out, Josie and Alix are birthday twins - born on the same date at the same hospital. Josie has decided that she is due for some changes in her life and thinks she may be an interesting subject for Alix's next podcast, which she proposes to her when they meet again. While recording sessions at Alix's home, Alix is intrigued by Josie's story. But before long, Josie has totally intwined her life into Alix's. Then things really take a bad turn.

Mind blown! I couldn't put this book down and the ending was crazy! I loved the Netflix series and podcast extracts which kept introducing new characters and their stories into the bigger story. The tension kept building and building. You won't be able to trust anyone and I won't give anything away. Definitely a must read!

This book was interesting and out there. Everyone seemed to love this, not sure why I didn’t. I liked it enough to keep reading and wanted to know where the story was going.

Leave it to Lisa Jewell to pull me out of my mystery slump! This kept me hooked from start to finish! The story is told in alternating POVs, which Jewell always does so well, yet it strays a little from her usual format, too. I guessed certain twists, but that did not take anything from my enjoyment of the book overall. This is an author who knows how to write compelling characters, and as a character-driven reader, I much appreciate it. Recommended!

HOLY BANANAS!!! WTF did I just read?!!! Ummm…..WHAT??? 😵‍💫😵

I don’t want to give too much away. I recommend you going in blind! It’s the type of book that will leave your brain spinning. It’s twisty with some whiplash and DARK. I was never really sure what to believe, and this plot was just insane! It’s one you will devour because you just have to know the truth!!!!!!

Two women living two totally different lives…and then their worlds collide. I did get frustrated with Alix a few times about her decisions, but it was all for the good of her podcast.

I loved the formatting! You get podcast snippets all mixed in to scenes from the Netflix documentary (because the story is so bonkers that of course they’d turn it into a show)…AND dual POV of the two main women. Perfectly done 🙌

I highly recommend this one! It might just be my favorite Lisa Jewell book yet….BUT I will warn you…it will leave you with questions!!

Believe the hype! There’s not much for me to say that hasn’t been already blasted all across bookstagram, so just get your hands on this one and enjoy the ride!

4.5/5

Love, love, love…may be a bit biased, as I am a big Lisa Jewel fan!
None of This Is True could be my favorite yet. Dark, chilling, and riveting…lots of books with podcasts as the subject matter, but this is done well.

None of This is True is the dark and disturbing tale of Josie Fair. By chance—or maybe not—Josie meets Alix, and the two have an immediate connection because they share the same birthday. Before the cake and ice cream are even served, the drama begins with a narrative that’s fast-paced, frightening, and unforgettable. But everything is fine. None of this is true. Josie begins to stalk Alex and then diabolically weaves her way into Alex’s life and her house. Is she cunning and conniving or just plain crazy? Josie disappears, and now Alix must find out what is really true and what is not. I won’t lie to you. Josie’s story is appalling and twisted, but the line between facts and falsehoods is so blurred that the reader presses on to try to figure out what is really true.

Author Lisa Jewell dives into some deep and dark waters, cautiously touching on sensitive content involving pedophilia, incest, and child abuse. Remember that none of this is true, right? I enjoyed the psychological inspection of unstable minds. Who is dysfunctional, who is deceptive, and who is just full of the devil? And I admit it. As I turn the final page, I’m still not sure if any of this is true.

Two women who share a birthday end up becoming entangled in one another’s lives. When the situation escalates, one of them realizes the chance encounter may not have been such a coincidence after all. Thriller author Lisa Jewell returns with a page-flipping book true to her genre in her newest novel None of This Is True.

On her birthday, a Saturday evening, Josie Fair wants to do something completely different. Instead of sitting in her flat with her husband and getting a little cake or some takeout, she’s going to go to a local pub to celebrate. For too long, Josie has felt ordinary. She knows others see her that way too. Now that she’s turning 45, she decides it’s time to stop being so boring.

She and her husband, Walter, sit at a quiet table at the pub when a noise alerts them to a loud birthday party several tables over. Josie figures out that the woman who is being celebrated is the same age as her, that they’re “birthday twins.” The woman’s life looks and sounds like everything Josie isn’t: confident; stylish; sociable.

After “bumping into” the woman at the pub, Josie learns her birthday twin is popular podcaster Alix Summers who has built a career by interviewing self-made, successful women. Josie gets an idea for a new podcast series and engineers a friendship with Alix. Her life, she knows, is perfect for listeners, and it’s time she get everything out in the open.

For Alix, it’s like Josie has gift-wrapped the next phase of her career and handed it to her. The episodes on all the amazing women have been great, but Alix has started to get restless. She knows if she wants to maintain her popularity and make it grow, she has to do something new. When Josie suggests Alix interview her about her life and begins to share shocking, intimate details, Alix is a little horrified. She’s also convinced Josie’s story will bring her new listeners for sure.

Then Josie starts to get a little clingy, and her story gets weirder the more she shares. Before long, Alix starts to wonder if she’s in over her head. The things Josie describes don’t seem real or even possible. The more Josie talks and the more Alix observes her, the more Alix thinks Josie may be hiding something. Because there is plenty about Josie’s story that doesn’t make sense either.

As Alix and Josie get closer, their lives become more intwined. Josie begins popping up in Alix’s life regularly until she becomes a fixture in it. Alix does what she can to distance herself from Josie, but it becomes obvious soon enough that Josie won’t leave until she’s decided she’s done with Alix for good.

Author Lisa Jewell settles into her newest book in the psychological thriller genre with ease. Interspersed with the straight narrative form of the novel are excerpts from a Netflix documentary that takes place after the story “ends.” The choice is somewhat risky but works, heightening dramatic tension as Alix and Josie become more and more connected.

Jewell tackles the complicated subjects of grooming and pedophilia while also showing the mental and emotional fallout that occurs in victims when they’ve grown up. Some readers may find the characterization of Walter, Josie’s husband, problematic, but Jewell’s deft prose makes it clear that Walter isn’t a victim. Josie’s reactions, while rooted in the way she was raised, are also a product of her own choices, reiterating the messy, tragic consequences of abuse.

Readers get to hear both Josie and Alix’s sides of the story, and Jewell makes sure Alix’s life isn’t perfect either. An alcoholic husband keeps her up at nights, showing readers Alix is also a victim of sorts as well as paying the cost of her own choices. Both women are three-dimensional, flawed, and come out irrevocably changed.

Those who are fans of Lisa Jewell’s work and other authors like her will definitely want to pick this up.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?

Alix Summer, a podcaster, keeps bumping into Josie, her birthday twin she bumps into a bar turned threat to her and her family. Can Alix get to the bottom of this mysterious and unsettling woman?

Lisa Jewell does it again — proving, yet again, she should be on everyone’s auto-buy list! The alternating perspectives made this an even more addictive read, a puzzle of not knowing who or what to believe!

NONE OF THIS IS TRUE is my new fave Lisa Jewell novel!

The story is unique and SO suspenseful. I couldn’t stop reading. The unreliable characters had me questioning everything. I loved how the documentary and podcast transcripts were sprinkled into the story. So many unexpected twists & an ending I didn’t see coming!

I’m so excited for my book club to read and discuss this next month!!

I really enjoyed this crazy story and it would have been a five star read but was left with too many unanswered questions at the end and am still unsure as to the truth. I really hope the author was leaving room for a sequel as I would love further clarity and more about Erin and Roxy. The book has so many messed up characters and the way that Josie slowly inserted herself into Alix's life was both riveting and creepy. This is a disturbingly entertaining read. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC. 4/5 stars

Birthday Twins! It must be fate when Podcaster Alix Summers and Josie Faith meet while each celebrating their 45th birthdays at the same pub. Looking for a new spin for her podcast, Alix is intrigued when Josie proposes herself as a guest and subject...a woman ready for a change. As Josie's story unfolds, Alix is astonished by some of what she hears, and gets pulled into Josie's life. And Josie for her part, well she only wants better for Alix too.
A spine chilling psychological thriller uniquely told from both POV as well as a future Netflix documentary, the story unfolds in dramatic fashion. Jewell keeps you guessing - she doesn't hide that's what she's doing. From page one I knew I didn't know what was going on! Everyone here is hiding behind secrets.

Podcaster, Alix Summers meets her birthday twin on her 45th birthday. They were born on the same day in the same hospital. This leads her to an idea to do a podcast about her birthday twin - enter Josie. Josie quickly agrees to participate leading them to record several sessions in which she describes her husband as a pedophile and makes many accusations against him. Josie ingratiates herself into Alix' life and suddenly things are going wrong in Alix' life as well.

Wow! This one was wild. I enjoyed the story. The small cast of characters was easy to keep straight. Josie makes for quite the unreliable narrator and you never quite know what is and is not real. I loved the podcast aspect and the way it was worked into the story. I devoured this one and did not expect it to end the way that it did.

The way the story was told from the Netflix and podcast episodes as well as alternating from both women’s perspectives was a great way to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Alix was a little too trusting and naive, and I hated her husband Nathan. I truly wanted better for her. Josie was odd, mysterious, not as innocent as she seemed, and I couldn’t figure her out. Just like Alix, I was totally intrigued by the enigma that was Josie, but she also made me uncomfortable, and I will keep my thoughts on her disgusting husband Walter to myself. However, I also wanted to tell Alix: you in danger girl. The way Josie latched on to Alix was giving me Single White Female vibes.

This definitely held my attention from beginning to end. I stayed up late wanting to finish one more chapter that turned into 5 more chapters, and I just couldn’t put this one down until I knew what was going to happen. There were subtle, sinister undertones, which made Josie even more creepy. This was a disturbing, uncomfortable and dark tale, and the title is very fitting. I didn’t know who or what to believe as the story went on. The way the story unfolds, I thought I was catching the clues, and knew where the story was going. This truly took me on a wild ride, and left me shook. Lisa Jewell is an auto buy author, and this is definitely one of my favorite books of the year!

Honestly is there a Lisa Jewell book that isn't good?

She became an auto buy author for me a long time ago, and I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to read this book in advance of it's publication! Such a great psychological thriller, and definitely bookshelf worthy in my opinion!

“Absolutely spine-chilling stuff, with some shocking glimpses into the darkest corners of humanity: we guarantee you’ll be bingeing the whole thing in a day.”

This quote pretty much sums up how I feel about this book! I was hooked from the beginning and did not want to put it down. I really could not wait to see what would happen next. I also loved the mixed media format - it worked really well for the plot. This is why Lisa Jewell is an auto buy for me! Her books never disappoint.