Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

7 reviews

badflowerbee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Lisa Jewell really knows how to make a book genuinely suspenseful, and this book absolutely earns the right to call itself a thriller. I often get a little frustrated that I'm able to guess the plot twists and endings of mystery books before all of the exposition is even laid out, but this one pulled me in ten different directions and actually surprised me in multiple instances. It also doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience by overexplaining. It knows we are able to fill in the gaps ourselves, which keeps the pacing up and feels more like natural speech. 
This book also works so much better as an audiobook. Since the story is in the format of a true crime documentary about a podcast, having the voices of different actors speak the bits that are meant to be clips of recordings really enhanced the reading experience. I was so impressed by the writing, the performance, and the story as a whole. A very rare 5-star rating from me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, and Vomit

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was unsettling, claustrophobic, and kept me hooked despite a few minor hiccups. The story leans heavily on slow burn details so if you’re not into character-driven, day-by-day storytelling, it might feel drawn out. If you like character-driven psychological thrillers and don’t mind a story that takes its time to build tension, check it out. 

 

Energy: Dark. Intense. Brooding. 

 

🐕 Howls: The prologue gave away too much—if you haven’t started yet, skip it! It made so many things predictable that I would have preferred to be surprised by. I preferred the text over audio (the Netflix-style excerpts were narrated too fake in the audiobook).

 

🐩 Tail Wags: The push-pull dynamic between the two main characters (one character pushing boundaries relentlessly, the other too polite to push back). Show-not-tell style of piecing together the truth, making predictions. The “situationship” friendship is so well-written. The little “wait, what?” moments dropped throughout. 

 

Scene: 🇬🇧 North London, UK

Perspective: A podcaster with two young kids having trouble with a spouse who is drinking too much and disappearing for nights at a time. A parent with two grown kids reflecting on their life and how they ended up where they are. On their 45th birthday they decide it’s time for a change. 

Timeline: Mostly in summer from June to July 2019. Fast forwards to October 2020 and March 2022.

🔥 Fuel: What is going on with Alix’s and Josie’s husbands? What’s the situation with Josie’s daughters? Who are the victims the documentary keeps referring to? What is it Josie wants to reveal to Alix? Who can we trust? 

📖 Cred: Realistic; truth is stranger than fiction believable.  

 

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Guest room. Awkward dinner party. Dog shit. Benders. Rumbling bus. Pomchi. Liquefied leftovers. Dust& body spray. Inky summer sky. Rainy days. 

• Third person narrator with limited perspective based on character
• Letters, episodes, media, podcast transcripts, documentary recordings
• Secretly in the room, sometimes in the know, sometimes in the dark
• Piecing things together as we go, theorizing on character motivations and what will happen
• Long ‘walls of text’ chapters 
• All the ‘dunnits (Who died? Where? Why? How?)
• Socially awkward, second-hand cringe
• Complex, unreliable characters and imperfect victims
• Character driven slow burns
• Touch of popcorn thriller
• Behind closed doors all in the family dysfunction
• Juxtapositions, lies, and lives unraveling
• Red flags psychological suspense
• Dark domestic drama

 

Content Heads-Up: Abusive parent (toward adult child, recall of childhood). Adult/minor relationship, marriage. Alcohol abuse (black outs, binge drinking). Death. Domestic violence. Drugging. Infidelity (discussion, suspected). Kidnapping. Kleptomania. Loss of parent. Loss of romantic partner. Misandry. Murder. Narcissism. Obsession, manipulation, stalking. Pandemic restrictions (brief recall). Panic attack (brief). Personality disorder/psychopathy. Teen sexual abuse, incest (accusations). Toxic feminism. Toxic parent. 

 

Rep: British. Cis. Hetero. Lesbian. Freckled and pale skin tones. Oppositional defiant disorder. Autism spectrum disorder

 

📚 Format: Kindle

 

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jkull_10's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Great read, hooked from the start. Twisty and completely addictive. Was on the edge of my seat! 4.5 stars cause I was a little annoyed at the ending but that makes it a great book! Absolutely loved the acknowledgments at the end too! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lotusnoelle's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jujubebbe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Listened to the audiobook and it was so well produced!! I enjoyed the book overall, it did drag on a bit here and there.

I don’t feel like that last chapter was a twist. To me, it shows how much of an unreliable narrator Josie is, how deeply her narcissism seeps in. To the point she believes the lies she made up in her head is the truth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

readingwithjass's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting