None of This Is True
A Novel
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4.2 • 3.6K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Two women who share some unnerving similarities unwrap deadly secrets in this dark psychological thriller. When hit true-crime podcaster Alix Summer meets her “birthday twin” Josie Fair, she thinks the unhappy mother of two will make the perfect subject for her series on women starting over. But when Josie begins to reveal the horrors of her twisted past, Alix finds herself dragged into a dangerous web of lies and puzzles that puts her entire family at risk. Thriller queen Lisa Jewell excels at writing unreliable characters, and between the glossy Alix (whose own life is far from perfect) and the depressed Josie, she spins an utterly engrossing and complex tale of murder and abuse. Jewell does everything she can to elicit our genuine empathy for Josie, pulling us in all directions as her actions grow ever more questionable. Creepy in the best way, None of This Is True kept us reading all night.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this edgy thriller from bestseller Jewell (The Family Remains), meek housewife Josie Fair and true crime podcaster Alix Summers meet by chance in a pub where both are celebrating their 45th birthdays. Immediately obsessed with her more successful counterpart, Josie engineers several "chance" meetings with Alix—including one outside her children's school—in order to forge a friendship. Instead of feeling threatened, Alix decides to feature Josie on a podcast about the lives of ordinary women. Before long, though, Josie divulges that beneath her modest middle-class home life lie instances of pedophilia, child abuse, and even murder. But are any of Josie's stories true? As Alix digs deeper, she begins to question her new friend's motives for meeting her in the first place, and through a series of reversals, comes to fear she's been set up in a twisted game of cat and mouse. Jewell devotees who love the author's signature twisted characters and acidic cultural commentary—here focused on the travails of internet celebrity—will be satisfied by this pitch-black outing and its shocking climax, but readers with a lower tolerance for nastiness should turn elsewhere. Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins fans, this one's for you.
Customer Reviews
Hard to put down!
I really enjoyed this book a lot. It honestly gave me a simple favor vibes. It had such an interesting story and kept you wanting to know more and more.
I was eagerly reading this book. I will say the ending wasn’t a definitive ending. It leaves it up to the reader. I would’ve given 5 stars but I love a book that has a definitive ending and all questions answered, but this book did not!
I would recommend this book! It was an enjoyable read
“Alix is a successful podcaster known for telling compelling stories about other people’s lives. Josie, on the other hand, is a quiet, odd, and seemingly unremarkable woman with a mysterious past. They meet by chance at a restaurant, celebrating their shared birthday, and Josie becomes fascinated with Alix’s life. Josie manipulates her way into Alix’s world, convincing her that her story—a tale of abuse, secrets, and survival—would make for a fascinating podcast series.
As Josie begins sharing her life with Alix, the details she reveals grow darker and more disturbing. Josie talks about her controlling husband, her strained relationship with her daughters, and traumatic events that shaped her. But as the podcast progresses, Alix begins to sense that Josie may not be telling the whole truth—or any truth at all. At the same time, Josie is quietly infiltrating Alix’s personal life, observing her family and inserting herself into their daily routines.
The narrative alternates between Alix’s perspective, Josie’s chilling confessions, and future snippets of a true-crime documentary, hinting that their relationship leads to tragedy. This structure keeps the reader questioning who to trust and what really happened.
As Josie’s behavior grows increasingly erratic, Alix discovers unsettling truths that leave her questioning whether she and her family are in danger. The story spirals into a dark and shocking conclusion, forcing readers to grapple with the idea that truth can be elusive—and sometimes horrifying.”
My first thriller
At first it started slow for me and I had put it down several times. Then not to long ago it got so intriguing that I binged the book completely. Such an amazing genre!
Intriguing
Intriguing and somewhat disturbing. Well written and so interesting that it was difficult to put down as you want to get to the end to find out what exactly is true!!