Book Review: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell 🎙️🧠
The twists were twisting... but not in the direction I wanted.
This is the review I wrote while listening to a true crime podcast and questioning every character’s life choices. The chill version lives on Goodreads. This one bites. This is the unfiltered version. The one where I don’t pretend to be shocked when a “twist” gently taps me on the shoulder and asks if I’m paying attention. The version where I compare plot developments to gas station sushi and whisper "I see what you did there, Lisa" in the tone of a woman three episodes deep into a murder doc. I don’t do polite here. I do chaos. I do emotional damage. I do true crime brain rot in book form. Let’s fucking go.
🩸 The Stats
Author: Lisa Jewell
Title: None of This Is True
Series: Standalone (like Josie, haunting your life with no sequel)
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Domestic Gaslightapalooza
Published by: Atria Books
Release Date: August 8, 2023
Review Status: Listening to Morbid while typing this — and yes, it’s a vibe
🔥 Quick & Dirty
Look. I wanted to love it. I really did. I saw the TikTok hype. I felt the Bookstagram pressure. But this one? It gave exactly what I expected — no more, no less. Like ordering a Bloody Mary and getting tomato juice with a sad little celery stick that knows it’s not impressing anyone.
If you live and breathe true crime like I do — reading it, watching it, falling asleep to it while your husband wonders if he’s next — then you’ve probably already seen every twist this book has to offer. Multiple times. On Dateline. With better lighting.
☠️ Trigger Warnings
– Domestic abuse
– Child abuse and trauma
– Gaslighting with a side of “Am I the problem?”
– Podcast ethics violations everywhere you look
– Unsolicited life advice from people who absolutely should not be giving it
🌀 Synopsis
Alix Summers is a lifestyle podcaster with a lukewarm marriage, trauma-adjacent content, and a face that says, “I’m fine, I only cry in Whole Foods.” On her 45th birthday, she meets her birthday twin: Josie Fair. Josie, bless her beige little heart, looks like she wandered out of a haunted Hobby Lobby and decided to ruin someone’s life on the way home.
Josie says she’s “on the cusp of a big life change.” Which, spoiler alert, means something deeply unhinged is about to happen.
Alix, being a sucker for both content and chaos, lets Josie start recording her life story on the podcast. It’s all mysterious trauma and ominous foreshadowing until Josie casually moves herself into Alix’s personal space like a polite poltergeist. And just when the vibes turn full possession, Josie ghosts. Vanishes. Gone.
Then Alix realizes she’s no longer the storyteller — she’s the story. The podcast is rolling without her.
💀 The Review
Okay. Time to spill the tea with zero apologies.
If you’re new to thrillers, None of This Is True might wreck your world. You’ll be texting your group chat in all caps and staring at the ceiling like Josie’s hiding in it. But if you're like me — true crime in your bloodstream, podcasts in your sleep cycle, murder vibes in your skincare routine — then this one’s gonna feel... familiar. Too familiar.
Let’s talk about those “twists.”
They’re not shocking. They’re not clever. They’re just... there. Like Lisa Jewell asked ChatGPT to write a psychological thriller and then copy-pasted every genre convention into a Pinterest board with a moody filter.
You can feel Jewell reaching for that “holy shit” moment — and it almost works. Almost. But every time the tension tightens, the plot takes a detour into “Yeah, I’ve seen this before” territory. It’s like déjà vu with better editing.
And Josie? Oh, I wanted to love her as a villain. I wanted her to crawl into my nightmares and whisper about the void. But instead, she reads like a cautionary tale wrapped in a sad denim jacket. She’s creepy, yes. But not chaotic enough for me. Not the “peel the wallpaper off your soul” level I was craving.
Now, let’s give credit where it’s due: character development? Chef’s kiss. Alix is complex, frustrating, real. The structure? Solid. The pacing? Controlled. But ultimately? It felt like a story I’d heard a hundred times before — better, bloodier, and less afraid to go fully unhinged.
This book didn’t ruin me. It didn’t even bruise me. But it did keep me reading — with one eyebrow permanently raised.
🖋 Favourite Quote
“Some people are better at being who they want to be than others.”
—Honestly, this feels like Josie’s Tinder bio and a warning label in one.
🔥 Final Verdict: Binge or Burn?
Burn.
Lovingly. Like a crime scene scrapbook. If you're new to thrillers or just dipping your toe into the dark side, you might binge. But if your soul already looks like a true crime red string board and you’ve seen every episode of Forensic Files twice? Toss this one in the fire and go find something that draws blood.
💬 Let’s Shoot the Sh*t
Did this book make you distrust every vaguely awkward stranger? Did you scream “GIRL, NO” at Alix so many times you lost your voice? Did you finish it and immediately need to listen to a real podcast about someone hiding bodies in flower beds? Same.
📬 Substack: maniacalbookreviews.substack.com
📸 Instagram, Threads, Goodreads: @maniacalbookreviews
🌐 Bluesky: @maniacalbookreviews.substack.com
🕵️♀️ Also wreaking havoc on: NetGalley • BookSirens • StoryGraph