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A slippery slope of truth! Who do I believe? Who will you believe? Everyone is flawed and makes questionable, even detestable decisions. The characters were mostly abhorrent and toxic. Q: What was your experience of writing from Josie’s perspective? Was it challenging to be inside her head? I absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fast-paced and tense Psychological Thrillers. Bonus points if you have enjoyed Jewell's work in the past, or love stories that incorporate a podcast, or true crime, element.
As the birthday celebrations get underway, a chance encounter between Josie and Alix reveals they not only share the same birth date, but they were also born in the same hospital, on the same day, and went to the same school. Except one is psychotic, a murderer, and a serial abuser. However, for the plot as a whole this was excellent and whilst not entirely surprising, it was unpredictable which maintained the tension in the story. To have disliked some of the characters so much means Lisa Jewell did her job well. The suspense was palatable, the sense of danger and thrill was accretive and penetrating. The themes were well chosen. The underlying messages are great although some could have been fleshed out more, and the writing style just works a treat for me.Who Killed Brooke? Was Josie A Victim or a Villain? What Did Josie Mean By “Making Changes in Her Life? and more!! Josie Fair is having her 45th birthday dinner with her husband at a local restaurant when she overhears people at a nearby table who are having a merry party for one of their group. As strange coincidences go, this woman, Alix Summers, is also celebrating her 45th birthday. Josie finds out that the two women were not only born on the same day, but also in the same hospital. This chance encounter may have been the end of it, but now that Josie has found Alix, she will not let her go that easily. Great theory, but Lisa Jewell’s interview, linked above, suggests that her intention was to convey that Roxy killed Brooke. Who Killed Walter in None of This is True? 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. Overall, this is an intense and suspenseful read that delivers on the thrills. For the rest, it boils down to the reader’s ability and/or willingness to ignore certain aspects of the story.
The things Josie confesses during podcast recording scare the living daylights of Alix. Is Josie survivor of years long abuse, neglect, traumatic experiences? Could Alix help her birth twin for setting her free from her torturous life? I don’t think so. After Josie flees the scene of whatever happened, Alix repeatedly asks Josie if Erin is okay and Josie says she is. Who Killed Nathan in None of This is True? As the story progresses, it's like a veil being pulled from your eyes, but I still couldn't believe what I was reading. It was so twisted! It doesn't end there, these two women seemingly share frustrations with each of their respective partners. Alix, whose husband, Nathan, is a binge drinker and frequently fails to come home, and Walter whose age gap has become even more noticeable to his much younger wife. Although she feels ‘groomed’ and controlled from the age of sixteen. A storyline which makes this difficult to endure in some parts, but they are real life issues so of course we should cover them.
Customer reviews
For the record, I thought Jewell nailed the podcast turned True Crime documentary angle. Additionally, her use of mixed media, with the sections from the Netflix series, was amazingly well done; round of applause.
It’s never challenging to be inside the heads of the weird characters, some of my favorite characters to write have been the oddest and the most innerving (Noelle from Then She Was Gone, Henry from The Family Upstairs, Freddie in Watching You, Owen in Invisible Girl, Lorelei in The House We Grew Up In). These kinds of characters tend to write themselves, and in fact I find the more grounded, relatable characters much harder to write about because there’s less elasticity to them, less propensity to surprise and confound, fewer places, ultimately, to go with them. I adored being inside Josie’s head, and it wasn’t until I got to the very end that I realized that her head was actually broken. The reason I am not giving None of This Is True five stars, which I thought I would for 95% of the book, is that I feel conflicted about the ending. Maybe it is because I have certain expectations from Jewell at this point, and the ending here didn't fit with them... I just know that I wanted more from the final chapters. In a way, it felt unfinished. Could there be a sequel lined up? She sees Alix getting to her feet and heading toward the toilet, jumps to her own feet, and says, “I’m going to the ladies.” While podcaster Alix Summers is out with her husband to celebrate her 45th, after the big song, a woman named Josie approaches the table and informs her that she is her TRUE birthday twin---down to the year. Though Alix finds this surprising, the two go about their separate celebrations and she figures that will be the end of it. UNTIL Josie happens to run into Alix yet again - this time, outside of her children's school - and Josie has become completely enamored with Alix's podcast. In fact, she thinks she has the perfect candidate for Alix's next episode: Josie Fair herself.None of This is True is a psychological thriller about two women who, through a chance encounter, learn they are birthday twins. Their unlikely meeting turns into a podcast in which shared confidences become the motive for murder. Josie also wants to be the only one to set the narrative. She doesn’t want Alix talking to anyone but her. Not her mother, not Walter, not Brooke or her daughters. Alix’s life and marriage is far from perfect, and Josie likes to call her out on the situation. By the time Alix feels unease, Josie has wormed her way into Alix’s life and home, with repercussions that are unforeseeable and devastating. Alix Summer has a successful podcast that features women who have overcome extreme difficulties and hardship, to lead happy and successful lives.
Q: Do you have a birthday twin? What interested you in the idea of connecting the two women this way? Meet Josie Fair, a 45-year-old part-time seamstress. Married to a man significantly older, she has decided to change the course of her life in her 45th year. Alix comes into her life at just the right time--a podcast host, she is the perfect woman to help Josie share her intriguing story. Alix and Josie’s lives become intertwined in more ways than one, culminating in a chilling crime. Q: Were there any plot and character revelations you were especially excited to finally give the reader? Fair,” she says to the young man who appears holding a clipboard. “Josie. Table booked for seven thirty.” Is this why Josie killed both her husband and Alix’s husband? To give them both a clean break? In her twisted mind, she thought she was doing Alix a favor.I found myself having this conversation with [a friend], Yasmin, where I embarrassedly told her that I was thinking I’d like to write a novel. She said, ‘I’ve had so many people tell me they want to write a novel. Just do it. Don’t say you’re going to do it; just do it. In fact, write three chapters. If you do that, I’ll take you out for dinner to your favorite restaurant.’ We shook hands, I wrote three chapters, and she took me out to my favorite restaurant. But she also made me send those three chapters out to a load of literary agents, and she made me keep writing by demanding more and more chapters. So, it didn’t just end with the bet. She was there for the full duration of that first novel.” Then there was a layer of psychotherapeutic introspection that could have been clumsy but wasn’t for me. It added to the pleasure of the read. Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this brilliant novels of digital copy in exchange my honest thoughts.
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