None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

 

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell is a psychological thriller that casts doubt on every word you're reading on the page. Two women, Alix and Josie, meet at a club, both celebrating their forty-fifth birthdays. A few days later they meet again and Alix, a podcaster, can't resist making a podcast about Josie's turbulent life. Soon Josie is staying uninvited at Alix's house and we're given clues that things are not going to turn out well.

There are some legitimate criticisms of this book. There's not a lot of thought about mental illness in his book, it victim blames a child who is sexually abused, the ableism in the book is rampant (although realistic) and its depiction of female friendship as toxic is not the awesomest.

But I still find it compelling. I found the framing device of the podcast/Netflix documentary smart, the characters themselves were engrossing, and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. Now, I do feel the need to say that I don't read a ton of thrillers, so maybe all of this is perfectly predictable to those of you who read these regularly, but I found twist after twist to be shocking. 

4.5/5 stars

Line of note:

She tries to make her face look soft, but it’s difficult because inside she feels all hard edges and spikes and darkness. (location 2413)

Hat mentions (why hats?):

Had his high-vis vest on, holding his hard hat in his hand. (location 590)

Alix’s hair is under a hat, just one strand escaped, kicked across her forehead by the wind. (location 1170)

They’re casually dressed in jeans and T-shirts; they all have tattoos and one of them wears a beanie hat. (location 2102)

The girl in the beanie hat speaks. (location 2118)

Her hair is tucked inside a straw hat, also from Sainsbury’s, and she’s wearing red lipstick for the first time in her life, which makes her look even less like herself. (location 2770)

Things I looked up:

bottarga (location 63) - a delicacy made of salted, cured fish roe 

verrucas (location 2065) - a type of wart that affect the bottom of the feet