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A review by the_joyful_book_club
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
5.0
I only started reading books by Lisa Jewell last summer. I had heard a lot of hype around her books; I saw "Then She Was Gone" all over Instagram and TikTok for a period of time and a few celebs raved about it too. The thing that fascinates me about Lisa Jewell is there are times when the story itself may not be my favorite, but the author always keeps me engaged and invested in the story and characters.
"None of This is True" is exceptionally well done. Fair warning, if you don't enjoy stories with a bit of bouncing around, you may not enjoy this one. The story follows Josie Fair and Alix Summer, and we see interviews, social media postings, as well as the normal book structure itself. This structure kept me sucked in, and I finished this book in one day.
Josie and Alix meet on Josie's 45th birthday. She's out at a restaurant with her husband, Walter, and sees Alix there, also celebrating her birthday. Josie is seemingly entranced by Alix, and after telling her they are birthday twins, Josie starts doing research on Alix and listens to her podcast. From there, she continues to seek Alix out and pitches the idea that Alix does a podcast about the process of Josie trying to change her life. Alix, whose latest podcast series has come to an end, takes Josie up on her offer.
Josie's character straddles the line between socially awkward and sociopathic. She does a lot of strange things, such as wearing denim constantly, and even wearing items that she wore back when she was in high school. Her relationship with her husband and daughters is strained, and throughout the story, the reader can't make heads or tales of who is truly the antagonist in the family.
By contrast, Alix's family is far less dysfunctional. There are some issues between Alix and her husband, Nathan. But these also straddle the line between harmless incidents and an indicator of something far sinister. All of this leads to tension and as a reader, I found myself going back and forth on how I felt about each character.
Up until the very end, this story had me questioning and second-guessing myself. You think you know what's happening, and then another mini twist changes your perspective. The author balances these out well, so as a reader, I didn't feel like I was being jerked around at all, but the tension continued to build until everyone is at their boiling point.
This is one of Lisa Jewell's best efforts. The pace of the story keeps readers engaged and guessing, and the tension builds at a consistent pace throughout. Again, keeping in a consistent fashion, the ending has quite a twist, and I found myself thinking about the characters well after the story ended.
"None of This is True" is exceptionally well done. Fair warning, if you don't enjoy stories with a bit of bouncing around, you may not enjoy this one. The story follows Josie Fair and Alix Summer, and we see interviews, social media postings, as well as the normal book structure itself. This structure kept me sucked in, and I finished this book in one day.
Josie and Alix meet on Josie's 45th birthday. She's out at a restaurant with her husband, Walter, and sees Alix there, also celebrating her birthday. Josie is seemingly entranced by Alix, and after telling her they are birthday twins, Josie starts doing research on Alix and listens to her podcast. From there, she continues to seek Alix out and pitches the idea that Alix does a podcast about the process of Josie trying to change her life. Alix, whose latest podcast series has come to an end, takes Josie up on her offer.
Josie's character straddles the line between socially awkward and sociopathic. She does a lot of strange things, such as wearing denim constantly, and even wearing items that she wore back when she was in high school. Her relationship with her husband and daughters is strained, and throughout the story, the reader can't make heads or tales of who is truly the antagonist in the family.
By contrast, Alix's family is far less dysfunctional. There are some issues between Alix and her husband, Nathan. But these also straddle the line between harmless incidents and an indicator of something far sinister. All of this leads to tension and as a reader, I found myself going back and forth on how I felt about each character.
Up until the very end, this story had me questioning and second-guessing myself. You think you know what's happening, and then another mini twist changes your perspective. The author balances these out well, so as a reader, I didn't feel like I was being jerked around at all, but the tension continued to build until everyone is at their boiling point.
This is one of Lisa Jewell's best efforts. The pace of the story keeps readers engaged and guessing, and the tension builds at a consistent pace throughout. Again, keeping in a consistent fashion, the ending has quite a twist, and I found myself thinking about the characters well after the story ended.