Lisa Jewell is one of my favorites, so I was extremely excited to be able to read an arc of her newest one, None of This is True.

In true Jewell fashion, she sucked me in right from the beginning. The premise & storyline of the book was really unique with Alix & Josie’s friendship and how they became friends because they share a birthday. Even though the podcast aspect of books seems to be extremely popular at the moment and a little played out, she spun it in a different way. I enjoyed the twists, but was waiting for that big jaw dropping moment, and unfortunately it fell a little short for me. But all in all, I enjoyed it!

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Atria books, & Lisa Jewell for this e-arc!

I have read every one of Jewell’s thrillers and this one is near the top! I have not read a book with characters as unhinged and unpredictable in years. This was a non stop, stay up late to finish read. Do not sleep on this title, people will be talking about this book!

I say this every year when a new Lisa Jewell thriller comes out but I have to credit this author for getting me back into reading in 2018 when I was roaming the Charlotte airport and stumbled upon WATCHING YOU. This was pre-pandemic and pre-bookstagram so I had no idea how loved Lisa is in the thriller community. After pounding through my first book by her I became obsessed: I checked out every thriller by her at the time from the library and nowadays I champion all her new publications.

Allow me to introduce you to a summer 2023 thriller you’re going to want to mark your calendars for: NONE OF THIS IS TRUE

👯‍♀️: Popular podcaster, Alix Summers, crosses paths with an unassuming woman named Josie Flair who shares the same birthday as her
🎙️: A few days later, they bump into each other again and Josie mentions she has listened to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she would be a good candidate to be the next subject of her podcast series
🤫: As their time together wears on, Alix starts to realize that Josie is hiding some very dark secrets
🏠: Josie eventually inveigles her way into Alix’s life and into her home
📺: Along the way, Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s life in grave danger

Lisa truly outdid herself with this thriller, which is no easy feat after being in the thriller game for over a decade! The pacing was fast and the reveals were perfectly placed!

I always love when the integral part of the story is broken up with inserts of newspaper clippers or blog posts, which in this case was the Netflix blurbs of Alix’s podcast, Birthday Twins, brought to life in documentary form. Hey Netflix… if you see this, why not truly bring this thriller adaptation to life? 😉

I would love to speak more on this book, but it would be spoilers galore! 🔪

We’re still a few months out from the US publication of NONE OF THIS IS TRUE (August 2023) but just know that this is a thriller you’re going to want as soon as it hits shelves!

The little spark that ignites when one finds out they share a birthday with a stranger is the jumping point for Lisa Jewell’s newest thriller. Housewife Josie Fair and podcaster Alix Summer end up in the same pub, on the same night, celebrating their identical 45th birthdays and what should have ended as a small anecdote to share in the future, turns into an obsession with ultimately deadly consequences. Josie doggedly pursues Alix’s friendship and their relationship evolves as they decide to work together on a new podcast. As Alix learns more about Josie’s life, the seemingly meek woman reveals herself as sinister in her manipulations, and what was once a memoir-style show quickly becomes a true-crime podcast. Jewell is a master at creating thrillers with intriguing characters and unreliable narrators and she once again shines with her newest offering.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read None of This Is True. This book immedicately sucked me in, was fast paced and got dark during some moments.. I really enjoyed Alix, Josie and the development of all of the characters.. I was waiting for that big jaw dropping twist but it just never came to me, It was easy to determine what was going on so the last 10% was kinda dull. I did enjoy it, I will recommend this to other readers and I do believe this will be a top book for a lot of people for 2023.

I am in the minority with this book. I felt it was OK, but didn't live up to the hype .I found the story hard to get in to and then predictable. Maybe I expected too much? Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early read in exchange for my honest review.

I was engaged from the opening page of this book. Didn’t especially like the interview/ Netflix script initially but was won over by the story anyway. Binged the book actually! And loved it!

I’m sick in bed and read this book cover to cover in one sitting. I rarely get sick and lately, I’ve been rarely reading, but really hoping this just ended my slump!

I own several books by Lisa Jewell, but this is the first one I’ve read.

This book had everything I love in a thriller. The setting was well done. The characters were well developed to the point that I not only rooted for them (and against them), but I also felt like I knew them. I thought I had things figured out, but I never did. Even when all the twists seemed to have been revealed, she still has one last hit at the end.

The book goes back and forth between the 2 main women in the book and really explores the role of narcissistic parents and the effects they have on their children. I really enjoyed this and loved being so engrossed in this story that I literally never put it down. This made me even stop thinking about being sick.

None of This Is True. Was very interesting. I do feel there may be a trigger warning for some (pedophilia). I enjoyed Alix's character and it was interesting to see the development of the other characters and to learn bout their past.

This was such a classic Lisa Jewell book and I absolutely devoured it. The writing was incredible. Giving little snippets of the Netflix show hinting that something went terribly wrong during the podcast. The way the characters were developed and how disturbing Josie was. The multiple twists and turns were incredible. This book was amazing. One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time.

OMG this might be my favorite book from Lisa Jewell. I am a big Lisa Jewell fan so when I seen this on netgalley I had to read it and thank you netgalley I truely love it.
When two women meet by chance they find out they are what they call birthday twins born on the same day they then form a friendship which turns in to a great story full of mystery. This book takes you on a unexceptional ride that you just can’t stop reading about. I highly recommend reading this twisty turbie story. Thank you Lisa Jewell for another great story.

None of This is True was SUCH a good book! It's the story of a podcaster, Alix, and a destress, Josie. Josie is out to dinner on her birthday with her much older husband, Walter. And Alix is out at the same restaurant on her birthday with her husband, Nathan. Josie meets Alix in the ladies room and declares them birthday twins. And then, very soon after Josie shows up at Alix's children's school and invites her for a coffee. Alix has just finished a series on strong women who have made a difference. Josie proposes that she do a series on her coming into her own. And the saga begins.

They do the recordings in Alix's studio which is in her back yard. Josie idolizes Alix and starts stealing things from her. Josie's thinking is that she wants to have a bit of Alix. In the recordings, Josie portrays herself as a woman who was taken advantage of by a much older man. He started dating her when she was 16 and he was 42. He was married but left his wife for her. They married when she was 18. They had two daughters: the oldest was Erin who was a recluse and a world class gamer, and Roxy who was a bit of a problem child and ran away from home at age 16. She doesn't have a good relationship with either daughter. And she feels she would be much better off without Walter.

As Josie is telling her story, Alix decides she wants to interview Walter. Although Josie doesn't think it's a good idea, they decide Alix will host them for dinner. Nathan has a habit of going out drinking with his friends and staying out all night. On the day of the dinner party, Alix asks him to please be home by 7:30 pm, but he doesn't make it. Josie capitalizes on his absence and starts bad mouthing him. Clearly, she doesn't like him one bit. She feels Alix would be better off without him.

Josie and Walter go home and end up having a fight, after which she ends up at Alix's front door at 3:30 am with a battered face. She tells her that Walter beat her up and asks to stay with Alix. While Alix doesn't think it's a good idea, she acquiesces and allows her to stay for a week. At the close of the week Josie thinks she's going to stay longer but Alix tells her that her sisters are coming and there's no room for her. Josie leaves saying she's going to her mother's, which she doesn't.

Before Josie leaves she overhears Alix and Nathan talking. Although her sisters are going to be there she asks Nathan to be home by 7:30. He agrees wholeheartedly and goes out drinking with his mates. While Nathan is out, Josie hires a woman, Katelyn, to show up at the pub and have drinks with Nathan and his friends and to ultimately lure him to a hotel room. Of course he's totally tanked and Katelyn tells him that Alix is going to meet him at the hotel. Once there, Katelyn destroys the room and sends him downstairs to meet Alix, who isn't there, but Josie is. Nathan doesn't like her at all, but she must have told him that she was taking him to Alix because he gets into the car with her. Nathan ends up missing.

In the meantime, Alix has been searching for Josie unsuccessfully. She finally makes an anonymous call to the police for them to do a welfare check at Josie's house where they find Walter dead and Erin strapped to a chair near dead. She's rushed to the hospital.

Eventually Alix meets Roxy and Erin. As a part of Josie's podcast she interviews both girls and learns the truth about Josie. In that learning it is revealed that Walter did not beat up Josie. They had a fight and Josie attacked Walter to a point of him collapsing to the floor having an apparent heart attack. Erin runs out of her room to her father's side. She's furious with Josie because she has witnessed everything. She grabs the remote control and jumps on her mother and beats her upside the head and face.

Alix puts two and two together and comes to realize that Josie had to have something to do with Nathan's disappearance. Thanks to an APB for Josie, she's spotted at a lodging facility on the lake. When the police get there they find blood and decide to drag the lake in search of a body. Unfortunately they find Nathan in the lake, dead. And the search for Josie continues.

After Nathan's funeral Alix decides to make a stellar podcast about the truth about Josie. She includes many interviews including those with Erin and Roxy. She receives an offer to turn it into a documentary

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were extremely well developed; the plot was easy to follow and was well thought out. I use the word "well" twice only because I couldn't think of a better way to say what I mean. When all has been said and done, this book gets five stars.

Josie Fair and Alix Summer find each other in a restaurant one night in London- both out celebrating their 45th birthdays. It turns out they are birthday twins- both born on the same day at the same hospital. The two women couldn't be more different. Alix is a beautiful, happily married podcaster who seems to have it all- loving husband, adorable children, fabulous friends, amazing home. Josie Fair is a quiet, mousy mother to 2 adult daughters, both with serious issues. Her marriage is anything but loving. But Josie is drawn to Alix, and manages to meet her again "by chance" and surprises Alix with a strange idea- a podcast about her! Against her gut feeling that something is off, Alix embarks on a project to uncover the truth about Josie Fair and her life story. What follows is a twisted psychological thriller told from varying perspectives. What is the truth? Does anyone even know?

WOW! Let me start off by saying I have never read a book with this style before and at first it was a little strange but as I kept reading I kept looking forward to the “interviews”. I have told all my friends to pre-order so they can read it! It was such a great read. Lisa surely has an incredible way with words and knows how to draw you in and make you envision what you’re reading!

This is true: I was hooked after reading the title.

"None of This is True" is the brilliant latest offering from one of my favourite authors of twisty psychological suspense thrillers, Lisa Jewell. The title is perfect, for so many reasons, and that’s all I can say about that. Just read it, and you’ll understand.

In this plot, we have two women who meet by chance, when both happen to be celebrating their forty-fifth birthdays at the same pub. Aside from their shared birthdays and married-with-children status, the women, and the lives they lead, are very different. They are brought together on a regular basis, however, when one, Alix, a successful feminist podcaster looking to hit ‘refresh’ on her subject matter, enthusiastically agrees to a series of interviews with the other, Josie, who has just as enthusiastically offered to reveal her compelling life story. And what a compelling story it is. Much more than Alix had ever anticipated.

Obsession seems to take hold with both women, who very much share the spotlight as the main characters in this tale. Just like Alix, I found I couldn't help but want to know more and more about the unusual Josie - particularly the whys behind some of her questionable life choices - despite how unsettled her story was making me feel. In the meantime, Josie can’t seem to resist learning more about Alix. Gradually, Alix begins questioning her own choice in allowing Josie into her life.

True to Jewell’s style, the plot unfolds in eerily delicious layers. Distinct from Jewell's others novels, is the Netflix series layer, whose fictitious "episodes" tease the reader along: All we know, is that something happened, at some point, that turned Alix's podcast into a worthy true crime documentary.

I’ve always enjoyed Jewell’s deftness at making me feel just a tad uncomfortable as I read her novels; she writes the kind of things that make the voice inside my head muse, “Something isn’t quite right here,” or “Okay, that was odd….”. And before I can take another sip of my soothing bedtime tea, that chill starts creeping its way up my spine, and I start distrusting characters I previously thought trustworthy.

As the story delves into the lives and minds of the two female protagonists, we are introduced to a host of other characters, along with unsolved disappearances, and of course, many secrets. There are the husbands - again, like Alix and Josie - who are very different from one another; there are the children, two of whom I found particularly intriguing, for the nuance that surrounds them. And there are a host of other characters that drop clues along the way, sometimes revealing hidden truths, other times muddling the truth.

This is true: "None of This is True" has become one of my favourite Lisa Jewell novels. It’s very much a mystery-within-a-mystery and then some. My only complaint is that I wish it lasted longer, because once I started reading it, I could not put it down until it was finished. If you like psychological thrillers that make you question the sanity of certain characters and the safety of others, then you will very likely enjoy this book. If you are already a fan of Lisa Jewell’s, this novel might just become your new favourite.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, Inc. for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Special thank you to Atria Books, Lisa Jewell & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This book was extremely dark & fast paced. I was sucked into the stories of both Alix & Josie. It was a book I honestly couldn't put down because I was waiting for that big jaw dropping twist but it just never came? It was pretty easy to determine how the book was going to end up so it just fell really flat for me in that aspect.

As a huge fan of Lisa Jewell, this book did not disappoint! I could not put it down from start to finish. So many twists and turns. I did not want it to end!

This was a top notch psychological thriller! Lisa Jewell knows how to write a story that will keep you engaged the whole way through. You are going to want to read this one!

Alix and Josie are birthday twins! They happen to cross paths while out celebrating their 45th birthdays, then meet up again at Alix's kids school. Josie coaxes Alix into interviewing her on her podcast, and then finagles her way into Alix's life. Told through alternate POVs. As it progresses, you get a very unsettling feeling about Josie and what her intentions are. By the end, things are off the rails and Alix's life and her family's is being targeted. I don't want to say much more, but this one has some unexpected twists and kept me on the edge of my seat. There are mentions of alcoholism, pedophilia and abuse, just so your aware.

Out August 8.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon once it publishes.

I loved None of This Is True. It was smart, suspenseful, and fun. Alix and Josie were (at least initially) characters to whom you could relate. The pacing of the book was great. Revelations kept coming but nothing felt forced. This was a true page turner and I will be recommending this widely. It would make an awesome Netflix series, for sure.

Lisa Jewell is one of my thriller Queens and this book was SO GOOD! I think it may be my favorite of hers and trust me when I say READ THIS BOOK! Truly unputdownable and I just love the way Jewell writes her characters. I honestly did not want to stop reading it when I had to sleep but I finished this one as fast as I could. Total binge worthy and this will probably be a top book of 2023 for me! Can't wait to see what Lisa writes next. Thank you to the publisher for an early copy of this book!