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A review by realadhdoug
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
3.25
First of all, I’ll say that I get why people like this book. It’s definitely got that whole “gone girl on a train” vibe going on, and the author does a great job of creating an underlying feeling of discomfort throughout the story. The writing is good and there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy the book if you’re particularly interested in the genre. But it just didn’t work for me.
I’m not really sure why I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s just that I despised the antagonist so much. The complete lack of self-awareness she appears to have is infuriating—unless of course she was somehow telling the truth the whole time. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to interpret the conclusion and its series of miniature epilogues that just feel like the author’s messing with you.
I guess in the end it was too weird for me. I mean, seriously. What’s with the pedophile husband who turns out maybe to be sweet old man and doting father? And Josie turns out to be this sociopathic narcissistic criminal mastermind even though she still appears to have been groomed by her sort of stepfather and blamed for it by her own mother? It’s like you’re supposed to feel sympathy for her and hate her at the same time—and maybe that’s the point.
One last thing that bugged me is just how weirdly random and unnecessary the inciting incident seemed to be. Birthday twins? Really. That’s why she targets Alix? Like, I thought the whole time that they would end up sharing some connection in the past or something. But nope. Unless I missed it, the whole impetus for the story was completely random and just not very believable for me. But again, the story is trippy and unsettling, so that may be enough for a lot of people to just go along with it and enjoy the ride.
I’m not really sure why I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s just that I despised the antagonist so much. The complete lack of self-awareness she appears to have is infuriating—unless of course she was somehow telling the truth the whole time. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to interpret the conclusion and its series of miniature epilogues that just feel like the author’s messing with you.
I guess in the end it was too weird for me. I mean, seriously. What’s with the pedophile husband who turns out maybe to be sweet old man and doting father? And Josie turns out to be this sociopathic narcissistic criminal mastermind even though she still appears to have been groomed by her sort of stepfather and blamed for it by her own mother? It’s like you’re supposed to feel sympathy for her and hate her at the same time—and maybe that’s the point.
One last thing that bugged me is just how weirdly random and unnecessary the inciting incident seemed to be. Birthday twins? Really. That’s why she targets Alix? Like, I thought the whole time that they would end up sharing some connection in the past or something. But nope. Unless I missed it, the whole impetus for the story was completely random and just not very believable for me. But again, the story is trippy and unsettling, so that may be enough for a lot of people to just go along with it and enjoy the ride.