Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

188 reviews

kleinekita's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't know how to feel.

No one in the book is reliable or can be trusted, but it seems to be true that Josie and Walter's relationship began when she was a teenager and he was in his forties. HE IS A PEDOPHILE AND SHE WAS ABUSED. No matter what happened later or if she "manipulated him".

The audiobook has great production though, 5 stars for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, and Stalking

Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Infidelity, and Confinement

flying_monkeys's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Hooked me from almost the first page, and the first half was fast-paced and had me asking all the questions, but then I got the ick. Why?

It started to read like we're meant to believe that because a 15-year-old girl may be a psychopath, she wasn't a victim of grooming/SA by the 42-year-old man she ends up marrying at 18. I kept on reading, my thought process being, maybe this is simply the viewpoint of the pedophile, but no, others started to say it. Their "testimony" supporting the notion that the crazy, narcissistic teenager was at fault. That it was all her doing.

For me, the book plummeted from a 4-star read at that point.

I will say, I actually enjoyed the ambiguous ending because, to me, the whole point of this story is the malleability of memory and truth, and while an unreliable narrator is, well, unreliable, they are telling us their truth from their (perhaps curated) memories. This makes them suspect and we can never trust anything they're telling us. Certainly some of what they're saying could be true, but how can we tell the truth from the lies? And how do we avoid invalidating their real experiences when buried under a mountain of selective truths?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Stalking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Pedophilia

Minor: Confinement

sweill803's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Death, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Infidelity, Cursing, and Blood

julesfrigault's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

craigpwmoroney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

This book keeps you guessing until the end. It's narrative is told by multiple people each one, unreliable in some degree. It is hard hitting, but a very good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Gaslighting, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Grief

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

1.0

When it comes to ambiguous open endings, I usually don't mind because I can imagine what I want to follow as an epilogue.  That requires having a good foundation though and this book lacked that in spades.  When the title is the book, you question everything.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Bullying, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

daffodilcherry's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A psychological thriller following the link between two women, Alix and Josie, who meet when they realise they share their birthdays. Josie then asks Alix to make a podcast about her, unravelling her life. Interspersed in their tale are flashforwards to a true crime documentary made from their story. 

This story reads like a Netflix/BBC miniseries that gets crazy popular and that everyone's mum is obsessed with. The first 50% is amps up the tension between the two women, but ultimately it goes along very slowly. The second 50% is fast paced, desperate and dramatic. My one ultimate annoyance with this book is the title: None of This is True.

It ultimately spoils the fact that Josie is lying about the exact circumstances of her life.

if it had been named differently I think the revelations of the second half would have hit a lot stronger. However, the ending was so very satisfying (ending spoiler:)

especially the final twist of Josie's final chapter where she may not be as diabolical as we were lead to believe...

 

In terms of diversity, both Alix and Josie are white cis women, married to their husbands. Everyone appears to be ambiguously white and straight, except for, some of Nathan's friends and

Josie's daughter Roxy, who is a lesbian with her dark moments.

Erin is autistic with smooth food preferences and is the gamer queen of my heart. 

I very much enjoyed this as an audiobook, with two excellent main narrators and then a full cast making up the interviewees of the inserted documentary moments. My only gripe with it was that at times in the documentary aspects the interviewer's voice was very quiet, but otherwise it was good.

Wheelhouse: narrative parallels/foils, women protagonists over 45,

unreliable narrators,

spliced in revelations in the form of interviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Ableism, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Incest, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

The dog is uninjured and fine at the end. Josie's relationship with Walter:

allegedly started dating when she was 15 he was 42, describes grooming behaviour, alleges that he is physically, emotionally and fiscally abusive towards her.

spoiler for the twist of Josie and Walter:

this is then twisted when her children allege that she was manipulative and emotionally abusive towards the whole family, including Walter, and that she may have attacked him as he died.

Josie's relationship with her children:

Erin is autistic and while Josie is mostly supportive in terms of providing her with food she likes there is an underlying current of slight abelism when it comes to Josie's views on Erin. Josie ends up fighting Erin, restraining her in her house and abandoning her for dead while stealing her money. Roxy appears to have a more fraught relationship with Josie, with allegations of child abuse and that Josie allegedly sabotaged her relationship with Brook. There is a custom made child's chair with restraints which apparently Josie used on Roxy.

Josie's final plan:

she kidnaps Alix's husband and ends up killing him, apparently accidentally.

Roxy:

final final twist spoilers: Roxy might have been the one to have killed her then girlfriend Brook.

kathryn0628's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I hated the ending.   Are we supposed to feel sorry for Walter and just ignore the fact the he slept with his girlfriends 16 year old daughter when he was 43?  Gross.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Torture

heather_harrison's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

4.75 ⭐️

0.25 off because a pedophile is a pedophile not matter the twist

This had my jaw on the floor many times. Somebody order a wellness check for Lisa Jewel because her mind is just 🤯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Pedophilia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, and Drug use

tfaison3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

Relatively predictable but enjoyable. Narration was incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Stalking, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Physical abuse