None of This is True | Book Discussion | Lisa Jewell
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2023
- I'm back! And here to talk about one of the most mind-melting books I've read recently.
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My name is Rachel Terry and I write Young Adult and Adult Fantasy, and Adult Historical Mystery. I grew up in a small town where nothing much ever happened, dreaming of grand adventures and far-away places, which I found between the pages of books. When not writing, I can be found reading, making RUclips videos, gaming with friends, or indulging in my love of history and the weather.
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I definitely believe that Roxie killed Brooklyn! That’s why Walter was trying to convince her not to say anything. And called her stupid
I was thinking the same
I honestly like the ending. The whole theme is a podcast, and in true crimes too many times we don't know who did it, or why, or where they are now. It's also the fact that Josie herself doesn’t know what the truth is (she has told so many lies that the truth is muddled in her brain), and she's kind of the main narrator. Aka we'd only know what happened 100% if Josie herself knew, in my opinion.
I believe this book is written so that once you’ve finished it if you think about which characters were actually a reliable source of information. (Alix, the school teacher and the neighbor) then the story becomes far less ambiguous then it seems whilst reading.
Spoiler below:
Roxie killed Brooke for sure. The rest of her family would not keep the secret of Brookes Murder if it was Josie. But they would out of love for Roxie who had shown to be just as cold and violent from a young age. Josie was crazy and dangerous and so was her daughter. They were both murderers by the end.
omg I totally agree with you!! Especially because Brooke was Roxy’s first gf. So I don’t think she would’ve just left her behind. Or at least wouldn’t have tried to reach Brooke or researched Brooke and found out she went missing. And I mean, Roxy knew Brooke wanted to get through school and stay so she would‘ve worried or whatever. But she didn’t even know what happened to Brooke at all, which doesn’t make sense to me. I feel like if Josie had murdered her, Roxy would have attacked her mother but she just vanished.
Alsoooo, Erin described the garage by saying there’s a window connected to it. And it’s the same way Josie remembers Walter describing how to hide the body.
Furthermore, the hiding place of Brooke’s body was extremely good. She was not found for several years. Josie, though, is definitely unstable and would’ve not gotten any help to hide the body. Also, her husband really never opened the garage and noticed the body?? And according to Erin she only told Walter three years (?) after the murder where Brooke’s body is hidden.
I thought the same initially, but to believe that would mean to believe Josie that she didn’t cause her husband’s heart attack. So now I think Josie did kill Brooke, but when she called her husband for help, she blamed it on Roxie and told him she had done it. And then when she said she was going to tell Alix the truth about Brooke, maybe her truth and what she told her husband are two different stories. He thinks she’s going to endanger their daughter and maybe Josie was really going to confess it was an accident? Hm, even as I type this I feel like my theory is flawed lol.
@yinyin00 Haha, I get that. It is super confusing. I actually also think that Roxy killed Brooke. Erin isn't afraid of Josie but of her sister, who had already harmed her in the past. In their last conversation, Josie always says that she wants to admit what "they" did. And neither Walter nor Erin corrects her by saying: "You mean, what YOU did?" Why would they cover it up? They don't seem to like their mother very much. And Roxy had a very aggressive side to her. Apart from all the (many many) issues Josie had, she seemed to love her daughters genuinely. I think she wanted to cover it up for her daughter. But of course, that's only my interpretation. :D
@@lilydelacour Oh yeah that's a really good point. Yeah I agree.
Oh! And the random phone case that didn’t belong to anyone in evidence, whose phone case is that and where is the phone?! Brooke’s mom confirmed that it wasn’t hers.
So I have a theory, it could be wrong though. I believe that the phone case belongs to Eliza (Alix’s daughter). You know how Josie hates having someone come between her and a person she loves? Now remember the part where she and Alix are recording the podcast and Eliza interrupts by calling her mom. Alix immediately stops the podcast to go to make her lunch. I think from then on Josie starts disliking Eliza. Then Eliza starts crying days after because she receives hate comments on the internet, I believe Josie made fake accounts and wrote those comments herself. And, at the end of the book in Josie’s written letter to Alix, she says she has a special place for Leon in her heart, no where does she mention Eliza.
Like I said, just a theory lol
@@genes.i.sthat’s a good theory
@@genes.i.sdefinitely a good theory! But then I remembered that Alix had a look at all the trinkets and didn’t recognize the phone case which she definitely would have if it belonged to her daughter.
Also I think Josie’s fondness towards Leon was more about his similarities with Erin. On the flip, I think her dislike of Eliza was due to her being difficult and whiny like Roxy.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I finished it in a day. A book that draws you in that much is a good book to me. I would argue its one of the better books that came out in 2023. This was the year of great memoirs so this fiction was a nice change of pace
Does it have any like romantic play or something ?
Very interesting take on the book! :-D I'm always interested and excited when a person has a very different view of the characters and general plot. Shows how different we read and interpret situations.
Spoiler:
I honestly think that Roxy killed Brooke, and the rest of the family covered it up. Josie's mum is a narcissist who has no problem admitting that Josie "ruined" her life. Josie never grew up in a loving home and when Walter gave her attention, she fell for it. Josie definitely has serious issues herself. The way she tries to stay at Alix's house, that she steals a lot of stuff, and spreads lies. But I could imagine that she in fact accidentally killed Nathan. That doesn't make her innocent of course but I think she wanted to teach them a lesson. I also think that Erin is afraid of Roxy and that's why she covers up what her sister did. She had a broken arm before... Erin claims she was afraid of her mum but I think in fact she was afraid of her sister's rage. Especially after Josie wants to tell Alix everything that "they did", Walter gets a heart attack. He never said something like: "You mean what YOU did!" No, he simply says that Josie is stupid and crazy. Walter definitely was a creep, Josie only noticed it (a bit too) late. Alix was also quite naive in letting Josie be so close to her family and home. Wasn't she afraid that the "aggressive and abusive" husband, would show up on her doorstep?! All in all, I think no one was innocent, no one was entirely evil. Everyone has their own truth and no one knows all that happened. And that's what I loved about the book. It's real. In real life, there usually isn't a single person that can simply solve all mysteries in a case. Life is messy and multi-layered. Everyone has their backstories and reasons for acting the way they do. The whole family situation was dysfunctional, and so no one knows for sure what happened. But in the end, it doesn't even matter. Because the truth becomes what people make of it. :-) Sorry for the long text.
I think a book doesn’t need to follow the expectations of its genre to be a good book in-fact it’s quite the opposite. Because there was no definitive ending to this it stuck out a lot more in my mind and made me spend much more time thinking about it. Everything is incredibly thought out and executed that the ending makes complete sense to the story, the book is literally called “none of this is true”
I agree! The reason for the ending beeing vague ties in with the title...they all lying! Who knows what the truth is? I think it takes great skills to create such an intense weave of deceit... brilliant book
Yes! I just love your review/discussion videos, Rachel. I'm glad you brought them back. Also, I just saw Flameseeker has been installed on my Kindle. Can't wait to jump in!
Horray! I hope you enjoy! And yes, I missed doing these sorts of videos. I need to find time to do more reading so I can make more of them.
Thanks for the thorough discussion of the Lisa Jewell book! The books that you write are engaging and certainly worth a review, if not by you then someone else!
Thank you! :)
That ending does nag. It seems a bit tacked-on, like the book can’t end without one more twist. However, I wonder if the author was driving home the idea that master manipulators/gaslighters usually start by doing it to themselves. Perhaps Josie knew deep down she’d been an awful daughter, wife, and mother and substituted her “alternate” truth for reality.
Still, I found two plot holes: one, the version of what happened to Erin that *streamers* saw did not match either Josie’s or Erin’s account. So there’s three versions of that story.
Two, why would Brooke have stopped over to see Roxie or Josie on her way to the prom? She didn’t like Josie, and Roxie had beaten her up. Why does she then just show up to get murdered?
She would only have been there if Roxie had invited her. Roxie claimed to be out of town already.
Did I miss a key detail here or there?
I don't know. I read it so fast, I might've missed something. I wanted to know how it ended and find out the truth and we really don't get an ending and we certainly don't get the truth.
I don't know if the plot holes are just that because the storyline is so convoluted, or if it was done intentionally by the author to, as you say, hint at a third explanation.
The first isn’t really a plot hole in a story where multiple people could be lying, is it? And the second isn’t a plot hole either. It’s just a good question to ponder and like you said, it does suggest that Brooke was invited over. Probably under the guise of “talking things out.” Either by Roxy or maybe even Josie using Roxy’s phone.
Sidebar- Idk do I have the definition wrong? 😂😅 I thought a plot hole was a factual contradiction that causes the story to fall apart and not be logical or believable anymore. Usually one where the AUTHOR contradicts themself. And unanswered questions would maybe be plot holes in a book meant to have a definitive and clear ending. But considering the way the book ended in a way that suggests multiple characters are unhinged liars, I think it makes sense to leave things like that unexplained. And I think they’re really good questions that maybe give Josie a little more credibility.
The title literally is “None of This is True” so those little inconsistencies might have been deliberate. Just one more way to tilt the ground under our feet. We don’t really know exactly what happened, or exactly why. We are left with two dead husbands, one dead teenager, one woman on the run, two sisters sharing one big secret, and a whole mess of unreliable narrators. The story pulls together and then pulls back apart at the end. It’s rather inventive. It’s a book that must be discussed.
Ok, I kind of think Roxy did kill Brooke though, because otherwise there is no payoff regarding her violent tendancies and record of bad behavior in the rest of the book. With a mom like that, a dad like that, a grandma like that, it makes sense to me that Roxy would lash out in a way that caused Brooke's accidental death. The follow up of Erin and Roxy threatening to tell everyone and Walter planning the cover up, though, I think is where the story becomes more fictional.
The ending sounds disappointing, but the rest sounds interesting. Putting this on my "if I ever get caught up on my actual TBR" TBR.
I don't think I'll ever get through my TBR, but I also don't think I'd know what to do if I ever did
Spoilers follow……
I binge read this as well. Great discussion. And I loved your thoughts on the Roxy-Josie-Brooke incident. I agree that there are some themes that repeat in the book, and Josie’s jealousy and ability to lie so easily is one of them. I don’t believe anything she says. However, I do think there is a bit more going on and maybe there is another person involved in all this. Perhaps if there is a sequel, we will find out more.
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if there is a sequel, but I'm not convinced I would read it.
@@RachelTerryAuthor Same- the ending was a thumbs down for me. As you shared, it needed some resolution and we read this entire book only to be left with an ambiguous ending and not really knowing what happened to so many characters.
Although the book isn’t perfect and there’s a few things that could have made it better, the book is still worth the read. I agree with your assessment but I still recommend the book 😊.
Also you guys read Alice Feeney’s “sometimes i lie”. You’ll also get confused at the end. She left us hanging in the end. Maybe the Author lied to us or the main character in the book lied to us 😂Nonetheless, i rated it 5 stars. Loved Alice Feeney’s writing.
(Spoilers)
I think if we knew how Brooke died we'd have our answer.
I do not think that Josie killed her alone. It was either Walter and Josie together, or Roxie did it and her parents helped cover it up.
Josie never plans anything, i can't imagine her carrying out this plan alone.
I do not believe that Walter would've helped Josie unless he had also done something wrong (resulting in death or accident, no sure or him just previously being a "creep" and worrying Brooke wouldn't keep quiet)
I have a hard time believing that Roxie would've seen her first love go missing and just let it go though. So its hard for me to believe she wasn't involved at all.
The end of this book tries to make us believe that a grown 40+ man was seduced by a 16 year old and it's all her fault. That's something society has said in the past and it is NEVER true. He was a creep back then and he could be a creep with Brooke.
Good review. Agree totally.
Should have taken book title more seriously
I did not enjoy reading this book so I skimmed a lot. But I actually chose to believe in the last bit at the end of the book and that gave me closure. For me, there is no sense of 'what was actually the truth'. I chose the last version. We don't have to have only one villain in a story and in life the truth is usually not simple and there can be multiple villains.
Also, it technically is the truth either way. I think Josie has told so many lies that she even doesn't know what the truth is, this is her truth now, so even if in reality that didn't happen, it's still the truth, in a way
I just finished this book and it is absolutely one of the most wild and unpredictable stories I’ve come across. I love to have a conclusive ending, but I actually kind of enjoyed this one that had complete open ending to it. I listen to a lot of true crime podcast that you don’t always catch the killer And spoiler alert… This one is that. I knew the story was “None of this is true” yet I continued to believe Josie until I didn’t. But by the end, I have no idea who to believe or what to believe. Overall, I thought this excellently written because it’s is very relatable to real life stories that don’t have a resolution and we can always hope our “fantasy/fiction” stories have a proper ending but that is not a requirement of any genre at all. I am someone who thrives on skimming and skipping to the next page to find out what happens and I could not do that with this book as a new page. Personally, I would highly recommend and… I think the true story of the night Brooke died has still not been told
the book throughout I would have given it a 4/5 but the end made it a 3/5 because of the ending
It felt unresolved to me. Definitely not one of my favorite books.
I really disliked this book. Wish I hadn’t wasted my time on it. Enjoyed your review.
I think there is something more happening with Alix. It sees to me she planned death of Nathan. Remember the title “None of this is true“, which makes me think that Alix is far from innocent. She only cared about her social status and what people would say about her drinking husband. She is also the only one benefiting from all of this, with fame, Netflix deal, etc.
This book really frustrated me so much! What happened?! 😩
According to me , all the character in this book are messed up. Like each one of them. I could imagine everyobe lying and making up sotried for their own sake which among them some are true and some are not.
Walter being murdered wasn’t obvious to me. I was also listening while doing chores.
I just want to know what the baby food was about with Erin, was it a baby in that room?! I’m not buying Erin being delayed… she’s a famous gamer, I’m just not sure I believe that she’s eating that baby food.
She has ASD. Autism folks have texture issues. Not surprising
Autistic folks sometimes have sensitivities to certain textures. I imagine that Erin had sensory issues related to harder/more solid foods.
14:16 "People, in general, don't usually blatantly lie about something that can be so easily proved, one way or the other.."
It _may_ be that _hoi polloi_ don't usually blatantly lie...(although that's debatable) but _many_ people blatantly lie habitually about easily verifiable/refutable facts.
Interesting video, thank you.
That is so true lol. It is actually so unfortunately common 😂
ending is left open on purpose. she does that in most of her books
Such a disappointment. I listened to the audiobook and it was a great start. It hooks the reader. The crime podcast format of hearing from different angles were great but story fall flat, with a twist that didn't measure up to the built up. I honestly expected the ending to be part of Alex's big imagination of creating a fictional tale to get big ratings for her podcast since the title of the book does say "none of this is true" but to give us a lame story of Josie killing her husband by accident or to free Alex from an alcoholic husband was very poorly drawn plotline. This was my first book reading from this author and I'm not impressed.
100% Roxy killed Brooke.
When Erin woke in the hospital it was hinted that Roxy told Erin what she had to say. It 100% was because she was making Erin say it was Josie.
This discussion and these comments make me feel more confused about the whole thing when I was not confused listening to the actual book 😂
100% Josie killed Brooke. I believe Josie is trying to fool us readers into believing her side of things just like she fooled Alix. and it’s hilarious because many people are actually believing that Josie is telling the truth, which makes her a perfect liar.
True. Josie also trying to fool us reader that’s why the Author warned us that none of this is true 😂. I also got confused at the end on Josie’s POV but then i realized maybe Josie also trying to fool the readers 😂. This is crazy hahahahahaha
Such as cheap last one third of the book. Started out interesting and good but so cheap and predictable and unbelievable! Immature story telling!!