Book Review #133: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

When podcaster Alix meets her 'Birthday Twin' Josie in a pub, she can't resist the temptation of digging into this woman's life. But before she knows it, not only is she buried in Josie's life, but Josie is buried in hers. Does she know who this strange woman really is? And can she find out before it's too late?

I had a rule not to buy any new books this year - unfortunately this book broke that rule! Walking around a bookshop one day, the premise just looked so intriguing that I had to pick it up!

Unfortunately, as good as the premise is, the book itself doesn't completely live up to it.

But having said that, it started really well! At the beginning you don't really have any idea where the story is going, so all you have to keep you watching is the characters of Alix and Josie. And they're both great, interesting, really intriguing characters.

Things are teased out really well. Because of the nature of the story you have no idea what's important and what's not, so the more information you're given, the more fun it is to find things out and delve deeper into the characters' lives.

For maybe the first 2/3 of the book, I couldn't put it down. Each page was more interesting than the next and I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

And then the plot kind of lost itself a bit at the last hurdle, as things began to reveal themselves.

For me, there were too many twists coming out too late in the game. It felt like there was no time to breathe and digest before another twist was revealed.

I also felt like the title, while clever, meant that as the reader we are second-guessing everything from the get-go, which meant that a lot of the potential surprises were ruined. And as the whole book was leading to these surprises, it just made everything a bit disappointing.

And in addition to that, there were a few loose ends that were never tied up because of all the twists taking place.

Overall, even though the book lost me near the end, I enjoyed the characters, and I really liked the overall premise. I'd definitely recommend it! Even if you could guess some of the twists it's still an enjoyable read.

3/5