October means spooky... doesn't it?

 None of this is true – Lisa Jewell

You can listen to my podcast review on the link: Listen to my review...

In the recent past, I’ve taken to crime thrillers. It was the only thing I was consuming for a brief period. On OTT, On the news, On Audible… anywhere and everywhere. So much so that I had started to see hidden agendas and devious plots in everyday life. When you keep reading or consuming the same kind of stuff for a while, you start seeing patterns, which somehow makes the whole exercise boring, coz once you start seeing patterns, you start anticipating how a story will unfold. And that kind of takes the thrill out of the thrillers you plan to read. I was on that precipice … the place where I could predict how a story is likely to develop, about 10% into a story, be it books or the screen. So when I picked up “None of this is true” by Lisa Jewell…. I was about 110% sure that, I knew what I was signing up for.

Damn… was I wrong…

I picked this on Audible. So let me get the first thing out of the way….. The narration of this book is brilliant. An audiobook is effective not only because of the story it portrays but also because of who is narrating it. I’ve seen some really good stories gone unbearable coz it was narrated badly. And vice versa. None of this is true, it has a brilliant narrator duo. Nicola Walker and Louise Brealey both do fantastic justice to the main characters, Alix Summers and Josie Fair.

As you might have guessed, it's a story that revolves around two females. Alix Summers who is a successful podcaster. A woman of the world, she has a career that brings her in contact with powerful and self-made women all the time. She has a picture-perfect life. A Great career, good looking husband, lovely children and a gang of friends, with whom she’s in a trendy upscale pub, celebrating her 45^th birthday, and runs into Josie Fair. Josie is a demure unassuming, kinda plain-looking woman who is also out to celebrate her 45^th. The birthday twins.

A few days later, both of these women bump into each other again, outside the school Alix’s children attend. Josie confesses to Alix that she’s been listening to her podcast and claims that she will make a good story for her podcast. Josie claims she is on the cusp of great change to her life.

Alix decides to record Josie and her story… Josie’s life is strange and complicated. The more we learn about her, the more uncomfortable the story becomes. The more unsettled we become. As the story progresses, we start to realise that Josie has some really dark secrets. And before we adjust to that feeling, you see her inviting herself into Alix’s home. The feeling of unease keeps increasing. And suddenly Josie leaves. Leaving behind a truly scary legacy. A real-life true crime scenario for Alix to face.

We are left with a really unsettling reveal. When you are in the middle of it, for a part of the story, you are completely sure as to what you are expecting. And on some levels, you even get it. The twist you expected, actually happens. But then the story takes really unexpected turns. And all things you thought you knew or expected, turn on their head, leaving you reeling under the abrupt change of pace. The book has a really twisty twisty end. Things you expect to happen, happen but then they are followed by things that you didn’t even consider. The climax of the novel is true to its title. By the time you reach the end…. You seriously are left with the feeling…. None of this is true.