Alix Summer is a popular podcaster celebrating her forty-fifth birthday when she encounters Josie Fair, a woman born on the same day in the same hospital. Josie approaches Alix soon after, pitching herself as the subject for a new documentary series about a life on the cusp of radical change. As they record, Josie reveals unsettling secrets about her marriage to an older man and her strange family dynamics. Alix eventually realizes Josie is an unreliable narrator who has inserted herself dangerously into Alix’s domestic life, leading to disappearances and multiple violent deaths.
Fans of psychological thrillers and true-crime media read this book to analyze the blurred lines between factual reporting and manufactured drama. It serves readers who enjoy dissecting the motives of manipulative characters and seeing how parasocial relationships spiral into obsession. The reader finishes the story with a skeptical perspective on the ethics of digital storytelling and the realization that personal narratives can be weaponized to hide predatory behavior.
Insights from None of This Is True
“I am a very good listener. People tell me things.”
Josie makes you feel sorry for her until you realize how good she is at it. Her vulnerability is her weapon.
Alix gets so focused on making a good podcast that she misses her own life falling apart. Content becomes more important than her safety.
“He’s a very strange man. He’s very quiet.”
Walter is the most unsettling part of the story. You never quite know if he is a victim or a monster.
The way Josie tracks Alix down at that restaurant is so calculated. It feels like a predator choosing their favorite meal.
- Published
- 2023
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- ISBN
- 9781668024287
- Language
- EN
