I listened to this audiobook and it was super well done. Probably the best one I’ve heard since Good Girl’s Guide to Murder which had a similar structure (both have podcasts involved so lots of voice actors and effects).
I thought it was a really good choice to have Josie and Alix as different narrators and they both did a great job. Josie had such a delicate voice and Alix was more confident and smooth. It made me >!miss Josie’s POV more in the last part because I was used to hearing her voice.!< I also like that the book opens with Josie’s perspective so it feels like her story for most of it IMO. Kind of manipulates you into caring about her.
I’ve always liked these stories where women become obsessed with other women and it gets weird. Not a common trope but I see it sometimes. Ingrid Goes West for example. A Simple Favor maybe? I think a lot of people can understand how it feels as a woman to see other more successful women and wish you had their lives, so these stories speak to me. I like how often Josie would see very normal snippets of Alix’s life and they felt so warm and valuable. The way it was described just made you see how precious and far away it felt for her.
I never was sure what to think about Josie being groomed, and disliked anytime it was shrugged off like “oh Josie liked him too so it’s okay”. I hope that wasn’t a thought Lisa Jewell has but just something the characters felt. I don’t see how any teenage girl can get into a relationship with a 40 year old man and *not* either be groomed or at least him be an absolute creep, regardless of who pursued who. And then we’re supposed to feel bad for him because he was a good dad and not that bad of a guy. Okay, but he started dating Josie when she was 16?
>!I don’t dislike the ending but it just wasn’t as crazy as I was hoping for I guess? I wanted to see a little more of Josie and it went without her perspective for a really long time after she officially became unhinged. In a way I guess that’s what allows you as the reader to be manipulated by her, not being there for the bad parts. Obviously you can never fully know what’s supposed to have happened because Josie is such a compulsive liar, so maybe her daughters were honest and maybe not.!<
Right now I’m giving it 4 stars, maybe I’m just being picky but although it was really good I wasn’t completely in love with it by the end. I started to feel like it was dragging a little at times. But for sure would recommend. I look back at some of the books I’ve given 4 stars before and they often end up being some of my favorite ones, almost like when it’s not perfect and all wrapped up nicely, it sticks with me more.
by kristin137
34 Comments
I thought it was made super clear that she was groomed? I don’t recall any character shrugging it off, Alix’s response to Josie’s story on multiple occasions is disgusted, freaked out, and disturbed. Maybe I read it differently than you
I feel like the father and the marriage were not addressed super clearly. I listened to the book and admit sometimes I have to back track. Josie was super manipulative and entered that marriage for whatever reason (to get away from the mother? I can’t remember) but what 42 year old man is so easily manipulated by a 16 year old if he’s not a pedophile. Definitely a weird marriage all the way around, but I never got the impression that he husband was solely to blame, like she had her reasons for going after him because she’s a mental case) though in real life, the adult is always to blame…so I feel bad even typing that. I was never really sure how old he was either.
Yeah I liked how fast the books pacing was and the mystery of it all but also its dismissal of her husband being quite literally a pedo made the ending a bit odd to me
I definitely was also expecting one final punch from the ending as well. But still really liked this book. I saw a lot of complaints about how Josie/Walter’s relationship was handled – like it excused grooming or made him into a victim. I think it’s another play on perspective. Because people dislike Josie and she is very much NOT a perfect victim they find it easier to believe she had all this agency. People believe whatever makes them feel best especially if it’s something that happened to an unlikeable person. You see Alix doing a similar thing trying to think up all of these excuses for Nathan’s behavior.
Can anyone explain to me why Alix says they named the dog “Matilda” for obvious reasons? I feel like I’m missing something super obvious 😂🤷🏽♀️
Question… I noticed two times when the story didn’t track. Once, Fred was both with Alix and at the house with Josie (later in her time there). Another time, Josie knew about the sex promise when she couldn’t possibly have known about it. Also, there was a time when Alix was reflecting about what Josie thought about her in a way that someone like Alix probably wouldn’t. I thought there was going to be a bigger twist at the end, like it was all told from Josie’s perspective or something even twistier. Did anyone notice those things? (I really, really liked it… somewhat obsessively. Just curious!)
Just finished!! I bought the book because the clerk said “there’s a SECRET in the title.” I guess she should have said the title is completely true 😆.
Easy read but I was involved. Detailed characters, I was immersed. I’m struggling with the Walter storyline but also, I think that’s the point 🤷🏼♂️
Also, i feel like the ending was a typical Josie ending.
Does anyone understand what the phone case was she was hiding in her underwear drawer?
Something I didn’t understand was who killed the friend her daughter was really close with. In the book she talks about telling Alix everything her and her husband have done. And he calls her crazy and she later tells the story of how her daughter killed her friend and the family cover it up… I feel like there might be some truth to that or josie just fully believes the lie herself
I thought this story was so well told from both perspectives. It felt very true to me from a psychological perspective, especially the way that Alix was portrayed with a ton of nuance and the ability to shape her perspective every single time she learned more information. Even with her husband, it felt very true to me.
I love Lisa Jewell. She’s one of my favorite authors, however this one is so different to what I’ve read of hers. I didn’t love the ending. I needed more concrete and more of a twist. It’s one of those “who do we actually believe?” scenarios. It just left me wanting more. I had more questions than answers by the end of it.
reading all the replies and i’m so glad that everyone thinks that the pedo thing was swept under the rug. it kind of makes it feel like we’re supposed to think he wasn’t as bad of a person because she was psycho?? but he still had *** with a 16 yr old!!! like!!!! still truly horrifying.
Reading all the comments but why is nobody talking about Nathan. I know he was not perfect with drinking and all but idk why his story is making me so emotional. At the start of the book i was sure he was cheating on her and never really cared for him but when Katlynn told Alix what happened that night like how he can’t stop talking about her and about his family , i have tears in my eyes😭
I’m really curious too if anyone else doesn’t understand the Erin room situation, for example Josie kept mentioning the smell and that she would have to go deal with it, but not today…. And she attempted to go in once and the door had stuff in the way… also the whole baby food thing was not explained very well either to me, so maybe she was being abused in some way to regress like that. Overall I want to understand why the room smelled and what was happening in Erin’s room!!!
I thought the audio book was excellent as well!!! It has been years since I tried an audio book and picked this as a free credit based on some reviews. It is the fastest I have consumed a book in years. Felt more like a podcast than a book that I would forget at times.
I did miss closure. I like open endings where the story teller let’s us imagine what the characters may choose to do or what their motives were. But not knowing what truly happened feels like cheating to me! Like, I sat through the book but I don’t know >!who killed Brooke?!<. Like, why tell a story if you don’t want to tell us the real story? But I know it isn’t all that serious!
I still enjoyed the book. It was an amazing 10+ hours. If my next book is the same, I may be convinced to pay for Audible past the trial period!
i didn’t super love this book when i was reading it – i wasn’t rooting for any of the characters. however, now i’ve finished and processed it all, it was very very clever.
The back and forth between podcast and Netflix documentary are awesome!!
However I think Lisa got confused and in an audio interview there’s a visual reference… My film major background icked
Did the ending leave enough ‘loose ends’ for Lisa to tie up in a sequel (like she did with The Family Remains)? I for one, want to know how Josie’s been able to evade the authorities for so long.
Gonna be honest. The final percentage of the book made me hate the story and made me question Lisa Jewell’s intentions overall by glossing over Walter’s predation and cheating, and Nathan’s addiction and inability to keep his promises. It boiled down to “men aren’t all bad”, which is true on its own, but when the above are the barometers for that judgment call, it just makes the whole thing feel vile.
Asking a question based off of your review—- I’m 30% through and I am hooked and really want to keep reading but there’s some foreshadowing when Walter leaves bed with Jodie and her stomach drops. Does he sexually abuse either of his daughters? If so, I do NOT want to continue to read. Can you please answer this?! Thank you!
I wanted Josie to explain the obsession with denim!! The denim curtains got me 😅
Is Alix’s last name Summers or Summer? A small inconsequential detail, but I’ve noticed that it seems to go from one to the other throughout the book? I
Especially noticeable towards the end when Alix refers to herself as Alix Summer, but the dust jacket on my copy says Summers…..
This probably has been discussed already I’m sure. But which character did Lisa Jewell narrate?
Agreed, the audiobook was really well made. I usually hate it when books have multiple narrators and sound effects, but this one pulled it off well.
But I did not like the story and I don’t know why it’s a best seller. Walter was a middle aged man who was sleeping with his girlfriend’s teenage daughter. It paints the teenager as the predator who seduced him, and the old man as the victim. WTF.
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iirc they were both born on June 8 which would make them Geminis. thought that was a nice touch, birthday twins and all that
I listened to the audiobook so I can’t pinpoint a page number, but there was either a mistake or subtle hint when Josie and Alix are first doing the podcast, where Alix says they met “the night before we turned 45.” This stood out to me because they’re at the restaurant on Josie’s actual birthday… so either they aren’t even actually birthday twins, or this was a writing/editing mistake? Josie is never caught in this lie by Alix, so I don’t know what to think.
I just finished the book and the way Walter acted when Josie said she was going to tell Alix the truth about the girls made it clear to me that neither one of them was innocent and they were both hiding something.
Where I start to get confused is when Alix is going through the trinkets given to her the extra items were never explained so I’m curious where they came from and what their story is.
I think not making it clear that Walter is a pedophile is dangerous on all fronts. Josie may have been the master manipulator but as an adult Walter could’ve walked away from Josie and her mom like every other guy did.
When Roxie broke Erin’s arm and Erin says later that it was an accident and because of her ODD is Erin still being controlled? Like she wakes up losing the rest of her family and is left with just the narcissist grandma and her sister the murderer, like what choice does she have?
I felt like a lot of Erins choices with regression might’ve been in response to Roxie’s behavior. I think this could’ve been a great time for the author to do a little more research on the conditions she’s giving her characters. To me it seemed like Erin had AFRID. The fact that her room was so smelly though, it seems like she was using her dirtiness as a form of protection. I’m just not sure if that was more against her mother or if even though her father was gaming if he was also trying to abuse his daughter.
Did Josie really put Erin in the naughty chair? Or did Roxie possibly do it and then make that anonymous call from the pay phone about her “missing friend”? I just can’t imagine a person living for very long on mop water.
The way the girls were described looking in their last photo together makes it seem like more was definitely going on in the home than anyone will ever know or realize.
Then the letter that Josie wrote to Alix about how special her son was gave me the creeps, like she has her hooks in that boy and will come back for him later. But the son seemed creeped out by Josie so I don’t know.
Any ideas as to who made the anonymous call?
I just finished the audio book (in a day! I was hooked) i was happy to see a twist but agree with everyone its somewhat frustrating to not have everything wrapped up! My main questions are:
1. >!Neither Josie nor Erin’s account of the night Walt was killed account for how Walt ended up tied up in the bathtub and Erin to the chair int he cupboard. Both accounts seem like Walt did in fact have a heart attack (mixed with an attack) so who did that!<
2. >! The random phone case??!<
3. >! If were to believe Erins account of Brookes murder, why was Brooke in their house when Roxy had already ran away, after saying she hated Josie. Makes Josies version the most believable to me!<
I also really wish we had some insight into what happened with Nathan and Josie after she picked him up from the hotel. I kept thinking wed get a final chapter from Nathans POV to sort of tell the absolute truth. Agree with all about the icky feeling re Walt being made to look “not so bad” in the end.
But I did love the book!
Agree! And I still wanna know if police searched Walters laptop?!?! What was on it! I need to know
Yeah. As the book was wrapping up I realized they were letting Walter off the hook completely. And making it sounds like he was a perfectly normal dude. 😡
And that Alix needed to be thankful for her kind drunkard husband.
It just made me feel like the author doesn’t understand that abuse is abuse.
And yeah, her husband wasn’t a pedo. But he was neglectful and drinking and being dismissive of his family with his actions. And that we want Alix to be happy just because he isn’t AS BAD as Walter. Like just being an alcoholic is somehow heroism?
It just felt like she has some issues about women and relationships to still work out.
Josie is no hero. But she was 💯 groomed as a child.
To be honest, I thought the book was excellent and somewhat unique.
I disagree with the author’s “fact” assertion that Brooke was actually murdered by her daughter. These kinds of novels, in my opinion, do not require us to learn the “real truth” as that is essentially the focus of the book? that everyone is essentially lying. The title is “None of This is True” after all.
When the author makes absolute statements that are still debatable in the narrative, I believe it weakens the entire story.
Nevertheless, I still thought the book was good overall (rated it a 4) although authors “clearing up” things after the fact is a “meh” in my book.
I wish I had never heard/read those remarks.
Edit: Alright, if the author provided more “real” details, did she discuss the phonecase that was discovered inside her drawer and to whom it belonged?
The only item that doesn’t make sense to me.
how did erin end up tied up in the closet?? like what happened with that and why wouldn’t josie just kill her after killing walter? there are so many unanswered questions in this book