Five massive stars!

I could not put this down and absolutely raced through it.

The mix of awkward Josie and effortlessly glam Alix led to a much more unsettling story than I was prepared for; my stomach turned over several times with absolute dread (it’s not scary but it is DAARRRRK).

Bloody fantastic. Thank you Cornerstone for my review copy!

Often I wonder what to write in a review, is it too short? Too long? What can I say without giving anything away? Dare I use the word twist again 😎

This review was different, I knew from about 10% in how I would describe this book….its 1 word and its ‘Genius’
There’s so much could say about it but for me readers approaching it need to know as little as they can and then be immersed into it, and honestly you will be
The whole thing is Genius
That’s it 🤗

Another corker from Lisa Jewell. A page turner that I found hard to put down. The narrative is made of different character's perspectives and scenes from a Netflix documentary, yet I was unsure about who to believe at certain moments. This would be a good choice for a reading group.

I have read a couple of other books by this author previously and like those I found this one to be mostly slow to moderately paced BUT this one had some additional breath taking moments when amongst the narrative I was reading a part of the podcast would be revealed hinting at the future and making me keep turning the pages as fast as I possibly could!
The characters in this fascinating story are well written and mostly believable in this occasionally highly emotive story. To say much more than this would give far too much away and having enjoyed this read so much, I really don't want to give any hints away and spoil that discovery for any of you.
This was a great read which I devoured in about 36 hours and it only took that long because life got in the way!

I have long enjoyed Lisa Jewell's writing and this new offering doesn't disappoint in any way She has a knack of describing and developing characters in a way I've rarely encountered with other authors and the stories always take a route I do not expect.

In short, None of this is true is superb and I cannot recommend highly enough. Well done Lisa.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Josie and Alix first meet on their 45th birthday and Josie feels an immediate connection. As their lives become more entwined, life before they met seems a distant memory. But how well do you really know someone?

This was another super easy read from LJ and it was so addictive! I love how she shows her readers the story rather than telling. I really enjoyed the reveals along the way and I was completely invested. As usual, LJ doesn’t choose easiest subjects, but I loved the drama!

The Girls was my favourite LJ…until now! NOTIT will be published 20th July 2023!

Absolutely superb! This novel is slow and drawn out and perfectly paced to ratchet the tension as tight as it can go. This story is about Alix and Josie who despite being on opposite ends of the financial spectrum meet while out celebrating their birthdays in the same venue. It flips between excerpts of a podcast made by Alix during interviews with Josie about her life so far as well as telling the story from both their viewpoints. Alix is irresistibly drawn to Josie and Josie makes the most of this to the point where I felt absolutely wrung out from the tension of wondering how it could possibly end and trying to carry on hoping for the best.

Loved this book a real nail biting story of modern life featuring Alix who is podcaster who meets Josie who has the same birthday as Alix.
Alix persuades Josie to do a podcast about her life as her husband is a lot older and she admits she met her husband when she was just 15 and he was 42 and then married him when she was 18, this is when it starts to get really interesting and tense when Alix starts to get more involved in Josie's life and interviews her mother.
I was totally addicted to this story as it became darker and more intense leaving me on tenterhooks to find out more.
Lisa Jewell has produced a riveting story of how being obsessive can take over.
Highly recommended for a thrilling read.
Thanks to NetGalley & Random House UK for a ARC for a honest review.

None of This Is True by @lisajewelluk a NetGalley review. Alix summers is celebrating her 45th birthday with friends and family in her local pub. At another table Josie Fair is also celebrating her 45th birthday, Josie fixates on the fact that her and Alix are ‘birthday twins’, 2 woman that have never met before until a chance meeting at there local. A chance meeting that turns into another chance meeting and a nightmare for one of these woman. I don’t want to give to much away about this book in terms of its plot because for me reading it, seeing it in my mind and feeling it all unfold was great. This book by far is the best book I’ve read this year and even though a fairly new fan of the authors, the best book of hers I’ve read. This book is out on the 20th July and all I would say is pre order it now, you won’t be disappointed. I found self reading this book with a constant frown in place and that’s for many reasons and changes as the story unravels; the relationship between Josie and her husband Walter, Josie herself and the obsession that develops with Alix, Alix and her husbands relationship and why she takes on this idea of a podcast from a perfect stranger. This book is intriguing, full of suspense, twists and turns and plot twists you could never predict. It for me was extremely addictive, had I had the time I would have read this in one sitting, I just couldn’t put it down, at every opportunity this book was in my hand. The author has written it so well that as the reader I thought I knew who was telling the truth and who was lying but I kept second guessing myself. The characters are brilliant, there’s so much more to them than you first think, there personalities and quirks just jump off the page. I even found myself thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it! After finishing it there’s definitely an extreme book hangover. I’m very hopefully after reading the ending that there will be another book connected to these character, I have everything crossed. I will be recommending this book to everyone it’s amazing WOW! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you ever needed a reason why it is not a good idea to engage with random strangers in a bar or restaurant, no matter what coincidences you may uncover at the time, None Of This Is True could act as just that. I mean, as coincidences go, just happening to meet someone celebrating the exact same birthday (and age) as you, probably isn’t really that amazing, even if the chances of both choosing to celebrate a the very same restaurant, and ending up at neighbouring tables is quite slim. I went to school with someone who shared my birthday and worked with two others. All three of us at work ended up working in various grades of management in the exact same department. Now that is what I call a coincidence …



But I digress. This particular coincidence is enough to spark the interest of one of our two main protagonists, Josie Fair, whose life is pretty unremarkable and who takes an instant interest in her seemingly more glamorous birthday twin Alix. Now learning that Alix is a podcaster, with a successful series celebrating successful women, Josie makes her a proposition which Alix finds too intriguing to say no to. Now, that is something she later comes to regret, but the discovery of just why is a twisted and enthralling story, one where it is hard to know just when the wool is being pulled over our eyes.



In Josie, Lisa Jewell has created a really fascinating character. We probably all know someone a little like her, and I say that with heavy caveats as you will understand when you read the book. Married to an older man, and with two older children, she has little to satisfy her aside from a part time job doing dress alterations. It’s easy to see why she would find Alix’s life intoxicating, why she would be drawn to her like the proverbial moth to the flame. But there is far more to Josie than meets the eye and, as much as she is fascinating, she is also unsettling. There is just something about her which set me on edge, although, at the time, it was hard to say why. The more we learn about her, the more you feel you can sympathise with her. And yet … there was always that uncertainty.



As for Alix, she’s a far more likeable character all around, although she does make some very questionable decisions that left me shaking my head. It still felt very plausible though, and the author has played a canny game, making it easy to see why Alix did the things she did, not having the benefit of Josie’s perspective in the way we do as readers. In fact, that dual voice and perspective, works really well in this novel, keeping the truth just away from the surface and allowing from so startling revelations in the later pages of the book.



Now the opening to this book is clever, setting us up for the fact that something dark is likely to happen. But just what and why, and who all these mysterious characters are remains to be seen. It’s a very devious tale, one of obsession and misdirection that keeps you guessing and second guessing just who to trust. Lisa Jewell has created a story that kept me fascinated, and has portrayed Josie’s increasingly erratic and controlling behaviour perfectly, never overplaying it and keeping it disturbingly plausible.



If you enjoy the a real single white female kind of obsessiveness in your thrillers, then definitely give this a whirl. There is a surprising amount of emotion threaded into the story too, and plenty of uncertainty to keep fans of psychological thrillers completely entertained. Recommended.

A roller coaster read. I read this over the weekend. Lisa Jewell at her finest. This is bound to be a huge hit, she keeps on getting better!

4.5⭐️

An author who is either a hit or miss for me. The last book I read The Night she Disappeared was a big hit. This one didn’t disappoint either.

Alix And Josie meet by chance both celebrating their 45th birthday, both born at the same place. Their lives are very different. Alix is glamorous, outgoing, popular with a successful podcast, Josie, a quieter seamstress married to a much older man.

The start is a slow burn. The narrative is interspersed with before and after, the after coming as true crime podcast. It’s stitched together to reveal what’s gone on perfectly. It’s evident that something bad has happened from early on. It’s a matter of who why what and where, it’s quite dark too.

Josie seems intensely weird which is unsettling, it’s got a very disconcerting vibe which it maintains right to the end. It’s one that keeps you on tenterhooks and constantly reevaluating the situation. I was hooked throughout.

I recommend Non of This is True. I’m sure Jewell fans will love it.

What a roller coaster read. From page one the tale twists and turns and your sympathies jump all over the place. Just when you think you have sussed in your head …….. how wrong you are!

Lisa Jewell is an absolute legend and her latest book is a work of genius! I don’t think I’ve read such a cleverly constructed and crafted book in a very long time (probably since her last cleverly constructed and crafted book to be honest!!) and I completely devoured every single page-afraid to miss out on a single clue that would lead me to discover the truth about Josie and the life she slowly begins to reveal to Alix for her podcast. Full of genuinely shocking moments and with plenty of unexpected twists and turns None of this is True will be a HUGE bestseller and deservedly so-one of my books of the year so far!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

An unbelievable story where a podcast meets real life meets Netflix. Love the story and the format.

Unreliable narrators are very much in vogue in mysteries and thrillers right now, and this takes that idea a stage further, with a complicated woman seeking out a podcaster in order to tell the story of her life as she seeks to make drastic changes as she turns 45. This story really grips and leaves the reader unsettled and wondering what is the truth of it all. I really enjoyed it,

This book is very well written, there are so many twists and turns that you don't know what is happening and what is the truth. I'm still thinking about the ending several days after finishing the book. It's definitely one that stays with you after you read it.
I liked the podcast/Netflix style parts of the book. I think that it made the book more interesting to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

Really great writing and gripping story -I hope there is going to be a second book as it seems left open... Really liked the twists and turns and literally wasn't sure of anything by the end. Brilliantly done.

A story with twists and turns and always keeps you guessing. I was hooked from beginning to end and I’m so sad that I raced through it so quickly because now it’s over!

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

As the podcast continues, some very disturbing facts begin to reveal themselves, and Alix realises that she’s made a big mistake!

There’s lots of tension, some great twists, together with some very dark and complex characters, as Ms Jewell expertly peels back the layers with consummate skill to reveal an intricate and twisted tale.

Overall, it’s one of the stories that stay with you for years, still giving you goosebumps at each time you remember the characters and main events. It took my breath away! I think I’m not going to get peaceful sleep for a long time. The birthday twins’ story may haunt me forever!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review