None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell – #AudiobookReview – #Suspense

in Women Sleuth Mysteries (Audiobooks)
Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (Kindle)

Rosepoint Publishing:  Five stars

Book Blurb:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” (BuzzFeed), 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 Summer 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 realize 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?

My Review:

Talk about unreliable narrators! The hair goes up on the back of your neck almost at the beginning of his immersive, compelling audiobook.

Two women both celebrating their forty-fifth birthday at a local restaurant to celebrate the occasion. Josie Fair notices the happy conversation from the other table and introduces herself to Alix Summer. They also discover they were born at the same hospital—“birthday twins.”

Both women have vastly different stories, but Josie is aware of Alix, a renown podcaster. Josie has hit the wall with her life—looking to completely change her story and she sees an opportunity with Alix, who is currently winding down her podcast thread—looking for a new subject.

Alix is interested, though wary—fascinated but repulsed at the same time by Josie. Still, she sees a possible successful podcast thread. Follow a woman in her prime as she reinvents herself, the steps she takes. What is her backstory? How did she get here?

The reader was put on alert at the beginning. None of this is true, right?

Has either woman been truly successful at finding the right man, career, or motherhood? Perhaps Josie engineered her life, the marriage with a much older man, responsible for her now estranged children. As her story escalates, the plot line turns dark and Josie successfully invades Alix’s family. Aren’t they almost as dysfunctional, Alix’s husband being an alcoholic?

But no, not as damaged as the toxic relationship between Josie and her husband or her kids who have searing stories of disturbing family events of their own.

The well-plotted and fast-paced narrative veers sharply off the original intent of following a woman overcoming a life of abuse and control. The atmosphere is menacing, traumatic, manipulative—and Alix lost control of it some time ago.

The characters are well-developed. It becomes shocking to realize where this is going. Or, think you know where it’s going. Both Alix and the reader lose control of the situation at this point. I couldn’t begin to get into the terrifying mind of Josie. She is warped.

The conclusion lets fly with another twist and comes as a gut punch.

Oh no!

I can’t believe this is my first book by this author. I’ll certainly be on the lookout for another of these psychological thrillers. Totally disturbing, out of my realm of thinking and dark.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Women Sleuth Mysteries, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0BHFBQ76G
Listening Length: 10 hrs 20 mins
Narrators: Lisa Jewell, Kristin Atherton, Ayesha Antoine, Louise Brealey, Alix Dunmore, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Thomas Judd, Dominic Thorburn, Nicola Walker, Jenny Walser
Publication Date: August 8, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: None of This Is True [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: LISA JEWELL was born in London in 1968.

Her first novel, Ralph’s Party, was the best-selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs, The Family Remains and The Night She Disappeared, all of which were Richard & Judy Book Club picks.

Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over thirty languages. She lives in north London with her husband and two daughters.

©2023 V Williams