those documentaries where you get to the end and think to yourself, “What the hell did I just watch? Alix's inability to read the situation, her apparent blindness to several red flags in Josie’s behavior and her insensitivity to some extremely disturbing aspects of Josie’s life was off-putting. Josie is adamant to involve in Alix’s life, creating coincidences to bump into her around her children’s schoolyard.

I think it’s best to make up one’s own opinion on this one, I get why some might feel uncomfortable, angry and frustrated by how some themes are handled. The things that Josie begins to share are QUITE shocking, and like an accident you can’t look away from, Alix cannot stop listening. The plot twist hit me like a freight train, and after reading it, I found myself staring at my wall for a good five minutes, trying to process what I had just uncovered.I felt it was too ambiguous, and was confused what kind of conclusion the reader was supposed to make. Oh boy, does the plot ever become intense with examples of dysfunction on a level that beggars belief. She wears wide-legged trousers and a top made of two pieces of black cloth held together with laces at the sides. Sure, that particular character did meet their fate in this book, however, why did they get a redemption arc/sympathy.

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. This involvement escalates to stalking, stealing items from Alix's house, lurking around, critiquing her marriage, and manipulating her by portraying Alix's husband as worse than her own. Lets just pack all the toxicity into one novel shall we - a pedo, a narcissist, an alcoholic and a psycopath! I finally got my turn last weekend and got through most of it over two days while I worked on the painting I’m doing for my brother’s Christmas gift (he requested “ugly art”).I believe the ending was designed to give the reader some authority over how they perceived not only the entire story, but also what happens after the final page is turned, although I would have been more satisfied with full closure. The softly spoken, fifty-something babysitter left half an hour ago and the house is tidy, the dishwasher hums, the cat is pawing its way meaningfully across the long sofa toward Alix, already purring before Alix’s hand has even found her fur. but… there’s something about Josie… 🤔…something bizarre…she wears denim… ALL the time… heck her curtains are denim… look 👀. Slowly she starts to realise 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. Josie seems to be fixated on Alix and is curious about Alix’s marriage which is also somewhat troubled.

My inspiration for this book was taken much more from TV documentaries such as Abducted in Plain Sight, Don’t F**k With Cats, The Tinder Swindler, etc. She opens her eyes, slides the cat off her lap, and runs to the toilet off the hallway, where she is violently sick. We were both flabbergasted when we made the discovery, it seemed extraordinary to us that we’d both come into the world on the same day and ended up doing the same job in the same very small orbit.I don’t know how Lisa Jewell does it, but every book I read of hers immediately draws me in and has me hooked on the characters, the plot and the deep dive into the human psyche. I buddy read this with my sister Irina, and part of the reason I love reading the same book as a friend or friends is due to the fact that you can really hash out your book review content ahead of time. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell is a masterfully crafted work of psychological fiction- the kind of dark, edgy and suspenseful story that makes Lisa Jewell one of my favorite authors in this genre. Without getting into spoilers, this story has two possible scenarios that are left open for the readers' interpretation on what the truth is (if you don't like open ended endings then you won't like this book).