A podcaster gets into more than she bargains for when she agrees to record the life of a woman celebrating her 45th birthday at the same restaurant and day as the podcaster's own 45th birthday celebration. The Birthday Twin is not what she at first seems.

Suspenseful, with intriguing personalities, who may not seem quite true to life because of their psychological makeup. But it does make for some entertaining reading.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
Genre: thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: ebook

Pick this one up if you…
🎙️need a good thriller in your life
🎙️want a book with an eerie vibe that isn’t TOO scary
🎙️love an unreliable narrator
🎙️like true crime podcasts and documentaries

I find thrillers to be most enjoyable when you go into them knowing as little as possible! This book is no different. I had no idea what it was about, and as I read, I had no clue where it was going! It was fast paced and hard to put down because I HAD to find out what happened next.

I liked that this book wasn’t very graphic or scary but still had a very eerie vibe the whole time. The format of this book was very unique - a mix of a typical narrative with glimpses into a podcast and Netflix show. You also get multiple POVs!

You’ll think about this book for a while after finishing it - that last chapter really threw me for a loop!!

A HUGE thank you to Atria Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest review. None of This is True comes out August 8th!

Ah - this must be an unreliable narrator. Or no, maybe she's an unreliable narrator? Oh, certainly...this must be the unreliable narrator. Man - my head is still swimming after devouring Lisa Jewell's newest novel. The title None of This is True really tells it all and I'm still doubting what I read or what is actually the truth of the story!

When birthday twins Alix and Josie happen upon each other while celebrating their 45th birthdays at the same pub, their lives become linked in multiple ways and with disastrous consequences. Alix is successful, happily married, pursuing her podcasting dreams, and raising two young children. She's out celebrating with a whole crew of lively revelers. Josie, in contrast, is out for a quiet night with her husband, not so happily married, estranged from one daughter and with another daughter who lives as a recluse.

As Josie entangles herself into Alix's life, she thinks she starts to understand her, her story, and her relationships...but can we ever truly know what's going on behind another's door?

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC of None of This is True.

A brilliant story about two very different women and the terrifying lengths that one of them will go to become a legend in her own right. I gobbled up this story in a few hours. I was consumed by the plot, the characters and the podcast segments sprinkled throughout. I enjoyed the darkness of the plot, the complexity of these women and their shared struggles with family, career and secret histories. A perfect title, a reminder that I had to keep in the back of my mind, as one character is as unreliable as they come. I still have some questions, which makes me wonder further whether some parts I read were truth, or again, a fictional web. I’m not mad about that!

Alix Summers, a well know podcaster, crosses paths with her birthday twin, Josie Fair, on the night of their 45th birthday. They meet again after Josie has time to listen to Alix’s podcasts and suggests that she is on verge of great changes in her life and it would potentially make a good podcast. Soon Alix finds herself in the middle of her own true crime podcast.

None of This is True was one roller coaster of a ride of ups and downs, twists and turns, steep drips and even a time or two when I was completely in the dark. Even after finishing, my legs are a little shaky, I’m slightly nauseated, but want to get right back in line. Lisa Jewell does a great job of truly creating dark and deeply disturbing psychological thriller that I had a hard time putting down.

Lisa Jewell is an auto buy author for me. So when I saw I was approved for this on NetGalley, I dove in as quickly as I could.

None of This Is True was so incredibly suspenseful! It had all the makings of an incredible thriller and then Jewell turned that on it’s head. The unreliable narrators, the idea that you know something is just off with everyone involved, the lies, the TENSION. It was so good.

I also have not been thrilled by the idea of podcasts involved in books but I so enjoyed the formatting of this one. I loved that we got to know Josie’s story not only through her POV but also through the podcast transcripts as well as using different interviews on the podcast to poke holes in Josie’s truth. And to include a Netflix true crime documentary element! Brilliant.

While I originally felt like I was going to be bored because the plot seemed so predictable, I was quickly enthralled. And then in typical Jewell fashion, a twist was thrown in that made my jaw drop and made me question EVERYTHING I thought. I loved it so much. I don’t know if I will ever trust anyone ever again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by Lisa Jewell, but definitely not the last. None of This is True is everything I love about thrillers - dark, twisty, clever, disturbing and shocking right until the very end. I read this on one day because I couldn’t put it down. I knew Josie had ulterior motives for wanting to tell her story to Alix, but I had no idea what those motives were or who she really was. There was something off about her from the beginning, but I would never have guessed just how “off.” Brilliant writing that keeps you on the edge of your seat up until the end, one shocking piece after another.

Oooohhh, this is a good one! It keeps you hooked and guessing all the way through to the end, and then even after that. Very creepy but entertaining. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Devoured this new psychological thriller in a day. It was an addictive page-turner with extremely well written characters - Josie and Alix. Interspersed between chapters were interviews filmed for a Netflix series called “The Birthday Twin.” I absolutely loved that the author did this, as it added another layer to the story, and kept me guessing and reading as fast as I could to find out the truth. Dark, tense, suspenseful, with a chilling ending!

Okay. Wowza. I had to take a day after finishing this to collect my thoughts on it. This book is VERY good.

I think people are going to make comparisons between this book and Verity by Colleen Hoover because of the letters at the end. But I think they’re honestly very different books for several reasons, and I liked this one FAR more. There’s so much depth to book; it is so intricate with the podcast, the Netflix documentary, and the narrative itself. When it ended, I wasn’t exactly left thinking WHAT IS TRUE so much as being left with this really satisfying theory of which parts are true, with an understanding that our “villain” is CRAZY, a poignancy for what so many characters suffered and lost, and a final little eeriness for what is left out there.

None Of This Is True
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am speechless. Lisa Jewel is keeping her throne as one of my favorite authors after reading this chilling psychological thriller. This story made me want to shout at the characters to trust your instincts, but then left me questioning my own instincts at the end.

The story follows two women who were born on the same day, in the same hospital, 45 years ago. Alix Summers, a successful podcaster with the big house, husband who funds her expensive lifestyle, and two children. Josie Fair, a women married to a man nearly double her age who she was seeing since the age of 16, two adult children who gave her trouble, which one ran away at 16. When fate brought them together, Josie saw it as a sign and approached Alix about making a podcast about her troublesome life. Alix who wanted a change in her life to distract her from her husband going on drinking benders each weekend, accepted the offer and started a new podcast to showcase the life of Josie. As the interviews go on, Alix is horrified about the chilling life of Josie Fair. Letting Josie into her life might be great for the Podcast, but the reader soon finds out how detrimental it can be to Alix’s life.

This will be a great bookclub pick because of the unreliable narrators, second guessing, and an ending that will leave you rethinking everything you thought you understood. I loved the format of podcast interviews intertwined with a Netflix new release on the story of these women. Lisa Jewel outdid herself with this domestic psychological thriller, I could not put it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for gifting me an early copy of this book. Below you'll find my honest review.

This was my first novel by Lisa Jewell, and it will NOT be my last. This story was a total mind-screw in all the good ways. You didn't know who to trust. You could see the characters get sucked into a world of crazy, completely oblivious to the impending doom (or completely ignoring all the red flags).

There are some potential trigger warnings for this one, including things that involve kids and older adults, domestic violence, alcoholism, etc.

Overall, this one was sufficiently twisty and turny, and a really compelling read. Once I get about 40% of the way in, it got extremely difficult to put down until I had finished.

Absolutely smashing success at creating a gripping thriller. Definitely will read more of hers, and highly recommend this one to thriller/suspense novels.

I think this was Lisa Jewell's best work to date. I had to ignore my family, laundry, and work, so I could fully devour this novel. Twists and turns on almost every page, this novel will keep you entertained up until the end.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell
@LisaJewellUK
Pub date August 8, 2023
5 stars

When Josie see’s vibrant Alix celebrating her birthday in a restaurant, she realizes they’re ‘birthday twins’. Alix, a popular podcaster, and Josie, reclusive and odd, meet again and Alix decides to have Josie on her podcast, at Josie’s urging – as a series – which will give the two women plenty of time to get to know one another. As Alix and Josie spend more time together recording the series, it becomes clear that Josie has some disturbing secrets.

Deeply unnerving, this book is a gripping thrill ride of deception and manipulation. There are no dull moments, and the twists are exceptional, making this one of my favorites this year. A true page-turner!

My thanks to @AtriaBooks for this gifted copy.

Oh my gosh, this book had me on the edge of my seat. I was truly so perplexed on where the story was going to go - loooove unreliable narrators and unexpected twists and turns! This book was just such a good time to read and I binged it in about 2 days! Lisa Jewell is just top notch

Dear Lisa,
WHAT THE F$@%&^???

Love,

Amber.

But in all seriousness- that was messy, triggering and I loved every second of it. This is quite possibly her best book yet! Make sure this one is on your TBR yall!

This was a spactacular thriller. Alix and Josie were such intriguing characters. This book kept me guessing the whole time. Highly recommend if you enjoy thrillers.

BOOK REVIEW
None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Publication date: August 8th, 2023

Lisa Jewell seamlessly weaves a story web as we dive into the past through podcast sessions and to a present day crime documentary. This story had so many layers that unfold before you and you have a pinboard in your head trying to uncover the missing pieces.

The book's ambiance mirrors the style of the infamous Serial podcast but with a twist as it flashes to a future documentarv where the story slowly unravels.

Behind the cutesy podcast title, "Hi! I'm Your Birthday Twin!" lurks a dark story of Josie's life from growing up with a narcissistic mother to marrying a man 20+ her senior at 18yo, to having two strangely dark children, the story of Josie's life begins to pours its darkness into the life of the interviewer, Alix, and she soon finds herself drowning.

One of the most impressive thriller books I've read in a long time with an unshakable feeling of being watched. It begs you to question, who is the real victim?

Read if you'd like to try
- Multiple POVs
- True crime elements
- Interview style dialogues
- Netflix "You" energy
- Questionable characters

4.5 stars

I have always been a big Lisa Jewell fan, and I was so excited for her newest release, especially after it received some early hype from other trusted reviewers.

Synopsis: Josie and her much older husband, Walter, go out to a pub to celebrate her 45th birthday. While out, they cross paths with Alix, a famous podcaster, who happens to also be celebrating her birthday. The two women learn that they're "birthday twins," and Josie becomes intrigued with Alix's glamor and energy. What follows is a story of alternating points of view, including pieces from a Netflix podcast/documentary called, "Hi, I'm Your Birthday Twin." This structured worked particularly well in audio format, as they produced it with a full cast and sound effects. Things start to take twisty turns, and it is easy to get caught in the suspense-- Jewell has such a talent for this. I had picked up on the larger concept/arc of this story from reading books that were similar, but it still worked very well. This would make for an excellent book club pick, as the ending leaves plenty of room for discussion.

Wow! A tension filled page turner of the highest order with an ending that will blow your socks off! This is a book that will grant the mesmerized reader a good deal of sleepless moments while glued to the pages! I was so tense when I went to bed and if it weren’t for the hour on the clock, I would have consumed this in one sitting. Aside for chapters told in alternate voices, the book was written with podcast transcriptions and scenes from a Netflix documentary that made it feel it was a true crime podcast such as Serial. This technique greatly added to the suspense and foreboding crackling through the dialogue.

Alix Summer was a 45-year-old successful podcaster who specialized in stories of successful women overcoming adversities but recently felt she needed to take a new direction. When she goes to a pub to celebrate her birthday, she meets Josie Fair who coincidentally is celebrating her 45th as well. Josie looks longingly at Alix and her friends, devises a scheme to run into her again, and pitches Alix doing a story about her life as she is about to make great changes. As Alix is intrigued at this new angle, she invites Josie to come to her recording studio to begin the process. What spews out of those conversations were dark unsettling secrets that Josie professed, making Alix nervous about what she has gotten herself into. The unfolding of her story becomes more and more sordid while simultaneously Josie ingratiates herself into Alix’s life and home. Something new would come out each time, like dealing out one piece of popcorn only to find more in the bag. At the risk of delving into spoiler territory, I won’t say more. However, if you don’t run out and read this summer hit, you will be sorry. If you like thrillers, coupled with some dead bodies, abuse and lies this is yours to savor. I think it’s her best book!