Review: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
Published by Atria Books on July 20, 2023
Pages: 380
Format: ARC
Genres: Mystery, Thriller


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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” ( BuzzFeed ), Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?

Lisa Jewell delivers another taut thriller with None of This Is True. I loved the concept of a well-known podcaster unexpectedly becoming a subject of her own true crime podcast.

Josie is celebrating her 45th birthday at a popular restaurant on a rare night out with her husband. She encounters Alix, who is also there celebrating her 45th birthday with a group of friends. Josie is immediately intrigued by the pretty, effervescent woman and her seemingly idyllic life. It turns out that Josie and Alix are birthday twins, born on the same date at the same hospital. Josie can’t help but compare how different their lives have turned out. Suddenly inspired to make major lifestyle changes, she convinces Alix, the host of a popular podcast, to document her journey.

The reason Alix agrees to tell Josie’s story is the most difficult concept for me to grasp.The new podcast is called “Hi! I’m Your Birthday Twin!” but it has nothing to do with the fact that they share the same birthdate. They don’t compare their childhoods and the choices that led them to become the women they are. I’m not sure why Alix decided on the title. At any rate, in the process of recording the podcast, Josie becomes increasingly fixated on Alex’s life, while growing more dissatisfied with her own.

The story moves along quickly and is told in short, tense chapters. Josie’s peculiar nature easily hooked me, and the eerie feeling that something sinister was lurking kept me turning the pages. Her life is complicated, and each revelation uncovers a new disturbing layer. Josie’s thoughts are chilling, and I was simultaneously intrigued and repelled by her family. I anxiously rooted for Alix to pick up the pieces of her rapidly unraveling life.

I enjoyed the “everything isn’t as it seems” nature of the story. It makes for a deliciously suspenseful read.

Recommended for fans of:
Suspense & thrillers
Podcasts
True crime documentaries

 

I received an early copy from the publisher. Opinions are my own.

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