So, you want to be an influencer? All you have to do it's find your twin dead and switch places with her. That's what Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier, did when her estranged twin sister Chloe VanHuusen died. This novel touches on social media influencers, a wild island getaway rife with rituals, and what some people will do to fit in and be successful. It is hard to describe this book except for compelling. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

It was definitely a fresh an intriguing premise for a thriller. It was fun and humorous at times but overall just a bit too weird and over the top. I didn’t care for any of the characters to be honest. It was ok but just wasn’t my cup of tea.

What in the world did I just read??

I didn’t know much about this book starting out, but it certainly grabbed me from the beginning. The first half is a fascinating dive into the social media influencer world. It seemed to be both truth telling and mockery at the same time. A bit of a poking fun at tell-all.

Then the location changed and the whole vibe of the book shifted. Without giving away too many details, an oppressive darkness settled down on the story. I truly didn’t know what to expect. But I stayed along for the ride.

When I read the last sentence, I was left scratching my head. Not because I didn’t understand what happened, but because I truly didn’t know how I felt about it. I still don’t.

There were many things in this book I didn’t enjoy. The language, how she spoke of God and more that I can’t share because they would be spoilers.

The writing and the train wreck that I just couldn’t avert my eyes from, however, kept me hanging on to the end.

Do I recommend this book? I do, but beware it’s definitely not christian fiction. If you read it, please let me know because I would love to process it with somebody.

Thank you go @netgalley and @atriabooks for my electronic advanced readers copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own

What did I just read? 🤣 This debut thriller about influencers, a young woman stepping into her dead twin's life, and the dark secrets waiting to be revealed was unsettling. It's also one of those books that readers will either love or hate. Personally, the narrative had me turning the pages for the majority of the book. I could feel that atmosphere that the shoe was going to drop, and soon Julie's masquerade as Chloe would be unveiled. But those last twenty chapters- wild, eyebrow-raising, and " do I want to continue reading?' occurred.

I will go with a 3-star because it did have me turning the pages( fair warning, you have to go along with the narrative even if you're in disbelief). But oh my goodness, that ending was ________.( I don't even know what word I would use. 😂



Expected Publication Date 29/04/25
Goodreads Review 08/04/25

this was...bizarre. the way this started as a murder mystery of a famous influencer, to the terrible decisions of a social climber, and ended with a cult? i felt as if i read three different books lol. the main character was horrible. actually, all the characters in this were awful. i didn't find anything redeemable about any of them, but they were such complex characters. i hated them, but they interested me. i truly couldn't look away from the horrifying train wreck of their actions.

the writing was dense at times but for me lacked the depth it was trying to convey. the characters made this somewhat bearable since the plot was all over the place. this book was attempting to be several different things but didn't successfully land on anything solid to make it impactful for me.
overall this was dark, entertaining and weird.

What a crazy ride of a book but wow was it entertaining. Influencers galore, but plenty of spiky commentary and some bizarre horror, too.

Julie Chan lives a miserable life as a grocery store cashier, resenting her identical twin sister, Chloe Van Huusen, who’s also a successful influencer. After their parents died, Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white family while Julie was adopted by her stingy aunt. They’ve barely been in contact since, except when Chloe used Julia in a viral Youtube video. When Julia gets a weird call from Chloe, she figures out where Chloe lives and travels to her apartment, where she discovers Chloe dead. Realizing the opportunity, Julia steals Chloe’s identity and tells police that her twin, Julia, has died. She lavishes in Chloe’s influencer lifestyle, meeting Chloe’s circle of insufferable influencer friends. But as Julia gets deeper into this circle, she soon realizes there’s something darker lurking behind these privileged influencers.

So the premise is pretty wild already, but it doesn’t even get into the even crazier events that happen in the second half, once the week-long influencer trip starts. It’s dark and fever dream-esque with trigger warnings including gore and miscarriage and possibly animal cruelty, so go in with the expectation that things go off the rails, especially compared to the first half. I haven’t read them, but I think it’s probably similar in vibes to girly-pop culty horror that’s popular recently.

Initially with all the blurbs about razor-sharp social commentary I went in expecting literary writing, but it’s not quite that. Tbh I feel like the writing could have been slightly pared down, but this was fun to read. The voice reminded me of The Clique series from my preteen years, in that these people and their privilege irritated me but at the same time I was fascinated by their lifestyle, and Julia provided some snippy comments about influencers while also embracing her newfound fame. She had just enough self-awareness and surrounded herself with even more insufferable people to be a character I rooted for, even with all the stuff she pulled.

While I did enjoy this very much, the complete change in the second half was kind of a surprise and felt a bit like a whole different book, but it was still plenty entertaining. There’s also some commentary from Julia that just kind of felt out of place from what she’d say that took me out of the immersion, but it was mostly on point.

Overall, though, this was a fun and wild book that was hard to put down, and got me thinking a bit about the content I consume. I would like to avoid influencers even more than I used to.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

By the cover, synopsis and title I thought I was signing up for a thriller about twin sisters… two completely different people… one who winds up dead and the other who pretends to be her! The first half of this book had my attention and I was intrigued how it all would end. A little over half way through the story became WILD! Think Mona Awad or Rachel Harrison territory, wild! I have to say I was not prepared. I love the strange…the weird… the more mind bending take books can go but this transition felt a bit jarring. A good portion of the story is about influencer culture and I LOVED the BTS look into the glamorous lifestyle. Besides the authors listed above this also had me reminiscing on books like A special Place For Women. This is a debut and I will for sure keep my eye out for Zhangs next release.

Thank you Atria & Simon Audio 🎧

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.Andthebookshelf/

Holy crap this was such a fun read! I adored this beautifully unhinged book. It was a light and easy read, but engaging. It was absurd like The White Lotus. It was serious at time, it was funny at times.

Basically, a long lost twin steps into her dead sister’s influencer life. She absorbs her sister’s life, including friends, and makes quite a few discoveries. Then, things start to get out of hand…The main character is so unlikable, but I also loved her!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read the eGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After the death of their parents at a young age Julie and Chloe who are identical twins life went completely different. Julie went to live with their aunt, and Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white couple. Now as an adult Julie Chan is a supermarket cashier, and Chloe is a social media influencer and has millions of followers. One video of Chloe’s reunion with Julie Chan goes viral but Chloe dropped Julie right after getting the likes. One day after getting a weird phone call from Chloe, Julie feels like something is wrong. After arriving at Chloe’s apartment after impersonating her to allow the doorman to let her in, Julie finds Chloe dead on the floor. When the paramedics arrive and mistake her for Chloe again the idea comes to her to become Chloe and claim that Julie Chan is dead instead. So begins Julie being Chloe and what happens next is a rollercoaster. The glamorous lifestyle that Chloe lived encourages Julie to do that, but she is unaware of the dark secrets that her sister had and soon they catch up! Maybe Julie doesn’t want to Chloe anymore…

I was pulled into this book instantly! The description really had me hooked. I wanted to know what was going to happen!
The title is catchy. The cover shows an inside scoop on what is going to happen without giving away too much, which I really appreciate.

I am obsessed with books about influencers, ESPECIALLY thrillers. I knew I was going to be intrigued throughout the entire book!

I enjoyed the pacing of this book.
I thought that it gave enough back story for everyone to understand. As well as gives you enough back story to be empathetic for the characters we are going to follow.
I thought that the time we spent on the island was a great portion of the book and allowed for that story to build within itself.

I loved the characters. NONE of them are likable. That is exactly why I enjoyed them. They are multifaceted and give you some strong emotions in all different ways.

I highly suggest checking this book out!
Thank you to Atria Books & NetGalley for an eARC of this book!!
4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

Julie and Chloe's world was shattered when they lost their parents and were separated. Julie was sent to live with her evil aunt, while Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white couple. Chloe becomes a social media sensation, while Julie is stuck in retail hell. But when Chloe dies, Julie swoops in and steals her sister's identity - because who needs dignity when you can have Instagram followers?
This book was utterly insane, in the best way imaginable! I dove in without knowing much, just the blurb and the rave reviews... and let me tell you, the hype is real! The ending was so outrageous that I questioned whether it had gone too far, but somehow, it worked. The writing was impressive, especially for a debut novel. I'm eagerly anticipating this author's next work!
Note: I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

This hooked me right from the start – I’ve been annoyed lately at how slowly books ramp up and was happy to not have that issue. I was also prepared from other reviews for the first and second half of the book to have different tones and levels of crazy.

I wish I could talk about the second half. I have so many things to say! This would be a great book club book, because I need a whole group of people to process it with. (Not on an island, though. Definitely not on an island.)

The second half is so bonkers, it even made me forget about first-half issues that would also make for good book club discussion – like how Dickensian is it that the twins were separated at age four, one adopted by rich parents and one sent to a less well-off aunt? Which twin would you prefer to be?

Now that I’ve got going, I can come up with at least a dozen more discussion questions, so clearly this is a book with a lot to think about!

This was a fun, thriller. it had a more unique premise and there were parts that made me laugh out loud, which is different from most thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy.

I have to admit, the title of this book and the cover pulled me in. But neither was compelling enough to stick with a premise that would be just this side of unrealistic to begin with (a pair of Asian twins who were separated after their parents die; one ends up getting adopted by a wealthy white family and becomes a social media influencer, while the other lives a downtrodden life as a grocer store clerk); the actual plot--where Julie happens to find her twin's dead body in the twin's NYC apartment and is able to convince everyone that in fact she's actually the twin and the twin is her--giving her the opportunity to live a different life. I couldn't suspend my disbelief in thinking that the twin who shows up in a ratty hoodie and jeans, with oily hair and splotchy skin could be mistaken for the expensively coiffed influencer. It made reading everything after that hard to go with.

This book was super good !
I really enjoyed the twists, and most of them I was not expecting and were written really well !
The book tackles important things that I really appreciated, and were written very sophisticated and well.
The ending was so good, I didn't predict it at all and to see it come sort of "full circle" was really interesting.
I was not expecting the book to end like it did or go the way it went, and I'm so happy it did !

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinions.

Let me be real: darker things went down in this book than the synopsis let on. Think Yellowface and Follow Me—but doubled.

Stolen identity, multiple deaths, cult, blind followership, the dark side of the influencer culture, sacrifices 💀. I mean, protagonists you can't root for, aren't they the best 😈😈?

To sum the whole story up: A girl finds her dead influencer twin, takes over her life, plays the ultimate game of pretend, gets invited to a secluded influencer retreat, and then… CHAOS.

There was a lull in between playing the game of pretend and getting invited to the retreat, but that didn't affect the story in any way, but damn... And that ending?? Wild. I need to know—is there going to be a sequel?!

Thank you once again for the e-ARC.

I did receive this as an arc from NetGalley.


This is the story of twins who were separated at a young age and become strangers essentially. One, Julie, is treated callously and lives a poor life. The other, Chloe, is adopted by rich parents and becomes a rich influencer.

When Julie finds Chloe dead…Julie takes her identity. Can Julie handle the stresses of being an influencer with a huge following and constant demands? Can she manage convincing everyone she is Chloe?
Will sudden wealth, fame and community improve her life?

Julie thinks it’s all positives, until she sees the dark side of the Belladonna’s (a circle of elite influencers that Chloe was a part of).

I did enjoy the book overall and was MUCH more invested in the second half, once the mystery vacation begins. I enjoyed the bit of horror/gore/psychedelic elements of the second half.
The first part dragged way too long and I don’t really feel that Julie ever really developed. Maybe that was the authors goal.

Overall if this book had been shorter or faster paced in the first half - it probably would have gotten a higher rating from me.

Still open to reading more from this author.

This mystery/thriller with dark humor and social commentary on social media and influencers was fast-paced, fun, and oh so unhinged. I greatly enjoyed the first half of the book, in which Julie tried to unravel the mystery surrounding Chloe's life and abrupt death. I was eager to learn more and put the pieces together with Julie. The second half of the book, which focuses on the island retreat, is when things get super unhinged. While it got a bit too wild and over the top for my liking, Liann Zhang definitely nailed the creepy cult vibes here, and she kept me quickly reading until the very end to find out what in the world was going to happen next. The book also aptly pokes fun at social media and the influencer industry, and touches on just how addictive social media can be, without feeling too heavy-handed and acting like it is saying something new and extraordinary on the topic.

This was a very impressive debut by Liann Zhang, and I look forward to reading what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC!

This was weird, fun and unhinged at times. Some parts reminded me of Bunny by Mona Awad. Laughed a lot at some takes on the influencers.

It was a really fun read to get me out of my slump!

this was a very #weird and #unhinged but #kindoffuntoread thriller! i didn't absolutely hate it!

julie chan is broke, bitter, and quite anonymous—the antithesis of her twin chloe van huusen, an affluent social media influencer who was adopted by a rich family while julie was left with her aunt. they grew apart after being separated, and julie’s resentment only deepened over time—understandably so. the only time chloe bothered to talk to her out of the blue was to buy her a house to milk the internet's sympathy for profit, and even then she still had a patronizing attitude towards julie. thus, she never bothered to genuinely create a healthy relationship with her twin. so, once chloe mysteriously died of a drug overdose, julie took over her life under her name. good for her, i guess!

i started this thinking it would be strikingly similar to yellowface, and it was for the first 40%— a commentary on identity, influencers, and internet fame. once the influencer retreat started on a secluded island, everything spiraled. can't say i don't love a bit of capitalist culty horror/insanity and deranged women moment, though. i don't doubt rich people can be this diabolical in reality.

to me, this book kind of exuded scientology, bunny by mona awad (from what i've heard, i haven't read it yet but i will update this when i do), and midsommar. that ending was something!

while this is no yellowface (which i personally prefer), if you like weird books and need a quick pick-me-up with absurd yet somewhat entertaining women, then this one is not a bad option! there's lots of murder, obsession, drugs, strange rituals and mantras, and mass brainwashing, which is always intriguing and slightly addictive.

thank you to the publishers for the e-arc!