None of This Is True | By Lisa Jewell

 

 

Synopsis : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers 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 realise 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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughts

 

 

 

 

 

Narrative and Plot

 

 

 

 

None of This is True takes the unreliable narrator to a whole new level. It starts with the title and you just wait for the other shoe to drop. The story starts twisted; it stays twisted, and it gets twisted with each chapter.

The documentary-style storytelling based on a podcast was refreshing. If I get into the nitty-gritty of the plot, it would spoil the story. However, the way Josie enters and inserts into Alix’s life, it keeps the story going deeper and darker till the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Characters and Conflicts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the trend these days to have thrillers with unlikeable characters. This book, however, made me conflicted about the characters the whole time. There is this search of truth and you are never sure who is being honest or not.

Then there are the snippets from the documentary and podcast which clearly hints that it is not going to be a happy ending. It’s like a train wreck and you cannot stop but continue reading till you get to the bottom of it.

I haven’t stayed late at night to read a thriller like this since The Silent Patient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is definitely going to be on my top five books of the year. If you are looking for a riveting crime thriller with an unconventional narrative, this one is the book for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

 

 

 

 

---