Review: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

 Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th.

A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie says she thinks she would be an interesting subject for Alix's podcast. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Alix agrees to a trial interview and indeed, Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated. Aix finds her unsettling but can't quite resist the temptation to keep digging.

Slowly Alix starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it Josie has cajoled her way into Alix's life - and into her home.

Soon Alix begins to wonder who is Josie Fair really? And what has she done?

Review: this is one of those Lisa Jewell novels where you just don’t trust anyone! What I love about Lisa Jewell is that she writes characters which are definitely not all likeable, but they are so so intriguing and also just so easy to relate to. This kind of thing could have happened to any of us. The other big takeaway I loved in this novel is that it features the whole podcast situation. There has been a lot of talk recently about true crime podcasters getting sucked into their work and going too deep. This is so the case with this one. Poor Alix didn’t know what was coming for her when she invited Josie into her life. This mixed media format which cracks open the world of podcasting and just what a risk you could be setting yourself up for is just wonderful. 

As already mentioned, I didn't love Josie or Alix, or any of the other characters for that matter but oh my goodness they were intriguing. They stayed with me for a long time. I also really sympathise with both of them. I felt for Josie because of the life she has led, whether she chose to live that way or not and I sympathised with Alix because she just didn’t see what was coming for her. They both have fully formed lives and they’re about to be ripped apart by this story. 

I don’t know why I am surprised but I am always just so amazed at how dark a Lisa Jewell novel can get. This wasn’t dark in the same way that The Family Upstairs and The Family Remains was dark, its not scary in that way but the way Lisa Jewell weaves in the level of deception and the depth of twists, turns and lies that go on over the course of this story-it’s just truly remarkable. I absolutely flew through this, I didn’t see a lot of it coming and I really do feel like this ending was left the way it was for a reason. If this is your first Lisa Jewell novel-you’re in for a treat and if you’re already a fan then rest assured, this is every bit as good as her usual offerings, you won’t be disappointed. 

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