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Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer team up to exonerate a woman who’s already served five years for killing her ex-husband. I have to say that if I had covered up a murder five years ago, the very LAST thing I’d want to do would be to go on a podcast to talk about breaking free from my past. Unless I either wanted to confess or to be notorious. What is your take on the ending of None of This is True? In the final scene, Josie reflects on her past while on a bus, firmly convinced that her memories reflect reality. Do you find yourself inclined to believe her perspective, or do you think she might be deceiving herself? Alix was known for a series of popular Podcasts called “All Woman” about successful local women, but it was time for something fresh and new. So when she “accidentally” bumps into her “birthday twin” again, a few days later, and Josie suggests that she might be an interesting subject, because Alix can follow her AS she changes her life instead of after someone has ALREADY done so, Alix decides to record a “test session” to see how it goes. As we follow the breadcrumbs, we soon learn that Josie’s story in None of This Is True can definitely be added to that category. As we learn more and more, we are swept up into it all, and by the end, tragedy is unleashed.
What becomes of this unwanted house guest? That’s the mystery, and it’s a good one! This started very slow for me, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but once Alix’s podcast about Josie got underway, things started to get juicy! The full-cast audiobook narrators did a wonderful job capturing the personalities at play. Josie’s flat, subdued voicing performed by Nicola Walker added a particular menace to things. She creeped me out! Lisa Jewell has been around the scene for a while now: this is her ELEVENTH thriller after making the transition from romance novels. Even Jewell herself has said her thrillers follow a general trend: now and then timelines, unlikable characters, at LEAST one teenage POV...and there's often a big 'didn't know they were related' reveal. This formula has suited her well, and I've never doubted her ability to write a compelling narrative. Whether I agreed with the way it played out or not, despite occasional uneven pacing, I'm a Jewell fan through and through and also feel like I have a good sense of what to expect when I grab one of her books. Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Aix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging. Maybe Walter had been rejected by Brooke and/or Josie was jealous of Brooke’s closeness to Roxy. Maybe Josie fixated on Brooke the same way she did on Alix (someone makes the excellent point in comments that Josie tends to steal things from people she’s obsessed with, and she stole Brooke’s phone case). Although she wants to help her, Alix fears that this case may be far more involved than any she's explored in her podcast thus far. Will Josie's desperation to escape her situation lead her to say just about ANYTHING to get out, once and for all? And just how much of this 'true crime' tale is, well, TRUE?It took me awhile to sort out my thoughts on this one, as it was not quite what I expected, but that isn’t a bad thing. I buddy read this with my sister Irina, and part of the reason I love reading the same book as a friend or friends is due to the fact that you can really hash out your book review content ahead of time. We both ended up with similar feelings on None of This Is True, and foremost agreed that it was a compulsive, must read suspense tale.
NONE OF THIS IS TRUE is really good. It may be the best of Jewell’s career which is saying a lot. It’s my favorite of hers and it deserves all the attention it’s going to get this summer and the rest of the year. The reason I am not giving None of This Is True five stars, which I thought I would for 95% of the book, is that I feel conflicted about the ending. Maybe it is because I have certain expectations from Jewell at this point, and the ending here didn't fit with them... I just know that I wanted more from the final chapters. In a way, it felt unfinished. Could there be a sequel lined up? Josie said that Roxy hit Brooke when she found out that Brooke slept with Walter. Roxy says it was because Brooke said something derogatory about Erin. To me, neither is credible. I think maybe Roxy was upset because she had introduced Brooke to her family as her girlfriend, while Brooke’s family didn’t know anything about Roxy. But that’s just a wild theory. My (and Your) Theories on Who Killed Brooke Great theory, but Lisa Jewell’s interview, linked above, suggests that her intention was to convey that Roxy killed Brooke. Who Killed Walter in None of This is True? This is my first Lisa Jewell novel, and I enjoyed it very much. It is definitely NOT a police procedural with limited police characterization in the story. It follows Alix, who is celebrating her 45th birthday and encounters Josie, who is at the same restaurant. They discover that not only were they born on the same day but at the same hospital. Alix does podcasts, and Josie worms her way into Alix's life and asks her if she would like to tell Josie's story in a podcast. Alix is game and the podcast, so to speak is afoot.
Saturday 7 June 2019
Having said that, there are a few things that keep me from giving this novel a higher rating. I know this is fiction and but a few things did bother me. None of the characters are particularly likeable (some worse than the others) which is fine. I know this is fiction but I could not ignore certain aspects of the story no matter how much I tried. Alix's inability to read the situation, her apparent blindness to several red flags in Josie’s behavior and her insensitivity to some extremely disturbing aspects of Josie’s life was off-putting. I also had issues with certain choices that were made in the handling of Josie’s present storyline. The author ventures into some very dark and disturbing themes in this novel (grooming, pedophilia, sexual abuse of a minor, trauma and mental health) and I’m not comfortable with the way those topics were presented.
In what ways are we encouraged to see Josie in a sympathetic light in the early chapters? How does Lisa Jewell’s characterization lead us to think of Josie as just a little quirky or lonely --- and ultimately harmless?Well. To say this one threw ALL of my preconceived notions out of the window COULD be the understatement of the YEAR! so we know I loved it… I am going to bet you will too!! Have you read this? THOUGHTS??? Is this on your list??? What is your favorite @lisajewelluk book? Was Josie’s plan to confess to Alix about covering up Brooke’s murder (she does present this idea to Walter, but he rejects the idea. Is this why she kills him?
When two women who share a birthday meet, a journalist becomes the subject of her own true-crime mystery. The way NONE OF THIS IS TRUE unfolds is perfection. There were moments that I literally could not put it down and needed to keep reading to hear Josie tell her story. The writing is smooth and easy to read. I bought into every character and was on the hook the entire time the story was unfolding. Two women, Alix Summer and Josie Fair, meet on the evening of their mutual 45th birthdays. Alix has a popular podcast and an enviable life with a husband, two kids and a nice home. Josie has a significantly older husband, two troubled daughters and a host of secrets. In Alix, her birthday twin, Josie sees an opportunity to change it all by convincing Alix a couple days later to feature her in her next podcast, promising to share her secrets and show listeners her transformation. Alix’s life and marriage is far from perfect, and Josie likes to call her out on the situation. By the time Alix feels unease, Josie has wormed her way into Alix’s life and home, with repercussions that are unforeseeable and devastating.I read this in ebook format and I can’t tell you how long it has been since I’ve read in that format. NONE OF THIS IS TRUE kept my attention the entire time and I found myself reaching for it over other books that I had in my rotation at the time. 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.
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