scijessreads

Back in the day, I was a sucker for a good mystery or thriller when it came to books. Especially if they were medical/science adjacent. I read a lot of Patricia Cornwell, Michael Crichton, Elizabeth Peters… In recent years, I have been less fond of the genres, and so many of them have left me cold and absolutely loathing all of the characters. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you aren’t rooting for anyone, it can make it difficult to finish a book.

I also sometimes don’t enjoy an out-of-left-field ending with a character choice that seems so random and completely out of place (I’m looking at you, The Perfect Marriage).

Last year I finally read Big Little Lies and LOVED it. I finished it as an audiobook, and it was nice and twisty and had great (if all a little flawed) characters. This year I read (listed via audiobook) None of This is True by Lisa Jewell on the recommendation of a friend. It was SO DAMN GOOD. Everyone had flaws, and even the characters I hated were still fascinating to follow.

From my Goodreads review: “This is what a thriller/mystery book should be, IMO. It’s twisty, none of the characters are completely without blame, and even when you figure out what is probably going on, something new happens to make you go “hmmm…”

Josie as a character was manipulative and very much in her own world where anything that didn’t revolve around her was wrong. One wonders if her relationship with Alix was planned out from the moment they met. And Alix wasn’t without foibles either. Too trusting, for too long. Overlooking red flags at every stage like so many of us do to try and see the good (or benefit) in the situation.

I loved the documentary-style inserts. I listed to this as an audiobook and highly recommend it in this format. And the ending… open and ambiguous, like life so many times is.”

Highly recommend this one (and the audiobook was amazing with great narrators).