None of This is True

I finished this audiobook a few days ago and I’m still unpacking my thoughts about it.  If nothing else, Lisa Jewell knows how to create conflicting feelings in me!

Two women, Alix Summers and Josie Fair, meet on the evening of their mutual 45th birthdays.  Alix has a popular podcast and an enviable life with a husband, two kids and a nice home. Josie has a significantly older husband, two troubled daughters and a host of secrets. In Alix, her birthday twin, Josie sees an opportunity to change it all by convincing Alix a couple days later to feature her in her next podcast, promising to share her secrets and show listeners her transformation.

Despite Josie’s odd demeanor, Alix bites and agrees to the podcast. Little does she know that her choice will bite her back!

As Alix digs deeper into Josie’s life and her secrets trickle out, a much more troubling picture emerges.  Did Josie’s husband groom her when she was a teen? Did she enter the relationship voluntarily? When Josie shows up beaten and bruised one night on Alix’s doorstep, she leaves Alix little choice but to let her stay temporarily. Unfortunately, Josie isn’t content to just complain about her own husband … Alix’s husband is also subject to Josie’s scathing opinions.

What becomes of this unwanted house guest?  That’s the mystery, and it’s a good one!  This started very slow for me, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but once Alix’s podcast about Josie got underway, things started to get juicy! The full-cast audiobook narrators did a wonderful job capturing the personalities at play. Josie’s flat, subdued voicing performed by Nicola Walker added a particular menace to things. She creeped me out!

I genuinely liked the story, and I think Jewell does a great job keeping the reader pulled into the story. She scattered secrets like candy pieces, which I happily gobbled up along the way, using a nice mix of detail from Josie herself, interviews with people from her past, her mother and others to provide variety and intrigue. The story provoked all my feelings, giving me shades of My Dark Vanessa and Greenwich Park, among other books.

Here’s where I had to drop a star, though, and I’ll admit it was personal. It felt like one of the victims in the book was given a free pass for their bad behavior, like I was expected to sympathize with them and understand why they behaved so poorly toward their family.  Having grown up in a household where the victim’s vice was present, I found it a little insulting to be asked to pity them or see them in a sympathetic light.  That’s a me thing. 

All things said, Jewell did a great job with this and the audio production was top notch. I recommend this to anyone who likes a solid suspenseful psychological thriller/mystery!

★★★★