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!

This book was wild and took a turn I didn’t see coming and I was here for every minute of it. I found myself hooked from the start with this book and laughing out loud at Julia’s quips. I was constantly turning the page needing to know more and the short chapters definitely helped with that. I had an idea on who the killer was but it was still a fun ride seeing it all play out. Towards the end it took a turn that I didn’t see coming and it gave me Bunny vibes, which I was here for.

Overall, I definitely recommend this fun thriller filled with funny characters, influencer culture, and culty vibes!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me just say that Asian Female authors freaking kill it!!! So many of my favorite as of late have been written by Asian women and this one is no different. This book is a cross between Mona Awad’s Bunny and Zoe Kravitz’s Blink Twice, and this did NOT AT ALL go the way I thought it would. The way it spiraled was mesmerizing, and I was pretty surprised at the gorier parts. I absolutely ate this up. My complaints are that the killer reveal was kinda predictable and the last couple chapters felt very thrown together. Other than that this was a knockout debut. Song pairing is Toxic by Britney Spears 📲🏝️👯‍♀️

PUB DATE: APRIL 28TH 2025 🥳

In the best way possible when I finished this book my first thought was what in the hell did I just read!! This is the story of Julie and her twin sister Chloe. Their parents died when they were little and they were separated and grew up completely different. Chloe grew up in a prestigious white family while Julie grew up with her a-hole auntie. What transpires next is truly crazy. I loved how I really didn’t like Julie and wasn’t cheering for her but then I was cheering for her but still didn’t like her!! What I did like was the story of the Belladonna’s.

This story makes you really think about the appeal and relevance of social media. As someone who grew up without it but now has children growing up with it- invading their life, it’s too much! This story was wild and I loved it!!

This was a super fun and engaging read. The story sucked to me in right away, and I love stories about influencers, as well as people posing as other people. So this had me hooked. However, once we got to the island and the second part of the story started I was a little thrown, but it was still fun. I thought the ending was a bit too tidy and conveniently wrapped up, but overall a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"Julie Chan is Dead" by Liann Zhang
was a crazy & unique story.
This was the author's debut novel & I can't wait to read what she decides to write next.

You know what this was wild and I really liked it. Read this is you love an assumed identity, unhinged wellness influencer cult vibes, or just effed up rich people stories.

Julie Chan and her twin sister, Chloe, were separated as young children after the death of their parents. Chloe was adopted by a wealthy family and is now a popular social media influencer, while Julie, who went to live with their aunt, is a supermarket cashier. After receiving a strange call from Chloe, Julie goes to Chloe's house and finds her lifeless body. Julie makes the decision to step into Chloe's influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind Chloe's social media façade.

This book was absolutely, undeniably bonkers...but I loved it? It was such a gripping and unique story. I was hooked from the start and devoured it. It did remind me a little of "Yellowface," but this is a completely different book. The first half of the story focuses on Julie's transformation into Chloe, while the second half involves Julie traveling to a private island for an influencer retreat. I absolutely loved the first half and binged it in one sitting. I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding Chloe's death and the intricacies of the influencer world. The second half of the story is where things get wild—in a good way? Some of it is a little over the top, but I loved the dark humor, the cult vibes, and our amazingly unhinged FMC. This was a crazy good debut, and Liann Zhang is definitely one to watch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very solid thriller that reads like a cross between Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and Bunny by Mona Awad. I thought the story was riveting and excellent- I’m a sucker for any dark novels about influencer culture. I felt like the ending was a bit too drawn out, and some of the events dragged a little bit. But honestly, the pacing was my only real issue with the book. I would LOVE to read a sequel about the Belladonnas and their various crimes! I can’t wait to read whatever Liann Zhang puts out next!

I love that the FMC (Julie) is morally grey and somewhat terrible. Her inner dialogue is a hoot. Somewhere along the line though, the plot got lost or I got lost in the plot and it just didn’t round out all the way for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book!

Obsessed is an understatement

This is my perfect kind of book. Unhinged from the get-go and doesn't let up through to the very end. For the chronically online, the weird girls, and the billionaire haters.

I'd recommend going into this book as blind as you can, but if you love unapologetically unhinged women, you need to read this book.

This book was just a really fun time, Julie finds her estranged twin sister dead and decides to take the opportunity to steal her identity as an influencer, not knowing what she was in for.

Me: Alexa, define unhinged.
Alexa: Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang.
SHEWWWW 😮‍💨 this was a great fkn read. Writing style kept my attention. Plot line kept me "GIRL WUT"-ing left and right. I still can't figure out where I stand with the end.. 😅 and I. love. that. Enjoyed this one a lot!


Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Date of publication expected April 29th, 2025.