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Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast. Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat. Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
Ooh okay this has really gotten going now, I feel like this scene with Alix and Walter is finally making the title click into place. I have my theories about who's lying and when and what's true and not but it's definitely a crazy swirly mess... Believe you me, I'm taking notes as I go (might need to get a big board and some yarn soon, lol).
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Thrillers are officially not my thing (with the exception of a few authors). I’ll stick to mysteries from here on out
2.5⭐️ / I really wanted to like this more, but it just felt….cumbersome. There was soooo much detail that the entire story just felt like it dragged. It was an interesting concept, but I think the delivery just wasn’t for me. I’ve felt this way about other Lisa Jewell books too, but it was very much a slow burn and I was hoping for something a bit faster paced. I didn’t hate it, but I think Lisa Jewell’s style just isn’t for me.
Alix Summer has a pretty perfect life. She has two young kids, a rich husband, and is the host of the podcast, All Woman. Josie Fair feels like she wants a fresh start. She thinks that her life has been wasted with an abusive husband, troublesome adult children, and virtually no freedom. When Josie Fair introduces herself on their shared birthday, Alix finds herself not only hosting a podcast, but becoming an integral part of a true crime documentary.
This was one of Lisa Jewel’s best books yet! I absolutely loved this twisty story with unreliable narrators and podcast/documentary excerpts. The writing was fantastic and the characters were so well thought out. I did predict most of the ending, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of it. I thought the end was twisted and wild! Sometimes I think books about podcasts are cheesy, but I thought it was perfect. The only thing I would change is the title of the podcast “Hi! I’m Your Birthday Twin”. I thought it was a little long and kinda weird. It would have been better as just “Birthday Twins”, but that’s just my opinion. Everything else was flawless!