Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Nothing But the Truth

Nothing but the Truth is an interesting novel that has more depth to it than I originally thought.

Holly James offers a #MeToo novel that disguises itself as a romance novel. I would definitely say the romance is a subplot within this book and the main focus is the shit women have to put up with on a daily basis just be accepted by society as well as the bullshit we are told we must deal with when working with cis men. I liked that Holly James ventured into this topic and it was especially intriguing as Lucy works within a PR firm.

The premise is essentially that Lucy wakes up on her 30th birthday unable to tell a lie. I loved getting to navigate this new found truth within Lucy's life as she is struggling to understand why the things she used to "love" and just naturally put up with are no longer things that she is willing to deal with. This idea that we could wake up on a monumental birthday and really just say fuck this shit is such a nice idea. Although Lucy almost uproots her life completely, I love the honesty that Nothing But the Truth offers and it lends for an easy read even though the major plot point is that a bunch of the women at this firm have been Sexually Harassed or Assaulted by the CEO.

If you are looking for a book that is quick but also offers a lot of good insight about womanhood, I would really recommend this novel!

Content Warnings

chellesofbooks's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

3 stars

When I first starting reading Nothing But The Truth, I thought it was cute and inspiring - why do women conform to standards that can be rather uncomfortable? Lucy spends her birthday unable to lie, and this is both revolutionary and exasperating, depending on the situation.

There was a storyline about sexual harassment with Lucy and her boss that, whilst written tastefully enough, felt more thrust in to echo the feminist "fuck the patriarchy" stance this book was beginning to incessantly shout. I found myself grow weary of every interaction being about how women suffer and watching the fmc get everything her way with little to no consequence.

And sure, this was part of the wish concept for the story, but it was hard to navigate at times, especially when everything in this story happens in one day. I honestly struggled to keep up with what time everything was happening at, and this fateful 24 hours felt long enough to be three days instead.

The romance was cute, but with the feminist narrative, it contradicted things. Adam seemed too good to be true, and the way Lucy simpered for him in one breath and was taking on the media coverage about her sexual harassment in the next was a lot to swallow.

I think a lot of the messages are worth hearing, especially if you identify as a woman and subject yourself to the conformities listed in this novel. However, I just found it a little too much and it distracted my attention away from what was otherwise a really sweet story.

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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2.0

Finished reading: July 28th 2023

"Did you stop by to smash yet another pillar of the patriarchy, or are you here to chat?"

I admit that I added this title mainly because it fitted one of the bonus prompts for the POPSUGAR challenge, but I did like the premise of Nothing But The Truth and its similarities to the movie Liar Liar. The lowish rating had me a tad worried, but it sounded like a fun read and I had still hopes for it. Sadly, it wasn't ment to be in the end. What I thought was going to be a quick and fun read turned out to be an absolute chore to get through. I can't deny that the premise itself has a lot of potential, and this story could have been SO much fun to read. Unfortunately, the author decided to throw a huge feminism brick at us, overshadowing everything else just to get her point across. I don't mind a bit of a feminist angle in my stories, but subtlety is the key and Nothing But The Truth is just about as subtle as a dressed up unicorn with neon lights pointing at it. Seriously, think about a feminist cliche, and you will find it shoved down your throat at some point in the plot. This book forces so many cliche situations and the main character shouting and lecturing others, that the whole point of the premise seems to be lost. I'm honestly not even sure why I kept reading this absolute train wreck of a book other that I was in a way morbidly curious to see how bad things would get... Spoiler alert: let's say I could have just DNFed instead and spared myself the torture. Especially when you take in account just how unbelievable everything that happened to Lucy was, and how in less than a day her life made that big of a turn. And then I'm not even talking about the insta-love and other cringeworthy moments... Oh yes, I'm sad to say that Nothing But The Truth and me most definitely didn't get along.

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atamano's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

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sydfitch's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

Okay. I loved this book. It was a romance where romance wasnt the center. It was PG13. It dealt with real adult issues within a fantastical scenario. I will recommend this book over and over.

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saloniporwal's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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happyreads's review

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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sleeson's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this one. I was shocked. Shocked because I thought the story was going to be set up like the movie Liar Liar starring Jim Carey. But this was such a relatable novel surrounding all the pressures women go through on the daily. It presents the perfect amount of feminist encouragement while also featuring strong characters uniting together. There was only one hole in the storyline towards the end, but I listened on audiobook so I may have missed it. Mild swearing. No sexual content. I may buy this for my niece.

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