Josie and Alix meet in a pub on their shared 45th birthday. Alix is beautiful and charismatic and surrounded by a boisterous group of equally glamorous friends. Josie is frumpy, clad in denim, and celebrating with only her much, MUCH older husband. When Alix agrees to make Josie the subject of her next podcast, Josie inserts herself into Alix’s life with devastating consequences.

This book was WILD. I couldn’t put it down. Tons of twists and surprises and dark, complex characters. I loved it. The podcast/Netflix documentary sections were especially well, and there wasn’t a dull moment. This is the best book I’ve read by Jewell - existing fans will lose their minds and new readers are in for a treat.

This psychological thriller by Lisa Jewell is about secrets and obsession. Beautiful and sophisticated Alex Sumner has a popular podcast that is coming to an end. She also shares a birthday with dark and secretive Josie Fair. After briefly meeting a restaurant, Josie approaches Alix with a new podcast idea. Going against Alix’s gut feeling that something isn’t right with Josie, she agrees to start this new podcast centering the life story Josie has to tell. While this book kept my interest and had a spectacular ending, I did not like either of the main characters. Other than that this was another enjoyable mystery/thriller from Lisa Jewell.

Wonderfully well written. Great story line, I read it in one long sitting. Could not put it down. Recommend to all. Especially Lisa Jewell fans

I’m speechless after reading this bone-chilling, dark, twisty, mind-bending thriller, one of Lisa Jewel's best works.

After reading a few pages, you find yourself drawn into a riveting psychological thriller with unreliable characters, shocking revelations in podcast meets documentary blending in the narration of incidents by hours and dates. It starts slow but the sinister feeling tingles beneath your neck, warning you bad things are about to come and sooner all hell breaks loose. So many red flags appear in your vision as you keep flipping the pages. In the second half, things get escalated! You barely hold your screams as more tragic events follow each other. It’s like listening to a concerto slowly raise its tempo and as you reach the ending, you hear the crescendo: that’s the moment the earth-shattering revelation squeezes your heart, and you barely breathe!

I have so many words for the ending that is not enough to express my feelings. It’s heartbreaking, shocking, eerie, unsettling, and disturbing!

The storyline revolves around two women who share the same birthday, was born in the same city, and hospital, and chose the same place to celebrate their 45th birthday. One of them is Alix Summers; a famous podcaster promoting aspiring women who take their second chances in life to achieve bigger things. The other woman is Josie Fair, married with her husband two times older than her, mother of 2 daughters in her twenties, and a teen mother, who is unsatisfied with her life and her unaccomplished dreams.
On the other hand, Alix lives in her dream house, happily married, with two young children. Her husband’s late benders start to damage their marriage. She wants a distraction not to confront her problems.
Josie is adamant about involving in Alix’s life, creating coincidences to bump into her around her children’s schoolyard. When Josie starts to tell her about her traumatic life, Alix thinks she already found the distraction she needed. Using Josie’s story who wants to make imminent changes in her life may attract her audience’s attention.
But Josie seems like more than telling her story, lurking around Alix’s house, trying to be part of her life, and criticizing her marriage.
The things Josie confesses during the podcast recording scare the living daylights of Alix. Is Josie a survivor of years-long abuse, neglect, and traumatic experiences? Could Alix help her birth twin for setting her free from her torturous life?
Or did she invite trouble into her own house by accepting to make this podcast?
When Josie knocks on her door in the middle of the night, Alix realizes things can get more out of control and nothing as it seems.

Overall, it’s one of the stories that stay with you for years, still giving you goosebumps at each time you remember the characters and main events. It took my breath away! I think I’m not going to get peaceful sleep for a long time. The birthday twins’ story may haunt me forever! Dear Lisa Jewel perfectly achieved rock my world again!

I am giving my highly deserved five stars to this mind-numbing, complex, highly sinister, perfectly developed, and executed novel!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this brilliant novel of digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Oh, my sweet goodness, Lisa Jewell, you wizard. This was the most straightforward five-star review I've ever handed out. I've been a fan of the Brit. author for quite some time now and was anxiously wondering if I would receive advanced access to None of This is True, and when that beautiful advanced galley came in the mail, I fell out. Also, getting it through NetGalley on my Kindle was a joy, so thank you very much to Atria Books, NetGalley, and the excellent Lisa Jewel.

I finished this book in a day and a half, and I do genuinely believe that this book is her best one yet. Alix Summers is celebrating her 45th birthday at a local pub when she bumps into a unique woman in the pub's restroom, Josie, with who she shares a birthday. After a few days, Alix bumps into Josie again, and Josie positions a podcast topic for Alix's series featuring women who undergo incredible sequences in life. Alix obliges but slowly learns that Josie either isn't who she's making herself out to be or has had a rather unfortunate upbringing.

As each episode records, we understand that Josie married her much older husband of 42 years old when she was 18, after some much. Suspected grooming. She has two children, one daughter who fled the home at 16, and the other a recluse. After a double date dinner at Alix's home goes south, and Josie shows up on Alix's porch step, seeking refuge in her broken and mangled attire, the following events will set off like a flare that none of us saw coming.

Hang on for this CHUNKY book to unfold throughout the format of interviews, messages, and entries into the madness that comes along with placing your trust in a complete stranger and navigating through the web of lies that they ultimately spin.

Thank you @netgalley for my ARC of None of This is True by Lisa Jewell.

This was a wild ride with lots of twist and turns. The characters are unreliable and fairly unlikable and you don't know if you can trust any of them through to the end. I thought the podcast aspect and how she weaved in the pandemic was done well. There is some grooming, which made me feel icky as a middle aged woman with a teenaged daughter. I'm not sure I liked how it was handled/explained.

Josie Fair is out to dinner with her husband to celebrate her 45th birthday. She sees another woman her age also celebrating her 45th birthday and tries to befriend her. Alix hosts a podcast that centers around women who have changed their live. Josie wants Alix to interview her about her life. As the two become intertwined, secrets are revealed and characters are in danger. What is real and what is the truth?

QOTD: Do you like books with ambiguous endings or leave questions unanswered?

I loved this clever story and its characters. A complicated and unsettling guessing game of truth and lies that pulled me in.

This is Lisa Jewell's best book yet. In true fashion it had me on the edge of my seat, reading nonstop till I got to the end. Great character development and plot twists.

Lisa Jewell’s new book does not disappoint with twists and turns until the very end. Josie and Alex meet on the night of their 45th birthdays because they are both celebrating at the same restaurant. What follows as their lives become intertwined will keep you guessing what is true. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Yeah okay the foreword was right, I’ll have to sit on it a bit to know for sure but I think this is my favourite Jewell. I have a book comparison I want to make & maybe will make once it’s out there more but I’m afraid it’ll give some of it away so I won’t yet.

I can’t say I was surprised by the ending but I was surprised by how it finished if that makes sense (I know it doesn’t but GUYS it does). I read this entire book today and can’t remember the last time a Jewell had me sold like that.

I loved to hate the main character for the whole thing. I also liked the mix between the podcast, different POVs and the Netflix show throughout. I think I also loved it because I just watched the Murdaugh Murders last night so this whole book had me playing the true crime Netflix doc in my head.

I really think this is the future format of some thrillers + unlike 56 days where I yelled too soon, this handled the Covid references PERFECTLY. Few + far between but added to the reality of it (even though it’s not a book you reach for if you’re looking for reality).

Cannot WAIT to see some more reviews on this one.

Definite TW for grooming, death of a loved one, eating disorders, alcoholism + gun violence.

I have loved Lisa Jewel’s other books so I was really looking forward to reading this new book. I found the storyline of None of This is True interesting and unusual, although the ending was not satisfying. The ending was confusing. I thought there would be a big twist, but I have a lot of questions in my mind after finishing the book, even after re-reading the ending two times. I was hooked all the way until the few chapters at the end.

This may be my second new favorite book of Lisas! Alix Summer has a successful podcast that features women who have overcome extreme difficulties and hardship, to lead happy and successful lives.
Alix herself has a pretty good life too - a smart ultra-modern home in London, two beautiful children, a husband that she loves - you get the picture, life’s pretty good in the main, although her husband Nathan does have a tendency to go on benders from time to time, which Alix finds worrying. Whilst celebrating her 45th birthday at the local pub with family and friends, Alix is approached by a woman in the restroom who introduces herself as Josie Fair and tells her that they’re ‘birthday twins’ as it’s her 45th birthday too. A few days later Josie comes to Alix as she’s waiting to pick her children up outside school, and says she’s been listening to her podcasts recently, and wants to know if Alix will feature her, not as a successful woman, but as a woman who has some dark secrets but is about to change her life completely. After time thinking Alix thinks she would make a rather interesting topics, so she decides let's try it out! Which turns out to be a bad choice. Soon discovers that Josies isn't exactly who she try's to portray she is. As the podcasts continue you'll learn so much more. SUCH a wonderful read!

This is Lisa Jewel at her best! What a tale and in the final pages, I'm still left with questions. Amazing characters, and a unique approach as told they the lens of a Netflix documentary. I had an inkling that all was not what it seemed, but this story unveiled in a way Zi could not predict. Who is telling the truth? You may never be sure. Must read!!! I devoured it i. A single sitting!

Welp, someone is at the top of her game (hint: It's Lisa Jewell). It's twisty, it's creepy, it's occasionally sinister. It leaves you doubting your own perception in that good good way. My early copy had several editing errors that will, hopefully, be addressed before publication.

A very cleverly written plot, switching between the two protagonists points of view, a pod cast and a Netflix documentary, it's not only unique but utter genius storytelling!

The night of Alix's 25th birthday she meets another woman, also out celebrating her 25th birthday and it also transpires that they were both born in the same hospital much to the delight of the other woman, Josie, who then declares they are birthday twins.

Alix is a popular podcaster who has just finished her series called 'All Woman' about successful women, and it is from these podcasts that Josie see's a way into Alix's life. She asks Alix if she would do podcast about her life and how now at age 25 is on the cusp of real change, and she thinks Alix is the perfect person to tell her story.

As her All Woman podcasts have come to an end, and also intrigued by what Josie has to say she agrees to a trial recording session, turning into a podcast called 'Hi i'm your birthday twin', but whatever Alix thought Josie's was going to tell her soon turns into something dark and disturbing.

I got sucked into this book right from the start and binged read it in under two full days, i literally didn't want to put it down.

Although the premise of the book being told in several different ways may sound strange, but trust me, it works, if anything it works too well, it leaves parts on cliffhangers so you can't stop reading as you need to know what happens next!

None of this is true will be published on the 20 July 2023 it is available to preorder now from your local bookshop, library
A massive Thank You to the author Lisa Jewell, publishers Random House UK and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Received this book from NetGalley and WOW! What a twisted little delight of a story. Could not put this book down. Lisa Jewell is the best! A real Jewell of an author.

This book was WILD. How do you know when someone is telling the truth? When you should offer help or protect yourself? This book meddles with those two questions over and over. When podcaster Alix is approached by Josie on her birthday, little does she know that her life is about to change. Josie shares tragic, chaotic, and even alarming things about her past meeting her husband who is over 40 years older than her and the strange rumors about her children.
I’m still thinking about this ending. This was a book I could have finished in one setting!

4.5⭐️ I devoured None of This is True in a matter of hours and it may just be my favorite by Lisa Jewell book yet! The story totally consumed me and kept me reading anxiously the entire time.

Synopsis: Alix, a popular podcaster, is celebrating her 45th birthday at a local pub when she is approached by Josie Fair who is also celebrating her 45th. Josie quickly becomes infatuated and a few days later she purposefully bumps into Alix and insists that he has a story worth telling on her podcast. Despite how strange Josie is, Alix cannot resist and decides to call the segment “Hi! I’m Your Birthday Twin.” As Alix learns more about Josie, it is clear she is hiding some very dark secrets and it is not before long that Josie deeply immerses herself into Alix’s life.

Thoughts: This story had it all! It was dark, twisty, chilling, atmospheric and fast-paced, which differs from the Jewell’s typical slow burns. The plot was so cleverly crafted and both protagonists were intruiging and I loved the alternating POVs. At times I did question why Alix didn’t act upon Josie’s supicious behaviors but was so okay with suspending the disbelief. The ending was left a bit ambiguous and did make me wonder if Jewell will be back writing another sequel.

Read if you like:
-Psychological thrillers
-Netflix documentaries
-Podcast segments
-Dual POVs

Thank you Atria books for the ARC! Pub date 8/8!

None of This Is True
By Lisa Jewell
Pub Date: August 8,2023
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This was a twisty, edge of your seat, can’t sleep masterpiece. I was drawn in from the first page!
I loved that it was written in three parts. Great ending as well!
This is my favorite Jewell book!

Definitely a 5 star!

From my blog: Always With a Book

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite thriller writers and so when I got an early copy of her upcoming book, which isn’t due out until August, I literally dropped everything and started reading it that second. Now if you know anything about my reading habits, especially when it comes to ARCs (advanced reading copies) – I don’t tend to do that. I usually read them much closer to pub date…but I just couldn’t resist with this one and I ended up finishing it in just two sittings – and that was only because I started it late in the day and had to sleep, otherwise this would have been a one-sitting read!

I loved this book! It’s deliciously clever and twisted and I flew through it. Once I started, there was no stopping and I knew, other than that pesky thing called sleep, that nothing was going to stop me from reading this one until I was done. It grabbed me from the beginning, and I just loved how everything was laid out – the podcast, the characters and not knowing who I could trust, and the idea of birthday twins and that being the vehicle that gets our main characters together. There is something off about Josie and once Alix starts talking to her during the podcast interviews, things get a little unnerving to say the least. And that’s just the start of it!

This story is full of some of the most crazy and memorable characters – it’s hard not to want to give you the details but to do so would be to start treading into spoiler territory and I certainly do not want to do that. Just trust me when I say you won’t be forgetting any of these characters anytime soon. Add in a horrifying discovery, some crazy twists and you have the makings of one binge-worthy read!

I know this book doesn’t come out until August but trust me when I saw you want to put this one on your list. Pre-order it, get in your library holds, do whatever you need to do to get your hands on this one because you are definitely not going to want to miss it! I’ve loved every single book I’ve read by Lisa Jewell, and I think this one might be her best one yet!