Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

58 reviews

emilypaigehumble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Murder, Grief, Child death, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Torture, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Drug abuse, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Drug use

alindeman's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Well holy shiiiiiiiit. That was incredible! God what a compelling story. This is the story of a woman sharing her traumatic life story with another woman on a podcast… or is it? 
Because that is the real mystery, the real question you are left with at the end of the book, what is foretold by the books title: what is the truth?
I was a bit surprised that I really found myself rooting for Josie to be good, to be the victim rather than the perpetrator of these violent crimes. And I suppose that’s the point isn’t it?

Josie can recreate reality to fit her narrative and make you believe it. Or can she?? Maybe she was the victim all along, her final words the truth.

I think that really speaks to the skill of Lisa Jewell. Both how compelling Josie’s character is and how you truly have no clue what the truth is. We know for a fact Josie was groomed by Walter. I don’t care what you say,

a teenage girl cannot (should not be able to) seduce a grown fucking man. It bothered me they seemed to gloss over this as soon as the rest of her story was called into question. Walter is not a good man. He is a pedophile and a CRIMINAL. (I also don’t believe for a second that a pedophile stops being a pedophile… realistically he was certainly hurting someone else) She is a victim in that aspect, and that is the truth. But was she also a victim of her daughters’ brutality? Or did the teenage victim turn abuser? That is the real mystery.

I *highly* suggest listening to the audiobook, it’s truly an incredible production.
I will certainly be thinking about this story/mystery for days to come…
MAKE IT A BOOK OR A MOVIE PLSSSSS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Pedophilia, Murder, Physical abuse, and Death

Minor: Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, Rape, and Sexual assault

emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Drug abuse

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, and Kidnapping

bringmybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

2.5

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗬𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦 ✨ 

I sorta kinda accidentally buddy read this with a friend and I remember both of us finished around the same time and sent each other text messages that said something like "wtf did I just read" and then we started comparing notes and even though I originally rated it a 4, as we kept chatting and talking about plot points and so on and so on I ended up moving my rating down to a 2.5 because honestly wtf did I just read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Murder, Alcohol, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Drug use, and Eating disorder

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cursing, Excrement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia

c100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Murder, and Alcohol

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

2.5 ⭐
While I did like the author's slow-burn thriller style, the pedophile content was disturbing. I'll check trigger warnings before trying another Lisa Jewell book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Abandonment, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Animal death

idk_indigo'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

4.75

This is (I believe) my 2nd book by Lisa Jewell, & I loved it! I was a bit confused by the school in summer, but I guess the British do it differently out there, or maybe it was summer school? Either way, this book was phenomenal! I finished it in 1 day, & it certainly kept me on my toes. It was eery to think about the idea that people who have done evil, horrendous things, often think they’re being helpful & that they’re doing the kind thing. I do wish more of Pat’s storyline was discussed, ie, it can’t have been easy being raised by a singe narcissistic mother; I feel like her general come-through was “I know I wasn’t the best mother, but Josie was a lot…” & it felt weird & dismissive to not only the character development, but also the storyline. I also enjoyed the almost detached narration; we as readers don’t really see the MCs’ inner workings. We hear about their narrative, & obviously I always love an unreliable narrator, but we don’t hear a lot about the fear or anger they are experiencing, which in all honesty I kind of liked, I think? It made it interesting, & for Josie’s story specifically, made her feel much less real which I think was probably the point. The whole “I don’t believe people like that really exist!” Felt a bit more feasible after going the whole book not really knowing what Josie is thinking. Wish we’d gotten a bit more motive, but overall I really enjoyed! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Ableism, Death of parent, Drug use, Incest, and Infidelity

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Stalking, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Violence