But Josie seems more interested in being part of Alix’s seemingly glamorous life than she is in fixing her own, and when three people end up dead and Alix’s life is turned upside down, the evidence points to Josie—and turns the TV series into a murder mystery. That she got Katelyn to get Nathan to the hotel room, then she kidnapped Nathan, gave him too much sedative and he died. Sometimes, when they have a high-energy babysitter, the children will still be up when they get home, restless and annoyingly awake. Nathan sits heavily next to her and rolls his Scotch around a solitary ice cube, one of the huge cylindrical ones he makes from mineral water.

Shortly after, they bump into each other again outside of the school that Alix's children currently attend, and Josie's attended years ago. After all, isn’t that why we love unrealistic horror movies, because we can watch but still feel detached from it all?But this year her birthday has fallen on a Saturday and this year she did not say, Oh, a takeaway and a bottle of wine will be fine, when Walter had asked what she wanted to do. A life lived in fast-forward and now, apparently, she should peak and crest and then come slowly, contentedly down the other side, but it doesn’t feel as if there ever was a peak, rather an abyss formed of trauma that she keeps circling and circling with a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach. despite the facts they are told, they are convinced there is more to the story and that she didn’t act alone.

Oh boy, does the plot ever become intense with examples of dysfunction on a level that beggars belief.There is another birthday celebration that night, a large and festive group celebrating the birthday of podcaster/journalist Alix Summer. Prepare to be hooked: nail-biting suspense from the addictive number one million-copy bestselling author. 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. but… there’s something about Josie… 🤔…something bizarre…she wears denim… ALL the time… heck her curtains are denim… look 👀. The smile fixes on Josie’s face as she watches Alix Summer and her big group of friends, her red-haired husband with his arm draped loosely across the back of her chair, large platters of meats and breads being brought to their table and placed in front of them as if conjured out of thin air, the sound of them, the noise of them, the way they fill every inch of the space with their voices and their arms and their hands and their words.

I read None of This Is True like it was on fire, turning the pages as fast as I could for fear of burning my fingers. Will Josie's desperation to escape her situation lead her to say just about ANYTHING to get out, once and for all? Not only is this not the first time Jewell has done this sort of thing, but it took what was SUCH a disturbing and powerful narrative to a sort of icky place.Alix is a successful journalist, and Josie convinces Alix that her story is worth telling: Josie met her husband when she was 13 and he was 40. Choose a true crime podcast to listen to and compare and contrast the narration approach with Alix’s podcast.

Instead it seemed an ideal opportunity to show how divergent women’s lives can be in spite of similar beginnings. Josie is curious to know more about Alix and looks her up on the internet and finds out that Alix is a popular podcaster known for sharing the stories of strong women who have overcome the odds to exact positive change in their lives. As Josie strike up a conversation in the ladies room she realizes not only were they born on the same day…but in the same hospital.This means there won’t be a classic Lisa Jewell novel coming in 2024, but I hope that some of you might take a punt on my foray into sci-fi! I really enjoyed the creepy vibe of the first half of the book, but soon became less and less invested. 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.