Influencers! Identity fraud! Cults! Psychedelic drugs! This was so fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me this book!

What a fantastic read! I wish I could give it a full 5 stars instead of 4.5. I received this book through NetGalley as an ARC, and I couldn't put it down. I laughed, cried, yelled, and laughed some more. It was beautifully written, full of charm, and truly opened my mind to what it must be like to be a social media influencer.
While two scenes were somewhat challenging to get through-moments where I almost wished they had been omitted-I understand their significance to the story.

4 stars

The buzz is warranted.

Julie and Chloe are twins, but their paths diverge when their biological parents die, and Julie goes to live with their maternal aunt - a truly disturbing individual - and Chloe is adopted by a wealthy couple with less than pure intentions. Their lives grow even further apart when Chloe becomes a wealthy influencer and Julie is barely able to pay her bills. When Chloe appears in Julie's life for a social media stunt, they are so briefly reconnected, but when one of them ends up dead (per the title), the other's life makes the most shocking departure of all.

I found this wildly readable. In fact, I read it straight through in one afternoon/evening. I never lost interest, and the weirder it got, the more intriguing it became. It's easy to see how folks can get so easily absorbed into bad decisions and bizarre behavior. Zhang demonstrates that so adeptly here both in the immediate characters and in the messaging that pervades the entire work.

This is simultaneously fun, engaging, bizarre, and campy, and I really enjoyed the read. I hope we get more from this promising author in the near future.

Wow what a crazy story. This books takes you through some ups and downs of being an influencer but it takes it even further where I didn’t even expect it to go!

Thanks Net Galley and Atria books for providing the ARC!

What a clever witty book! Julie and Chloe (twins sisters) were separated very young. Chloe went on to become a famous influencer while Julie struggles to make it through the day. When Chloe is found dead in her apartment, Julie takes this opportunity to step into her life!

This book was fun although I did find the second half a huge departure from the first half so beware! It gets super wild and crazy. I think this is truly a tale of greed and envy as well as the dangers of social media. A lesson in being content with whatever we do have!

I love, love, loved this book up until about the halfway point. Then...it didn't just jump the shark, it invented sharks, put them in a blender, then crammed them down your throat while forcing you to participate in calisthenics.
Or...something.

This novel started out frothy and entertaining but veered off about halfway through into something darker. In some ways that made it more interesting, but it was jarring. That said, it's a page-turner. This is a first novel, and very entertaining. Liann Zhang has a promising future ahead of her.
#Atria #Netgalley

3.75

the first half of this book had me on the edge of my seat. seeing julie immerse herself more in chloe's life was crazy, especially with how she was becoming everything she hated about chloe while also trying really hard to convince herself (and the readers) why she deserves to act that way.

the second half took a turn i definitely wasn't expecting. i'm not sure how to feel about certain aspects of the plot... it fell a bit flat to me, and seemed to come off as shock-value.

overall, i enjoyed it!

Overall, this book was really good! The beginning started off really strong - it was fast-paced and I didn't have to push myself to stay interested. That being said, the second half of the book did fall a little flat for me. Once I got into the second half, it felt like too much was going on all at once, but I did still really enjoy the book and would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers!

Wow, this book definitely turned me off from ever wanting to be an influencer-ever! When Julie finds her twin sister, Chloe, dead on her floor following a mysterious phone call, Julie kind of.... just slips into her life. At first, she's thrilled with having a luxurious place to live, six figure brand deals, and and endless supply of high end skin creams, as well as access to Chloe's credit cards and glam team. When the shine wears off, however, Julie realizes what a perilous position she has put herself in- she is being blackmailed by her aunt, the possible cult (the Belladonnas) with their mysterious God/demon Eto are getting stranger by the day, and she has to remember to pretend to be someone she's not. Although those is considered a mystery/thriller, it absolutely has a dark side and could be also classified as a horror story. The thought of being an influencer is horrific in itself to me, but eating baby mice and swearing my firstborn in order to obtain followers is.... unimaginably horrific. Alllllll that said, I really enjoyed this book- I ate it up, hardly putting it down over the course of the weekend before Christmas. I'll definitely be recommending and handselling this one, and I cannot wait to see what Liann Ziang writes next!

What a fun read! It reminded me of Yellow Face, in the way of stolen identities and secrets, but was such a better execution of those themes!

This book was definitely unexpected. I enjoyed the beginning and the fast paced style, however the last half of the book was not for me. I felt like it was trying so hard to tick all the boxes that it fell flat and I was quickly uninterested.

A suspenseful thriller that explores the dark side of social media and the lengths that some will go to for fame. Julie Chen is the forgotten twin raised by a money hungry aunt. What happens when she stumbles upon her rich influencer twin’s dead body?
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved the first half of this book and was really drawn in. And then things took a turn the second half and it was just too much for me. I wish the vibe of the first half could have continued through the end.

Julie Chan is Dead was thrilling! I could not put this book down! I had to know what would happen next and loved seeing it all unfold. It reminded me of Yellowface in the best way possible and also had the call is coming from inside the house vibes.

It started off super strong and I couldn’t put it down. I was loving reading about the glamourous life of the influencer culture. I was also curious how Julie would pull off being Chloe. However, once they went to the island it started getting a little too odd for my tastes - but I had to finish what I started

Julie Chan Is Dead opens with a sharp and satirical lens on influencer culture. Julie, a supermarket cashier, discovers her twin sister, Chloe Van Huusen—a popular influencer—dead in her New York apartment. Seizing an opportunity, Julie assumes Chloe's identity and is quickly swept into a world of adoring fans, lucrative brand deals, and a famous influencer clique known as the Belladonnas.

This novel captures the absurdities of modern internet culture with references to the "clean-girl aesthetic," impulse shopping for a dopamine hit, and doom-scrolling on Reddit. While I generally shy away from books that involve social media, these examples underscored the story's themes very well. A moment that made me laugh was when Julie, pretending to be Chloe, records a video about "Julie's" death, and says, "Grief is not easy to deal with alone. If you or a loved one is suffering from a loss like I am, please seek counseling for support. This video is sponsored by BetterTherapy."

However, the book takes a sharp turn about a third of the way through, veering into cult horror. I wasn't too deeply connected to the story to begin with, but this shift left me feeling even more disengaged. I didn't mind the mystery surrounding Chloe's death, but having it all tied to spirituality, in that the god Etos, worshipped by the Belladonnas, granted them millions of followers in exchange for sacrifices pulled the narrative in too many different directions.

In many ways, this book channels social commentary similar to Yellowface and explores identity and comparison like in I Am Not Jessica Chen. The initial satire hooked me, but the story ultimately lost its way.

This story made me literally laugh out loud a few times. It also made me feel uncomfortable a time or two.

The basics: Julie receives a call from her estranged twin, Chloe, but she’s not able to understand what Chloe was saying. She decides to go look for Chloe, just to make sure she’s safe. She discovers that Chloe is dead, and Julie makes the decision to take over Chloe’s life. What follows is a life of luxury among other influencers. Plus, there are a few secrets that her hero is keeping.

Overall, I found this book to be entertaining. It also made me angry to see the commentary of Chloe/Julie’s influencer crowd. And no, not all of us would trade places with them.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Julie Chan Is Dead is a gripping, darkly clever debut thriller that explores the dangers of envy, identity, and the dark side of social media. The novel keeps you on edge as Julie digs deeper into her sister’s life, discovering the twisted layers hidden beneath the surface of fame and beauty. As the truth unravels, Julie begins to question if stepping into her twin’s life is worth the danger it brings, and whether she may become the next victim in this deadly game of deception. With sharp writing, a relentless pace, and a chilling look at the world of social media influencers, a must-read for anyone who loves psychological thrillers with a dark twist.

Julie Chan is Dead has the same compulsive readability as Yellowface - where you rapidly thumb through pages about characters you despise and yet can’t stop continuing to read about them. Similarly, the tension between being white and “model minority” Asian isn’t the main point of the novel, but is a major point of tension between the main character and her influencer friends.

The first half of the book had me hooked - we find Julie placed in an impossible situation and learning to thrive by impersonating her dead sister. She gets high off of feeling important and making tons of money from doing very little of substance. She wonders at various points about whether what she’s doing is right.

The second half of the book took a wild turn — I’m still figuring out how I feel about it. I wish it was a little less grotesque and exaggerated because I think it did take a bit away from the more serious commentary of the first half about influencers and social media. But it did feel a bit more like a closed room thriller at that point.

Still overall an unputdownable book, and I would read Liann Zheng’s next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria and Liann Zheng for the ARC.