So I originally started reading this in 2018 as a NetGalley eArc. I ended up marking it as Did Not Finish at 20%. At the time I struggled to connect to the characters and the formatting of the ebook wasn't working in those early stages (I presume this was fixed for official release?). I later found a paperback in a charity shop without realising it was the same book. Then this month it just so happens that it fit one of my reading prompts that I'm doing, the word "All". Even then I didn't connect that I'd previously attempted it until I went to Goodreads to mark it as "currently reading".

The way the book is laid out is unusual. We have video transcripts for the characters Miri and Penny, complete with a video graphic style header for the show "The Whole Truth". Then we have Soleil whose journal entries are being serialised in a newspaper. Lastly there are extracts from Fatima's new book, some scenes of which will cause deja vu.

The central plot point of this seems to be discussing this new book and the events that led to an attack on Jonah, the girls' friend. The kick off of everything is a book called The Undertow, written by local author Fatima Ro. Miri is a superfan who has a plan to get to know Fatima and become her friend. Her plan works but gradually everything changes. Not least of the changes is a secret that Jonah has been carrying with him that will turn them all upside down...

This was a very fast paced read and it drew me in but the characters aren't super likeable. Penny was the most "human" but there was a whiny quality to her and a lack of backbone to change her own situation, she was too much of a doormat. As soon as a certain event was mentioned in relation to a certain character I guessed the truth of what happened. It felt very naive of the other characters to assume what they did. It was fairly enjoyable but I won't reread, it's lost its mystery now.

Original Review:
DNF 20% the characters so far are unlikable and I don't really care for them but the biggest issue is the formatting on my Kindle is very poor. There's very little distinction between narrators and the book extracts involved about 10 blank pages at a time which just frustrated the reading process. If I ever see a physical copy in the library I may give it another try.

This had the makings of a very intriguing book, but I did feel as though the concept may have been better served in a form other than a novel.

This one was a DNF for me, I loved the concept but the execution was lacking which was really a shame. Apologies for the incredibly late review, I'm cleaning up my netgalley shelves.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

One thing I really like in books is when I have a handful of narrators that all see the story a specific way. They are all unreliable because their truth is not the same as someone else’s. This is why I really enjoyed All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor.

It is a story set in high school so there is already a he-said-she-said element to the narrative. Add in a mystery, an author, and a character in hospital with life threatening injuries then you really do have the making of a good thriller.

What the author really manages to highlight is the fundamental need to be seen and acknowledged. She shows how this is a spectrum depending on the need of the character and how that can be manifested in both good and negative ways.

I really liked All of This is True. I loved the mixed media element of storytelling and how distinct the different character voices where. As far as YA Thrillers go then All of This is True is a brilliant poster book for the genre.

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor is available now.

For more information regarding Lygia Day Penaflor (@lygiaday) please visit www.lygiadaypenflor.com.

For more information regarding Bloomsbury (@BloomsburyBooks) please visit www.bloomsbury.com.

A very interesting concept that had me hook, line and sinker in a matter of moments. I gobbled this one up on a rainy day. So good! Definitely recommend!

This was a book that I saw popping up everywhere prior to publication. It sounded intriguing and exactly the kind of book that I love getting stuck into.

I really enjoyed the format and the mystery surrounding the characters. It was a slow reveal and I enjoyed the drawn out snippets from each character. Although a strong book in it's build up of the plot, I found the conclusion to be weak and a little anti-climactic.

Despite this, I'm looking forward to seeing what Lygia does next.

Perfect for fans of We Were Liars, this story leaves you constantly questioning what is true and what is false. I'm going to admit that It didn't win me over as much as I hoped it would. But it's a great starter book for those wanting to read a YA contemporary mystery.

This was a fascinating concept that really made me think. I believe as readers we are all fascinated with the life of authors so the blending of the two lives was brilliant and really powerful.

I loved this book! It was fast-paced, smart and creative. I really liked the way the story was told by different characters and the additional layer of the 'book within the book'. The whole structure and plot made this book compulsively readable and I can't wait to see what Lygia Day Peñaflor will write next.

Well, this was a massive letdown. Don't you hate it when one of the most anticipated releases of the year turns out to be a poorly written snorefest? Especially when it's marketed as a thrilling page-turner?

Firstly, I loved the idea of it being told in mixed media format. I think Illuminae kicked off an interesting trend here, and I always look forward to books that are told in a different format. That said, it really didn't work with this story. I'm not really sure what the point was. It didn't add to the story at all, and it feels like the author just wanted to try this format out, and perhaps it was easier to write than a normal novel.

The characters were dull as hell as well. This might be down to the format it was told in, but bloody hell, they had nothing going for them. I couldn't get a grasp on their personalities or backgrounds outside of the basics.

Then there was the ~mystery~, which didn't really feel like a mystery at all. Fatima was a dull antagonist, and it was pretty obvious what she was up to and what was about to be revealed. I mean, the synopsis does explain that she's exploiting these teenagers, but it doesn't tell you how. But it was so damn clear, which left no suspense.

I really don't know why this was marketed as a thriller when it's more of a contemporary with a couple of darker elements thrown in. Perhaps because the thriller genre is kicking off right now. Overall it turned out to be really disappointing and I'm sad that I spent money on it.

The premise of this book sounded so unique and exciting but sadly this book failed to deliver and I'm gutted. The characters were bland and in a story heavily based on emotion there was none. I didn't feel anything for them. However despite this I couldn't put it down, I just needed to know what happened. In all, this storyline had so much potential and for me it just misses the mark.

2.5 stars

The lives of Miri, Soleil, Penny and Jonah change when they become friends with Fatima Ro, the author of the girls' favourite book.
The four teens grow close to Fatima, who wants to know everything about them.
Jonah is hiding a secret. What will happen when it is unearthed?
Is there more to Fatima than meets the eye?

All of This Is True is told by interviews and journal excerpts which was a different and refreshing way to tell the story. However, for me, it seemed that this took away from the thriller aspect of the plot.
The characters were a mixed bag for me. I wasn't keen on Miri or Fatima, but I liked and felt sorry for Soleil and Penny. Jonah too.
The plot was interesting most of the time, but I did find it a bit predictable.
I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.
I feel that this didn't quite reach its potential for me - I wasn't gripped or on the edge of my seat.

Overall this was a mostly enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

I’m giving this a slightly lower rating because my enjoyment of the story was greatly impacted by poor formatting of the Netgalley ebook (by the publisher). There were often several blank pages in a row, indecipherable run on sentences or paragraphs, and I’m convinced there were whole passsges missing occasionally.

So I officially DNFed this. I think this is the second or third book I’ve ever DNFed in my life because I hate doing it. But I really wasn't interested by this book. I heard about it a month back at Sydney Writer’s Festival and the premise sounded bloody amazing, a group of girls getting to meet their favourite author and become friends with her, but then she writes a book that includes their darkest secrets. I mean, doesn’t that just sound amazing?? I just was really hoping for more. The story was told after the event happened, through the form of interviews and excerpts of her book and journal entries and stuff. Too many characters to remember, hard to follow, none of the characters were likable. I just really didn’t want to continue reading. Didn’t care and I was just incredibly disappointed 😦

The premise of ALL OF THIS IS TRUE immediately caught my attention and drew me in. But ultimately I was left feeling really confused and frustrated with the story, which is definitely disappointing. I do like how meta the story was, with lots of books within books and stories within stories though!

My biggest problems were (1) how many narrators there were and how they all sounded the same, and (2) how the story just told me what happened and left me no room to experience it myself. It's told in interviews and transcripts, but this is basically like reading an article or listening to people talking. You, the reader, don't experience the story AT ALL. And all the tell-tell-tell had me disengaged so fast. This is obviously a stylistic choice and it just didn't work for me, but I imagine lots of readers would still enjoy it.

I also struggled with having 3 narrators who all sounded the same. I'm not sure why there couldn't have just been two, which would've made the story a lot more concise. As was, this just dragged it out so far. It was really long and not a lot happened. And when it added in the snippets from the book's author about her new book...that always was disjointed and confusing. There were so many names too?! I struggled to keep up when everyone basically had two identities (their real names and their fake-names in the book).

The ending was just ... confusing. I don't even understand if we're supposed to care about Jonah or not. I tend to feel dubious about storylines where it's like: "Think about abusers and what they feel!" Because that leans heavily towards a culture of forgiving people for sexual abuse and that's dangerous ground, especially for a book for teens where you're encouraging them to not worry about this sort of thing?!

It was actually interesting reading how messed up all the relationships were! It was so unhealthy how these teens idolised this author but also totally understandable how it would happen. And she was so awful to them! But like in a secret way, almost abusive at times. It's terrible and made the book a page-turner because you wanted to know if the teens would wake up to what was happening.

Overall: I felt too frustrated with this book, too many narrators and too much telling and an unsatisfactory and border-line confusing ending. It had an excellent premise though! And I loved the stories within stories theme.

All of This is True is the story of a group of high school friends who befriend their favourite author, spilling their darkest secrets. Their favourite author then betrays them by writing a book obviously based on them and their secrets.The story is told through interviews and case files - think the Illuminae Files set in a contemporary world and without the cool graphics. There are also snippets of the book based on their lives set throughout the novel, showing the similarities between real events and the fictional novel.

My problem with this book is similar to my problem with books like the Illuminae Files - adding in interviews and case files takes the reader one more step away from the character. It’s much harder to empathise and sympathise with the characters and so it’s harder to… care. There’s no insight into the thoughts and feelings of these characters, just boring dialogue. There’s a reason most books do not just consist of dialogue, because the description surrounding that dialogue gives us an insight into the character that plain dialogue just does not.

In this book, I also found it difficult to differentiate between the different characters - they were simply too similar to each other, and again, this is symptomatic of the style the book is written in.

All that aside, I did find this book difficult to put down - it is a thriller after all, and I did want to find out what happened in the end.

An interesting concept, but one that just didn’t work for me unfortunately.

I was really excited to see I got approved for this one, expecting something like Pretty Little Liars. Instead... I don't even know??? The book is told from all three girls' perspectives: Miri and Penny tell their story through interviews after Fatima Ro, the author they 'befriended' published her new book based on the three girls and Jonah, while Soleil tells her story through journal entries she wrote before  the new book was published. Then there's also the excerpts of said book, which mostly tells Jonah's story. I did find the of this interesting, but the writing itself not so much.

The writing was very simple, the girls don't have different voices, I absolutely loathed the writing style of the excerpts (these especially were very passive, with lots of telling instead of showing leaving me wanting to bang my head against the wall like Dobby), a lot of the things the girls tell is not relevant - it could be seen important to establish their characters, but the characters are so flat and underdeveloped that it just felt unnecessary to me. Also most of these 'chapters' ended very abruptly, which kind of pulled me out of the story.

It's such a shame, because the potential is definitely there. The way Fatima was subtly manipulating and using the teens is well done - to me as a reader, going in knowing that Fatima is shady, I could easily see how she was wrapping these girls around her finger and using them as her puppets to be able to write her book, but it's so subtle that it makes sense that these teens, who already worshipped the ground she walked on, would fall for it. I was intrigued from the beginning to find out all the details of what happened: what exactly did Fatima write? How much of these girls' lives did she use for her book? (Spoiler alert: A LOT. The tiniest details got worked in) Why is Miri stucking up for Fatima? What is Jonah's secret? Despite not liking the writing style it kept me wanting to continue the book. Fatima was an incredibly intruiging character, but alas the others...

They were so underdeveloped. We get some glimpses that they are not so two-dimensional and flat but... God were they two-dimensional and flat. And then there's the interviewer who interviews both Miri and Penny. WHAT IS WITH HIM I LAUGHED SO HARD AT HIS RIDICULOUS REPLIES AND QUESTIONS. Like when Penny tells him that Soleil, one of her best friends, lied to her and all he says is 'Bummer'

Like apparently this is a big show and they send this guy?? Bummer. I can't even. Anyway, back to the girls. By the end of the book I had no clue who was who and who they really were as a person. I expected to dive deep, to find out how complex they really were, to really get into how Fatima's manipulation affected them but I didn't get any of that. I didn't care for the characters at all, which I don't think should happen when your book is literally about teens being used and manipulated. By the end of the book I truly was Patrick

And then there's the question of whether or not the author wants us to symphatise with/forgive/feel bad for a character who committed sexual assault?? Fatima Ro definitely redeems this character in her book and gives him a happy ending, but I'm not sure what Peñaflor herself is trying to say, as while Soleil and Penny stand up for him/feel bad (even though at first they were disgusted too??), Miri tells it like it is, but since the book ends with Fatima's excerpt in which she gives him a happy ending, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

All of This is True definitely has potential, but because of the writing style and the characters I couldn't really enjoy it.

Premise has great pick up appeal and the layering of multiple viewpoints is cleverly done but the characters grated & the 'twist' was glaringly obvious. Penny was the only character who really lived and breathed for me - the others were all fairly indistinguishable. I think it'll be popular in libraries but overall I was disappointed.