This book was AMAZING. Loved the premise. Became totally unhinged. And the end. Get out of my face! This was dark. It was funny. It was bizarre. It totally fed into the weird vibe I like in books. READ IT.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was interesting but pretty dark, in my opinion. If you want to read about an evil group of influencers, convinced they are guided by a higher power - this will be for you! I didn't particularly enjoy it but it has some interesting scenes. Give it a try.

Julie Chan Is Dead comes out next week on April 29, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

One thing needs to be made clear: I did not kill my twin sister.

I was excited about this one and am so disappointed I didn’t like it. It started out interesting. Then got weird, but interesting. By the end it was just weird.

A woman assumes the identity of her estranged social media influencer twin after her unexpected death. She gets wrapped up in her twin’s life and tried to fit in with her friends. Oh and she’s being blackmailed by her aunt. Then all of a sudden it was like she was in a cult and on drug trip.

It was supposed to be a thriller but it just felt off. The plot felt disjointed and random. I think the characters were supposed to be a comment on vapid people posting meaningless content and out of control materialism/consumerism but it did not work for me.

3 stars - thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy. Pub date 4/29/25.

Liann Zhang is a new author for me. This is her debut novel and I picked it up because the description intrigued me and because it was described as a razor-sharp thriller. I do love thrillers.


Description:

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.

My Thoughts:
Julie and Chloe, twin sisters, were separated when they were very young. Their parents had died and Julie was raised by an aunt who didn't love her, and Chloe was adopted by a wealthy couple. The girls had no contact with each other until grown and both on their own. Julie was barely getting by as a supermarket worker and Julie was a rich and famous influencer. When they met fleetingly, Chloe used Julie to promote her brand and make her Chloe look good. After Chloe once again has nothing to do with Julie. That had to really hurt. Julie wanted nothing more than to build a relationship with her sister. When Julie gets an out of the blue call from Chloe where she makes some strange sounds, but says nothing, Julie gets a bad feeling and goes to New York to check on Chloe. Finding her sister dead she sees an opportunity: become Chloe and make it look like Julie is the one who died. With this move Julie could step into Chloe's rich life and turn her life around. Only Chloe's life is not what Julie imagined. The story turns dark as she is blackmailed and is drawn into an exclusive group with some very dangerous practices. I kept flipping the pages as I devoured the story. That's some scary group of girls! This is a great debut novel and I will be interested to see what Zhang writes in the future.

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

This is two totally different books in one binding, and the switch between the first half and the second half left me with whiplash and a "what in the world did I just read?!?" The first part is a delightful, light, chicklit dive into rich people behaving badly and influencer culture, and the second half is unhinged horror(?)/ thriller(?)/dark gore(?) with a dash of race and culture reflection. This book was unlike anything I have read in a long time, so for that, bravo. The huge left turn was unexpected, but not unwelcomed.

I picked up this book from Atria Mystery Bus on Tiktok. The whole team highly recommended it. As I am trying to branch out from romance I thought this mystery/thriller would be a good step since it was a mix of both. From what I pieced together and learned is the first half of this book is more mystery and the second half was more thriller. The first half of this story made me anxious and concerned. Having grown up around social media and influencers the commentary here was spot on but Julies actions or lack there of confused me. However, the second half of the story on the private island was an exciting amazing whirlwind. I loved the cult behaviors and the twists and turns. I wish the whole book was the thriller. Was this book for me? No, but I learned that I like thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I could not get into this one.

The horror aspect when it was there was creepy! It gave me chills! I wasn’t expecting it to be that in depth with its horror. So that made it feel like two different books. That’s my fault for not realizing there was a horror aspect to it, but it really threw me off. One side of it was Julie trying to navigate Chloe’s life, while there was random spurts of body horror or creepiness thrown in.

I just didn’t like Julie at all. Not enough to want her to succeed in tricking everyone. We didn’t get to know her enough before she tried to be Chloe to care about her.

She’s not a likeable character. Normally I don’t mind unlikable characters, but only when they’re supposed to be if that makes sense. Maybe Julie was supposed to be unlikable, but I got the feeling that the author wanted us to be on her side and sympathize with her. I did not at all. She was a pretty terrible person, especially when the money and fame got to her head. Even what she did at the end with Viktor made me feel icky inside.

It was smart to mention that none of these girls were actually close enough to Chloe for them to realize she’s not who she says she is because otherwise she would have been caught right away. It almost felt like she didn’t try to be Chloe. I get it would be hard when she knows next to nothing about her, but the way she would react to things made her very suspicious.

I didn’t care about any of the influencers. So how am I supposed to care about the plot?

It was very repetitive in the beginning. I know she has every right to worry that someone is going to figure out that she is not Chloe, but all she thought to herself at any little thing was, “I wonder if they realize I’m not Chloe.”

Iz had a good point at the retreat with how people of color had it harder than white people. Her speech was very empowering! It made me sad Julie didn’t side with her in that moment. Iz was such an outsider in that moment it almost felt like we weren’t supposed to agree with her. Which seemed so wrong. Then Isla turned out to be a bad person too! Not as bad as the other girls, but still! They are all so cutthroat. I am sure a lot of influencers are that way, but I wouldn’t think all of them are. I wish there was more genuine camaraderie with at least some of the characters. There was absolutely none to be seen.

It probably is my fault for making the wrong assumptions, but I thought that most of the book would be Julie trying to figure out what happened to Chloe, not her learning how to become an influencer. I knew that would be another part of the book, but not the only part. Then at the end of the book, it took a complete 180 and started getting into a cult aspect. The plot was just all over the place.

The animal cruelty made me so angry. And spoiler warning: the fact that a pregnant woman also ate a mouse and killed her baby, made me sick to be honest. How could she do that? Even if she wanted so badly to fit in, I can’t imagine she would think it was okay to put that into her system when she was pregnant. Even if she wasn’t pregnant! It was very hard to read. While it could have been anything else that made her miscarry, it seemed like we were meant to assume it was from the mouse. Especially when she was fine the day before.

It didn’t make sense either that Julie was fine with eating a live mouse (disgusting and cruel!!), but then the next day immediately thought it was bad. Even if she was on some sort of drugs or drunk, you should be with it enough to know not to do that.

It wrapped up too nicely in the end. I almost didn’t want Julie to get away with everything and I wanted people to be more upset with her. I know it’s a book, but it seemed very unrealistic. Everyone was okay with her taking Chloe’s place, which obviously some people would be because everyone is different. But the mass majority? I don’t think so. They pretty much just brushed it under the rug.

There were no consequences for her actions, and to me, she was a bad enough person that she deserved more consequences. It did have an open ending, so at least you can maybe determine that she does go to jail, but I’m guessing the author doesn’t want you to assume that.

A gripping and masterful debut, Liann Zhang was able to craft a story that held my attention right from the beginning. I love her writing voice, striking the perfect balance between humour and tension. My only complaint was that it did begin to drag in the middle. But all in all, this was a great read and I will definitely be picking up more books from Zhang in the future!

Julie Chan is working as a cashier at a grocery store, but her twin sister, Chloe, is living the high life as an influencer in NYC. Julie sometimes gets mistaken for her sister, which annoys her. They grew up separately. Julie was raised by her aunt; and Chloe was adopted by a rich, white family. Their backgrounds could not have been more different. Out of the blue, Julie gets a call from Chloe with some mumbling and maybe the word “mistake”. Julie tries to call her sister back, but her sister never answers. Julie decides to go to NYC to make sure her sister is okay. When she gets there, the doorman mistakes her for Chloe and lets her in. Julie finds her twin sister dead in her apartment. When the police arrive, Julie makes a last minute decision to say the dead person is Julie, not Chloe. Thus, she decides to take over Chloe’s life. Julie spends time reviewing her sister’s social media, trying to ensure that she can continue without alerting people. However, it becomes more difficult when a group of women influencers called the Belladonnas invite Julie to spend a week on an island with them.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book and was pulled in right away. Once the women got to the island, it was still interesting, but things got a bit weird. Also, I thought the pacing slowed down until the end, where things really went off the rails. First half was 4 stars and second half was 3 stars, so 3.5 stars overall.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC to review.

Y’all. This may be the most unhinged book I’ve ever read in my LIFE. I put it down and my first thought was, “What the heck did I just read?!” I thought I saw where this was going, but there was just no way to know. If you enjoyed Yellowface or The Plot, you’ll like this. Just know going in that if you’re a sensitive reader, this may not be the book for you. I hesitate to even share any more thoughts or trigger warnings for fear of spoiling it, but if you do read it GET IN MY DMS BECAUSE I NEED SOMEONE TO UNPACK THIS WITH!!! The characters are IN.SANE. The writing was amazing. I was so unsure how to rate this because it’s hard to say I “liked” it…especially one scene in particular…but it kept me on the edge of my SEAT. Couldn’t put it down. If you like an unhinged thriller, you’ll gobble this one up!

What…did I just read? 😅 I’m going to be honest, I’m a little frightened. I did hear that this was like Bunny and Yellowface, and since I read neither one of those books, I was…let’s just say, I was stunned by what happened. Let’s get into the basics of what I liked and didn't like about the story, shall we?

The Plot: Seems interesting, right? Julie Chan’s life sucks. Nothing in life goes right for her, just like her aunt said it would, and she finds herself envious of Chloe, her twin, who is a social media influencer and is very, very successful. She is also nonexistent in Julie’s world and has no intention of bridging the gap that tragedy made between them. Discouraged and downcast with how things have turned out for her, Julie is startled when she gets a chilling call from her “beloved” twin sister. Unsure of what to do, Julie goes to Chloe’s apartment, and what she finds is the beginning of a crazy, horrendous experience I don’t think anyone wants to be a part of. And, oh boy, does it get interestingly weird real fast. I’ll be frank with you, if you don’t like cultish stuff and privileged arrogance, then I don’t advise you to read this book. And that ending? Holy cow, I was not expecting that! It felt so right yet so…wrong. I was uncomfortable with a lot of the things that happened on the island, but since none of it was explicitly sexual, I decided to push through and see what happened to Julie’s social media world. And does crazy stuff always have to happen on privately owned islands? Is that a thing? 🤷‍♀ Anyway, this was strange, interesting, and very thought-provoking, especially about the prevalence of social media in our day and age and how it’s teeth are sunken so deep into our lives that it seems like we can’t ever, ever go back to those glorious days of when we owned technology and not the other way around. I wasn’t alive for those days, but golly-gee-whiz, I miss them. 😂

The Characters: Is it so hard for people to be–oh, I don’t know–sane? In other words, I didn’t like any of the characters, which docks off a star for me. Julie was all right. She was funny (sometimes), and I think you can describe her as a morally gray character, which was relatable and realistic since we are human after all. Our logic might not make sense to some, but it does to us, and that’s enough…for now. But everyone else? Oh heck no. Uh-uh. Everyone was crazy, except for the minor characters. They might not seem crazy at first, but once they set foot on that island, all hell breaks loose, literally and figuratively. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, not even Julie, and I didn’t root for anyone because they were so full of themselves. I wanted everyone to stop what they were doing and take a moment to reexamine their lives because this ain’t it, girly. This ain't it.

The Writing: Here is a reason why I gave it three stars and not two. Liann Zhang can write a dang good story, drawing me in even though I was resisting the urge to finish this book. The dialogue was realistic, funny, and concerning when it needed to be. The story flowed well, and I wasn’t left scratching my head, wondering what the heck happened to so-and-so or who did what. And you know what else? I find myself thinking about it afterward. I mean, if I feel this way about a book, then you know the author is fantastic. I am excited to see what else Zhang will write in the future. ☺

Overall Thoughts: I was unsure as to how I should rate this book, but after looking at the pros and cons of the situation, I thought 3 stars was a good rating for me. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. Would I recommend it? Uh…sure, if you’re into thrillers. If you aren’t into a lot of swearing or blood/gore, then I’d be wary of reading it. The story is very intriguing, and if you want to give it a shot, then by all means, go for it. It makes you ponder aspects of our world, and I’d say that is a good thing.

I received a digital arc from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and statements are my own.

#NetGalley

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. The beginning of the book was strong and hooked me in right away with a very interesting plot-- Julie Chan taking over her dead influencer twin sister's life. However, the middle dragged a bit for me, and the last 25% felt pretty random and out there. I almost DNF'd it, but I'm glad I stuck with it-- the author wrapped things up well and I still find myself thinking about it! The story also got me reflecting on what it means to be an influencer and I think there is a lot of symbolism in the chaos of it all.

"Being a young woman is already like existing in the seventh circle of hell."

I’ve seen this described as a mash up of Yellowface and Bunny, and I couldn’t agree more.
This book hooked me from the very first sentence. It’s filled with dark humor that pokes fun at influencer culture and social media addiction while also highlighting how influencers are constantly performing, even off camera.
Julie and Chloe are twins. After their parents are killed in a car accident, Chloe is adopted by a wealthy white couple, while Julie is raised by her manipulative, verbally abusive aunt. The two grow up estranged until Julie receives an alarming phone call from Chloe and decides to visit her apartment only to find her sister’s dead body.
Julie sees this as an opportunity. All the sponsorship money, the free products, the fame. Why should it go to waste? Julie, who grew up with nothing, tells herself this is karmic justice and steps into her sister’s identity.
Watching Julie spiral as she takes over Chloe’s life, constantly terrified of being exposed, was so addicting. She binges old videos to mimic Chloe’s voice, takes laxatives to fit into her clothes, and even memorizes the names and faces of her Instagram followers.
Were a few parts predictable? Yes. Did it require some suspension of disbelief? Definitely. Did I enjoy every minute? Absolutely.
If you’re looking for a darkly funny thriller about identity, obsession, and the cost of being seen, I recommend this one with my whole chest!

🅁🄰🅃🄸🄽🄶 : 4

🄵🄾🅁 🅁🄴🄰🄳🄴🅁🅂 🅆🄷🄾 🄻🄸🄺🄴

☆ Mystery / Thriller
☆ Influencer Culture
☆ Short Chapters
☆ Race & Class Disparities
☆ Unreliable Narrator

🄵🄰🅅🄾🅁🄸🅃🄴 🅂🄲🄴🄽🄴

Everything that went down at the influencer retreat.
But especially the mice scene. If you know, you know.

🄵🄰🅅🄾🅁🄸🅃🄴 🅀🅄🄾🅃🄴

-The quotes referenced are from an advanced reader's copy and may not reflect the final version. Please refer to the finished copy for accuracy.-

"You have the luxury of bordem and people eat it up. Why? Because you're a stereotypical beauty. Desirable by Western norms. People are sympathetic to your struggles because your appearance makes your whining palatable. And I'm not saying your feelings of depression aren't genuine. They're valid. I'm only saying if a Black, or Hispanic, or hell, even Asian person said the same things you do, they'd be labeled as ungrateful. If we rotted in bed like you, our oily hair would be seen as dirty and lazy instead of relatable. We have to confine ourselves into these perfect yet non-threatening boxes, while you have the privilege of complaining because you fit the aesthetic of sad white girl that society thirsts for."

✨️ Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy of this mind-bending book in exchange for an honest review.

Ever read a book and stop to go back and read the summary because the story is going somewhere you aren't sure you thought it was going? That was this book! Multiple times! The reader is reading along all nice and happy, sad main character with dismal life watching her estranged twin living the shiny perfect life of an influencer when she gets a weird phone call. The reader is chuckling when the sad twin goes to find the shiny twin dead and decides to take her life. Okay, this is all traditional trope territory. Modern twist is that sad twin finds out quickly that the influencer life isn't as shiny and perfect as she thought, or as is presented in social media. But the reader expects that and keeps reading, enjoying the anticipated comedic events to come. Um, well, then this big ol' whatever comes and blows the entire story off any expected course and the reader is reading along all confused and "wtf"-ing. Yup! And that's all I can say! And either the reader is going to be reading along thinking "um, no, this doesn't work for me" or "um, wow, this is crazy and I'm here for it!" Well, I was here for it to the detriment of my beauty sleep and it was worth it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I enjoy discovering new authors and new stories, and I took a chance with this book knowing it was outside my usual reading interest. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. It started out very strong, with a premise I found very interesting – a twin (Julie) takes her sister’s (Chloe) place after her sister dies suddenly. Chloe is a social media darling – an influencer making a very large income and living a very lavish life. The first half of the book was solid and followed this story line, but the second half of the book went completely sideways and turned into a very unrealistic and unbelievable story line. I cannot say much without giving spoilers, but one scene involved a group of women deliberately eating live baby mice – yes, that really happened. If you like books like Bunny, this is a good choice for you.

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Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7112004177
https://fable.co/review/9e238304-88ea-46dc-a10e-46548857d5c2/share
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ef53fa38-1c01-4406-ac02-169114a00c0a

Review:
A hilariously deranged satire that cuts with a glitter-coated knife, "Julie Chan Is Dead" by Liann Zhang is both a laugh-out-loud take on influencer culture and an important critique of privilege, power, and perception.

When Julie Chan stumbles upon her estranged twin sister’s lifeless body, she doesn’t call the police—she picks up the ring light. Stepping into Chloe VanHuusen’s picture-perfect influencer life, Julie trades in grocery store name tags for sponsored skincare, retreat invites, and a built-in following. But beneath the curated content and perfect aesthetics lies a festering pit of secrets, and Julie quickly learns that in this world, influence can be deadly. No spoilers but the climax drama is enough to fuel a whole new Bravo franchise.

This book is unhinged in the best way with the exception of one particular scene and you'll know it when you get to it...I almost crawled out of my skin but I still loved every moment of it. It’s quirky, devilish, hilarious, and reads like a dark comedy that wandered into a true crime series and refused to leave. Julie Chan is absolutely criminal—literally and figuratively—but somehow you still find yourself rooting for her. Maybe it’s the biting social commentary on race, power, and money, or maybe it’s the fact that someone's called a Hard C (which made me HOWL with laughter)—either way, I'm enamored with this novel. Zhang's satirical approach is prickly with a sprinkling of absurdity in a way that feels all too real, painting the influencer industry as the gloriously ridiculous beast it is.

Brass tacks—I came for the synopsis and stayed for the writing. Zhang crafts clever lines about fiery assholes (literal assholes) and zingy wordplay about supporting women's rights AND WRONGS. I spent the entire novel chuckling to myself, often laughing audibly, and living in a constant state of prose praise.

"Julie Chan Is Dead" is a rollercoaster of ridiculousness, revenge, and relevance, all wrapped in a designer robe and delivered with a wink.

Thank you to Liann Zhang, Atria Books, & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my authentic review.

Review for “ Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang”

1. Plot Uniquenes :4/5
2. Pacing and Coherence : 4/5
3. Emotional and Interllexrual Engagekent : 2/5
4. Twists and turns : 3/5
5. Protagonist Character Development : 4/5
6. support character development : 3.5/5
7. Setting and atmosphere : 3/5
8. Chapter Organization : 4/5
9. Conclusion and tied loose ends : 4/5
10. Overall rating of book : 3.5/5

Whoa. Julie Chan is Dead is a diabolical, chaotic good time that went in directions I never expected.

The cover gives popcorn thriller/women’s fiction/satire vibes, and there are elements of all of those genres in this book for sure. The plot does require you to suspend your disbelief, which I was completely fine with because I was so engrossed in this story. I read it in a couple of sittings and couldn’t wait to get back to it when real life intruded.

Meet Julie Chan, who works a dead-end job at a grocery store, lives in a crumbling home, and has a strained relationship with her emotionally distant, cruel aunt, who took her in when she was four after Julie’s parents died in a car accident. Julie has a twin sister named Chloe, who was adopted into a different family (a white, wealthy one), and they have no contact with each other until the day Chloe shows up at Julie’s job, camera crew in tow, to film their tearful reunion for her YouTube channel (#EMOTIONAL). And then Chloe goes back to her glamorous life as a social media influencer, leaving Julie in the dust – until the night she calls Julie, mumbling and incoherent, and Julie ultimately finds Chloe dead in her fancy NYC apartment. A simple misunderstanding allows Julie to sip seamlessly into her sister’s sparkly shoes and assume her identity…but Julie soon learns that Chloe’s luxurious lifestyle isn’t at all what it appears to be.

It’s hard to believe this is Liann Zhang’s debut, because it is so impressive and is doing so much. The fact that Julie could slip so easily into Chloe’s life, fooling her millions of social media followers, acquaintances, and even closest friends, says so much about the types of superficial connections that social media cultivates. And of course, there’s the whole idea of influencer culture itself, with its lack of authenticity; Zhang’s commentary about social media is razor sharp and darkly hilarious. She also digs into issues of race and class in a really meaningful way. And then the last third of the book is on another level entirely, spiraling into a surreal fever dream of horror and violence and wow, I just absolutely loved where this book took me. The whole book was a roller coaster ride of wild energy that went off the rails in the most brilliant way.

Julie Chan is Dead is one of those books that sneaks up on you and then just goes completely nuclear, leaving you reeling and exhilarated. I wouldn’t recommend this for all readers because it gets a bit gross at the end, but if you enjoyed books like Natural Beauty and Bunny, you will love this. Thank you to Atria Books for the early reading opportunity.

This book is unhinged in the best possible way. Like, that’s the only way you could describe a book that centres around a twin assuming the life of her estranged influencer sister after finding her dead, right? But it’s compelling and paints a fascinating portrait of influencer culture, identity, fame and wealth. Julie Chan is Dead is a unique debut that feels adjacent to White Lotus and Yellowjackets. I devoured this book so quickly and can’t wait for other people to read it so we can discuss!!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Chan was separated from her twin at 4 years old after their parents die in a car accident. Chloe is adopted by an affluent white couple while Julie gets adopted by her aunt. They grow up in completely opposite lives. Fast forward to now and Chloe is a social media influencer and Julie works at a supermarket. They have no relationship, except for years ago when Chloe bought Julie a house and used it as a YouTube video. One night Julie gets a phone call from Chloe and she goes to New York to make sure she’s okay and finds her dead. Julie then takes on the identity of Chloe and pretends that the body was that of Julie Chan.
Julie gets immersed into the lives of social media influencers and we see the dark side (albeit unhinged dark side) of influencers and how they rise to fame.

This book was ADDICTING! The writing and flow had me not wanting to put down the book and staying up way too late. I was laughing and cringing and screaming at parts- iykyk. That ending had me saying wtf did I just read?! But in the best way.
Thank you so so much to Atria books and Netgalley for this ARC! I’m recommending at the top of my lungs.