Title: None of This is True Author: Lisa Jewell
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Atria Books
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 390
Date of Publication: July 20, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.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.
MY THOUGHTS:
Birthday twins, or as they’re known, “Astro-twins,” Josie Fair and Alix Summers share a fateful coincidence—they’re both born on the same day and year. Their lives take a dark turn when a series of unfortunate events begin to unfold, raising questions about their true intentions. Is there a method to their madness?
The story starts innocently enough, with Alix celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at a local pub. A chance encounter with a stranger, Josie, reveals that they share a common birthday. As they talk, Alix realizes that Josie would be the perfect subject for her podcast. A series of podcasts in fact.
Beneath the surface, tensions are brewing. Alix and Josie’s lives are about to be upended, and trust is tested as secrets and lies begin to surface. The line between truth and deceit blurs, leaving the reader to wonder whether either woman will emerge unscathed.
As unreliable narrators, Josie and Alix are intriguing characters. The rapid-fire twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the very end. Lisa Jewell’s novel is a thrilling and suspenseful read that demands to be savored.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa was born in London in 1968. Her mother was a secretary and her father was a textile agent and she was brought up in the northernmost reaches of London with her two younger sisters. She was educated at a Catholic girls’ Grammar school in Finchley. After leaving school at sixteen she spent two years at Barnet College doing an arts foundation course and then two years at Epsom School of Art & Design studying Fashion Illustration and Communication.
She worked for the fashion chain Warehouse for three years as a PR assistant and then for Thomas Pink, the Jermyn Street shirt company for four years as a receptionist and PA. She started her first novel, Ralph’s Party, for a bet in 1996. She finished it in 1997 and it was published by Penguin books in May 1998. It went on to become the best-selling debut novel of that year.
She has since written a further nine novels, as is currently at work on her eleventh.
She now lives in an innermost part of north London with her husband Jascha, an IT consultant, her daughters, Amelie and Evie and her silver tabbies, Jack and Milly.