None of This is True

Lisa Jewell

It’s been a long time since I spent an afternoon reading a book from start to finish. But good grief, None of This is True was just that compelling. “Addictive” as the review (from Lucy Foley, another author whose books I really like) on the front of the book reads.

I read through it in about four hours this past Sunday, while my husband watched football.

None of This is True was unsettling and suspenseful (in the best way possible), and so intriguing. I could not stop reading!

Both of the main characters (Alix and Josie) were unreliable narrators, though not the only unreliable characters in this story! Even without their transparency, I found myself rooting for both Alix and Josie, in equal measure, at different times during the story. At least until it all unraveled…

Alix is a well-known podcaster who Josie meets in a restaurant bathroom, while they’re both celebrating their 45th birthdays. Josie proclaims them “birthday twins” and mentions that Alix should do a podcast about Josie’s life and her plans to change her future. Alix is intrigued and the two start meeting to record episodes of the podcast. There are so many strange things about Josie and her story that even when Alix’s gut reaction is to stop, she keeps pushing in. She is so intrigued by Josie and by the story Josie tells — and how that story could benefit herself — that Alix doesn’t notice how firmly Josie has insinuated herself into her life and family until it is too late.

Some of the plot is predictable, but Lisa Jewell’s placement of the action and revelations of character flaws and secrets are so well-done that it just works. It all just works so well!

{Side note: books of this genre and similar genres — thrillers, mysteries, suspense — never used to be on my radar. Then I read In the Woods by Tana French in 2009, and I was hooked! Tana French is still my favorite author in these genres — her characters and settings are so atmospheric and well-written — but I also really like Lucy Foley, Sarah Pekkanen (+ her collaborations with Greer Hendricks) and now, Lisa Jewell.}

I highly recommend None of This is True — and I can’t wait to read more by this author.