Member Reviews
Dark, creepy and page turning. What more could you want in a book? When Josie celebrates her 45th birthday with her husband at a restaurant she is surprised to discover another lady Alix, there doing exactly the same, albeit in a different way with a large group of friends as opposed to just the two of them. Snatching a quick chat with her it begins the makings of a coincidental relationship of having a ‘birthday twin’. Josie becomes obsessed with getting to know Alix with a warped admiration for her life, her home, her family and once she finds out Alix has made podcasts with various women, she offers her own story. Curiosity gets the better of Alix and so begins the unravelling of a complex and shocking story. With death, disappearances, lies and secrets this story will reel you in and each explosive revelation will have your sympathies with different characters. Who to believe? Well, the title is one thing but who does it refer to? A superbly written psychological book that is full of tense, suspense filled pages that have you guessing to the very end.
This dark, twisty book from Lisa Jewell kept me gripped right from the start. The story follows the lives of podcaster Alix Summers and Josie Fair, two women who were born on the same day, in the same hospital. They meet by chance on the night of their 45th birthdays and after bumping into each other again outside Alix’s children’s school, they begin a friendship.
Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts about influential women and feels that her life, under the topic of ‘birthday twins’ would make a good subject for Alix’s new podcast series. Although unsure at first, Alix decides that this is the new idea she has been looking for. She begins to interview Josie but as she tells her life story, dark secrets emerge. With each new recording, Alix feel increasingly uneasy. Who is Josie Fair? Is she telling the truth? And why does she have such an intense focus on Alix’s life and family?
This story is full of twists and turns and nothing is what it seems. Josie is one of the most interesting characters I have read about in a while. She sees the podcast as an opportunity to change her life and the reader can see her gradually becoming obsessed with Alix’s privileged life and seemingly perfect family. I also enjoyed the true crime element, as the story is told from the points of view of Alix, Josie and also in flashbacks from Alix’s podcast, which has been made into a Netflix series.
The domestic settings breathe life into this story. A stark contrast gradually builds between Alix’s comfortable home, full of the noise and bustle of family life and Josie’s quiet, eerie, dysfunctional existence with her older husband and mysterious daughters she rarely sees. As Alix learns more about Josie, Josie also learns more about her and this is where Alix may regret inviting her birthday twin into her life.
I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed the unusual structure and felt it was unique and interesting.
Two women who were born on the same day meet by chance.
Alix is a podcaster and likes telling stories, Josie is a woman with a story that she wants to tell.
A disturbing tale with some twist and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
So so so good!!! It has to be one of the best by far! I loved the plot, the characters and the style! Such an amazing book! Do not miss this one.
A very cleverly written plot, switching between the two protagonists points of view, a pod cast and a Netflix documentary, it's not only unique but utter genius storytelling!
The night of Alix's 25th birthday she meets another woman, also out celebrating her 25th birthday and it also transpires that they were both born in the same hospital much to the delight of the other woman, Josie, who then declares they are birthday twins.
Alix is a popular podcaster who has just finished her series called 'All Woman' about successful women, and it is from these podcasts that Josie see's a way into Alix's life. She asks Alix if she would do podcast about her life and how now at age 25 is on the cusp of real change, and she thinks Alix is the perfect person to tell her story.
As her All Woman podcasts have come to an end, and also intrigued by what Josie has to say she agrees to a trial recording session, turning into a podcast called 'Hi i'm your birthday twin', but whatever Alix thought Josie's was going to tell her soon turns into something dark and disturbing.
I got sucked into this book right from the start and binged read it in under two full days, i literally didn't want to put it down.
Although the premise of the book being told in several different ways may sound strange, but trust me, it works, if anything it works too well, it leaves parts on cliffhangers so you can't stop reading as you need to know what happens next!
None of this is true will be published on the 20 July 2023 it is available to preorder now from your local bookshop, library
A massive Thank You to the author Lisa Jewell, publishers Random House UK and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest, independent review.
A very cleverly written plot, switching between the two protagonists points of view, a pod cast and a Netflix documentary, it's not only unique but utter genius storytelling!
The night of Alix's 25th birthday she meets another woman, also out celebrating her 25th birthday and it also transpires that they were both born in the same hospital much to the delight of the other woman, Josie, who then declares they are birthday twins.
Alix is a popular podcaster who has just finished her series called 'All Woman' about successful women, and it is from these podcasts that Josie see's a way into Alix's life. She asks Alix if she would do podcast about her life and how now at age 25 is on the cusp of real change, and she thinks Alix is the perfect person to tell her story.
As her All Woman podcasts have come to an end, and also intrigued by what Josie has to say she agrees to a trial recording session, turning into a podcast called 'Hi i'm your birthday twin', but whatever Alix thought Josie's was going to tell her soon turns into something dark and disturbing.
I got sucked into this book right from the start and binged read it in under two full days, i literally didn't want to put it down.
Although the premise of the book being told in several different ways may sound strange, but trust me, it works, if anything it works too well, it leaves parts on cliffhangers so you can't stop reading as you need to know what happens next!
None of this is true will be published on the 20 July 2023 it is available to preorder now from your local bookshop, library
A massive Thank You to the author Lisa Jewell, publishers Random House UK and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest, independent review.
Wow. I am not sure I can literally find the right words to describe this book, it absolutely blew my mind. Lisa Jewell has created an absolute masterpiece! I had to keep putting it down as I didn’t want to finish it too quickly, I knew when I had finished it that I would have a book hangover,
Based on a web of lies and deceit, the reader spends the whole time wondering what is the truth, questioning everything, fearing what will happen next.
An exquisite story!
A very cleverly written plot, switching between the two protagonists points of view, a pod cast and a Netflix documentary, it's not only unique but utter genius storytelling!
The night of Alix's 25th birthday she meets another woman, also out celebrating her 25th birthday and it also transpires that they were both born in the same hospital much to the delight of the other woman, Josie, who then declares they are birthday twins.
Alix is a popular podcaster who has just finished her series called 'All Woman' about successful women, and it is from these podcasts that Josie see's a way into Alix's life. She asks Alix if she would do podcast about her life and how now at age 25 is on the cusp of real change, and she thinks Alix is the perfect person to tell her story.
As her All Woman podcasts have come to an end, and also intrigued by what Josie has to say she agrees to a trial recording session, turning into a podcast called 'Hi i'm your birthday twin', but whatever Alix thought Josie's was going to tell her soon turns into something dark and disturbing.
I got sucked into this book right from the start and binged read it in under two full days, i literally didn't want to put it down.
Although the premise of the book being told in several different ways may sound strange, but trust me, it works, if anything it works too well, it leaves parts on cliffhangers so you can't stop reading as you need to know what happens next!
None of this is true will be published on the 20 July 2023 it is available to preorder now from your local bookshop, library
A massive Thank You to the author Lisa Jewell, publishers Random House UK and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest, independent review.
None of this is True is a well written psychological thriller that is full of unexpected twists. The story revolves around Alix, a podcaster and Josie a stay at home mother. They meet on their respective 45th birthdays and thus discover they are birthday twins. Josie inveigles herself into getting Alix to agree to undertake a podcast about her life. This is where the darkness begins and you are drawn into the complex tale which leaves you thinking to the end and beyond. Highly recommend.
Alix and Josie are birthday twins - born on the same day they meet purely by accident in their 45 birthdays.
Josie becomes obsessed with Alix who is an established podcaster. The two women are from very different backgrounds, Josie manages to ingratiate herself and become the subject of a new series of Alix’s podcast.
Josie is married to Walter who she met when she was sixteen and he was forty two, they have two adult girls with whom they have a very fractured relationship - Alix starts telling their story
Josie would like the truth behind her life to be told but it soon becomes clear that Jodie’s version of the truth may be very different to others.
I was totally absorbed in this and did not want to put it down. I loved the way the plot is revealed, we are fed little bits at the time so know that things aren’t necessarily as they seem
Can’t recommend highly enough- do read it!
4.5 ⭐️
I don't know how Lisa Jewell does it, how she writes about such dark, twisted characters with such layers of depth.
This book had me in a chokehold, that I couldn't get out of till I turned the last page. I kept aside all my current reads and picked this book up as soon as I got an e-ARC, and I'm so glad because Lisa Jewell didn't disappoint at all.
The characters in the book had me questioning everything at every turn! Beautifully nuanced darkness that made my thriller-loving heart filled with happiness. This book will stay with me for a long long time.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House, Cornerstone UK for providing me with a digital proof of this delicious thriller in exchange for my honest review.
It’s been a long time since a book kept me up all night because I simply had to know what happened next but this one did it and did it with style.
The story is gripping, exciting and entertaining. Using the idea of podcasting and Netflix Original documentaries to tell part of the story was inspired.
I can tell I will be thinking about this book for a while and I’m sure it be be high on my list of best books at the end of the year.
I was crossing my fingers I would get an early copy of this book from Netgalley. Lisa Jewell is in top form and delivers a brilliant psychological thriller. Two women with very different lives are brought together by circumstance. One covets everything the other has and sets out to change her own life and in the process destroys the other. Twisted horrific brutality, Lisa Jewell at her best. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.
This is such a good five-star read. I don’t want to tell you anything, as if I spill anything I worry I will spoil the story, there are so many twists that will keep you hooked I cant tell you anything without risking spoiling this amazing story. Honestly this story is so well written that you will be hoked from the very first page, then you get swept up into the story and all of a sudden you are at the end, and what an ending. There was something compelling and gripping to the end, it will just stay with you and leave you wondering for a long, long time.
The latest (22nd?!) novel by Lisa Jewell, None of this is True is the latest psychological thriller by Lisa Jewell, author of The Family Upstairs. The story is centred around two main female characters – Alix Summer, a podcaster, and Josie Fair, a seamstress, who just happen to have been born in the same hospital on the same day.
From the studio in her garden, Alix makes podcasts about successful and aspiring women. One day – on their forty-fifth birthday, to be precise – Alix meets Josie and a new idea is born: a podcast that will follow a woman (Josie) as she makes radical changes to her life. But as Alix interviews Josie, the latter’s revelations about her past become more and more sinister and by the time Alix realises that Josie isn’t all she seems, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life and home. But how much of Josie’s story is true?
I loved this and raced through it! It’s fast-paced, perfectly plotted and terrifyingly plausible. Twisty and twisted; disturbing and deliciously dark.
Highly recommended.
Oh wow! A book where I couldn't quite put my finger on what the tension was but boy oh boy was it there!
Alix is a journalist who does true life podcasts and lives with her rather unreliable husband and two small children. Josie is the same age and lives with her husband whom she met when she was fourteen (and he was forty one) and one of her grown up children. The two meet on their 45th birthdays, and find they were born in the same hospital. Josie approaches Alix with a view to doing a podcast about her life as she says it is about to change and she has a lot to tell. Alix is intrigued. Alternate chapters tell part of the podcast and one of the neighbours telling of a crime. Josie's life has been complex to say the least and anyone Alix asks about her family doesn't shed a good light on them. When Alix realises there is far more going on than Josie is letting on, she realises her family may be in danger.
The characterisations in this are stunning, especially Josie and Alix. There is a whole range of scenes which takes the reader through a gamut of emotions- from happy family life to serious dysfunction and one I found myself liking and then being suspicious of the same person- very clever plot twists, brilliantly written. A stunning read I really didn't want to put down. If you like a real page turner then this could be the book for you. Clever, dysfunctional, crafted, brilliant.
(rest of links on publication)
WOW, WOW, WOW!!
This has to be the best book yet by Lisa Jewell and definitely the best book I have read in a very long time. In the words of one of her friends mentioned at the end of the book, it was "simply delicious".
Dark, moody, sinister, intriguing, gripping, this book has it all. Simply loved the main characters, Alix and Josie. Definitely no spoilers with this one, you just simply have to read it. If I could give more than 5 starts I would. In fact, I´m going to read it again as soon as I´ve finished my current book!
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
None of this is True is the latest book by Lisa Jewell and ,true to form, dark and full of surprises.
Alix Summers is a very successful podcaster specialising in interviewing successful and influential women. While celebrating her 45th Birthday with friends in a pub she meets Josie Fair,somewhat dowdy and also sharing her 45th in quieter style with her much older husband. The "Birthday Twins" bump into each other a couple of days later and Alix,intrigued by the downtrodden Josie's assertions of changing her life makes her the subject of a new series of podcasts.
As Josie's revelations become more and more shocking she manages to insinuate herself into Alix's life and ,literally,too close to home. Is Josie telling the truth or has Alix allowed a deeply worrying cuckoo to nest in her home?
This is classic Lisa Jewell with dark secrets in suburbia bordering at times on Gothic horror and a twisty and clever plot with the author laying false trails throughout ,I don't suppose I will be only person to have smugly "figured it out" only to have found myself completely wrong-footed at the end.
Definitely a page-turner with a little more of Josie's life revealed with each podcast interview with Alix. It's a clever method of writing and holds the interest as each titbit is revealed. Perhaps it's a little unfair of me to only give 3 stars but I found it unbelievable that Alix denies her instincts, which are screaming at her that Josie is not what she seems, and allows this hugely disturbed woman to stay with her, especially as Alix has two young children. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the unreliable narrator so the final few pages were unwelcome.
I love Lisa Jewell books and this one definitely did not disappoint. What a mind bending read, I couldn’t put it down and raced through it within a day. I was gripped from the start and loved the way the story came together with the Netflix and podcast excerpts. The characters were well defined and I felt like I had an insight into their lives and their thoughts, actions and fears.
It’s rare for me to read a book and my ultimate response to be just ‘wow’. An absolute must read for fans of psychological thrillers. Definitely my favourite Lisa Jewell book.