I love new to me POC writers who can deliver snarky, interesting stories that transcend subgenres. Julie Chan Is Dead clutches your interest from the first pages and Liann Zhang crafts such delicious prose and dialogue.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the ARC. This was a really fun, fast paced, and thrilling read. I was constantly worried about whether Julie would be able to get away with what she was doing. I liked the first half more than the second half, the first half gave a really interesting look into the life of an influencer, but the second half, was interesting, but had the potential to do more. But overall, this is a really fun read.

3.5

This book is a wild ride ride, the story line was so unique and crazy, I loved every minute of it. The dislike and anger you feel at the characters as the book goes on is such an intense and interesting way to keep readers engaged! Can’t wait to recommend this book to my friends!

This is literally Yellowface meets Bunny, and I ate it up. 👏🏻

This is beyond unhinged. Julie is living a lousy life, working as a cashier at a supermarket and constantly being mistaken for her successful, famous influencer twin sister, Chloe. The two were separated as children when their parents died and were adopted into different families—Chloe by a wealthy couple who only wanted one child, and Julie by their nasty, low-life aunt. Julie got the rough end of the stick and missed Chloe desperately, but she never got the chance to rekindle their relationship as she had hoped.

One day, she gets a freaky call from Chloe, which is bizarre since they have no contact. When Julie goes to check on her, she finds Chloe dead in her apartment. And just like that, she finally sees her chance to get everything she ever deserved—by taking over Chloe’s identity.

This has all the cringe and discomfort of Yellowface, with its sharp critique of racism and the way society treats women of color versus white women (especially in influencer culture), blended with a heavy infusion of Bunny-style magic (iykyk), only with Belladonnas instead of Bunnies.

Dark, twisted, and completely bingeable, this book is sure to get mixed reviews—but it was a wild ride, and I am looking forward to seeing what this author writes!

Thank you NetGalley & Atria for this gifted ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This book was so bizarre but I loved it. I could not put it down. The premise is really unique and the execution was full of twists. If you liked Yellowface, this book is similar but even better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published April 29, 2025.

The premise sounded good: one twin (Chloe) who is a successful influencer dies and the other (Julie) pretends to be her.

Obviously Julie can’t step into Chloe’s life seamlessly without any one noticing so you have to take that at face value. What follows is Julie’s exposure to the Belladonnas - a group of successful social influencers - while she tries to solve the mystery of who killed her sister. The Belladonnas get together once a year for a top secret retreat which quickly turns into some crazy, mice-eating, cult-like following. The clique is as shallow as can be, repeating affirmations to each other like a group of lemmings.

The best (but saddest) part was seeing life through the eyes of an influencer: how addicting their likes are, what they are willing to post for increased views and brand sponsorships.

The plot becomes really far-fetched. While it started off strong and held my interest it just got too weird and unbelievable. In the second half. Cannot recommend.

This was a surprise little gem of a book! It's got it all! Even a touch of horror, which I don't normally read, but it fit right in here. Julie Chan is a cashier in a grocery store. Her sister Chloe is a big-time influencer. Julie goes to visit Chloe and finds her dead. She does what anyone would do in that situation and just assumes Chloe's life. Uh oh. All was not as it seemed and influencing definitely has a dark side. Who knew? I love anything that exposes the perfect influencer lifestyle, and this one does that in spades! The story is such a trainwreck and you cannot look away! Loved the ending! Just trust me and read this one!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Liann Zhang and Atria Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of April 29, 2025.

Dark secrets. The dark side of social media. Twists that will make your jaw drop. I absolutely loved this debut thriller! I will be looking for her next book!

This was such a fun read that I just couldn't put it down and finished in a few hours!

The premise is insane and right up my alley. Julie is funny as hell - and honestly, who wouldn't do what she did in her situation? She's a little terrible, but in a relatable way.

The second half of the book may be divisive, but it was weird and disturbing in the best way. (I won't say more than that, I don't want to spoil it!)

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you Net Galley for the E Arc!! Did I stay up utill 12 am to finish this gem of a book? Why yes I did. I quite literally could not put it down. This story follows Julie Chan who is down on her luck working at a grocery story when her long lost twin Chloe walks in and starts filming a Youtube video titled reunion with my long lost twin. Chloe is very much that girl on social media! Rich, beautiful...she has it all. After meeting Chloe, being ghosted by Chloe and receiving a strange call from Chloe, Julie decides to go to New York to her twin's apartment to check on her when she finds Chloe dead!!! What happens atter that is absolutely unhinged in the best way.
Julie steals Chloe's life and gets involved in crazy situations while pretending to be her that had my jaw on the floor! The ending of this story was absolutely bonkers and I couldn't stop reading. Also if you love a story about unhinged social media stars this hit. Highly recommend this thrilling, horrifying, funny story.

The premise of this book is what drew me in. A girl who steals the identity of her long lost twin and becomes an influence? What’s not to like.
As much as I did enjoy the book (had so much trouble putting it down), the beginning was a little slow for me.

Wow! What did I just read?

The premise of a twin accused of murdering her sister immediately pulled me in. I expected an innovative whodunit against the backdrop of social media's chaotic energy. Instead, I was confronted with a surreal mix of a murder mystery, an exposé on the dark side of social media ( which I appreciated), and an unsettling vibe reminiscent of Midsommar combined with the intentions of Black Mirror.

We are introduced to Julie, who is stuck in a dead-end job at a supermarket, while her identical twin, Chloe, basks in the limelight of social media fame and fortune. Their lives took a dramatic turn as toddlers when they lost their parents in a tragic car accident. In a cruel twist of fate, Chloe was adopted by a wealthy couple in New York City, while Julie was forced to grow up under the shadow of her resentful aunt.

Years later, Chloe's motives for reaching out to her long-lost twin are transparently self-serving; she seeks Julie solely to enhance her own social media presence. This leaves Julie grappling with feelings of invisibility and abandonment. One day, out of the blue, Julie receives a phone call from Chloe, which leads her to the shocking discovery of Chloe's death. This revelation thrusts her into the glitzy yet perilous world of social media influencers, where she is irresistibly drawn and gradually sinks into the whirlpool of fame and fortune, all while attempting to unravel the mystery of her sister's death and find her own identity.

Liann Zhang's writing is powerful and evocative, serving as the driving force that kept me engaged despite the story's lack of structure. The initial concept is intriguing, yet many plot gaps remain unaddressed, with an overwhelming number of elaborate descriptions of extravagant influencer parties that often detract from the main storyline.

Drawing from her own experience as a content creator, Liann effectively exposes the lucrative and often absurd world of social media. She skillfully incorporates real-life controversies, grounding the narrative in relatable reality. She candidly reveals the vapid nature of social media and its various personalities.

However, the book's second half left me baffled and scratching my head. The conclusion came too quickly and without the resolution I expected. It could serve as an allegory for the notion that all the extravagant portrayals of social media are merely a façade, hiding a deluge of superficiality, politics, and lies.

Overall, I would rate this book 2.75 to 3 stars, with an additional star awarded for Liann's impressive writing style. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this opportunity, as I discovered a new author. Thank you Atria Books for giving me this arc

Thank you to NetGalley, Liann Zhang, and Atria Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review (Unpaid).

Julie Chan is Dead is a intoxicating tale of mental illness, the costs of fame, and mystery. I was immediately sucked in by Zhang's writing, almost as if I was becoming a Belladonna myself. And the ending! Oh my god, the ending. It was perfect.

I found this book very interesting—it is definitely an intriguing commentary on social media and influencers. Twins Julie and Chloe lead vastly different and very separate lives, but then Chloe ends up dead and Julie seizes the opportunity to take over her life. A great concept and I loved the first half of the book, watching Julie pull this off. It was funny and often biting. The second half of the book was much darker, and I can’t say that I loved it. A few scenes were hard to stomach. The ending was not at all what I anticipated; I thought that the final twists were well done. I’ve heard many readers compare this book to Yellowface, and if you loved that book you should read this one too! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

This book was an electrifying thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. The first half simmers with an eerie unease—something feels off, and I couldn’t stop flipping pages to uncover the truth. Then the second half? Completely off the rails in the best way possible. I lost hours of sleep to this book, telling myself, “just one more chapter” until it was way past bedtime. Twisty, dark, and wildly unpredictable, this book kept me on edge until the final page. A solid 4-star read that delivers everything I want in a thriller—unexpected turns, eerie atmosphere, and a storyline that refuses to let go. Thank you for the ARC!

Julie Chan hates her life, which tracks since she’s a low-level Superfoods cashier living off pilfered candy bars with no financial prospects or personal connections. To further torment her already feeble psyche, she spends her evenings doom-scrolling Instagram and obsessively stalking the profile of Chloe VanHuusen, a successful social media influencer who also happens to be Julie’s estranged twin. Out of the blue, Chloe calls Julie warbling incomprehensibly, so Julie uses her last dollars to take a bus to NYC, only to arrive at Chloe’s brownstone and find her dead on the kitchen floor.

Afflicted, but ever the opportunist, Julie seizes her chance in the spotlight by unlocking Chloe’s phone (bcuz same face) and proceeds to adopt Chloe’s extravagant lifestyle. Julie might not know what a fortnight is, but she knows how to edit in three mid-rolls to a sponsored YouTube video despite having never created content until mere hours ago, an inconsistency that I won’t dwell upon further. As part of assuming Chloe’s identity, Julie is part of an exclusive club of viral internet streamers known as the Belladonnas, who are basically just 8 brainwashed Finding Nemo seagulls in wigs. The flock travels to a private island for an unplugged retreat and Julie finds herself slonking the kool-aid of group synergy and self-actualization pretty quickly. Some other stuff happens like a ritualistic fire seance and plant-based hallucinogens that while weird, seem harmless enough, but the plot then jarringly launches into a deranged horror show involving a dead guy with one eye, fleeing inmates, axes, and sacrificial rodents, which I was gravely underprepared for. All hail Eto or whatever I guess.

This started off at 4-stars for me as the first 65% was a relevant mockery of influencer culture intertwined with Julie’s unhinged musings, some of which were so out-of-pocket I’m wary to admit they kind of charmed me. Unfortunately, the word ‘uvula’ is used thrice, which is at least twice too many especially in one chapter, and the startling vibe-shift once the gulls land on Shutter Island made for a disjointed reading experience, ultimately warranting 3-stars.

What an absolutely stunning, satirical horror/thriller debut from Liann Zhang!

Julie Chan and her twin Chloe Van Huusen were separated as toddlers when their parents died in a car accident. Julie went to their abusive, opportunistic aunt, and Chloe went to a wealthy New York couple, the Van Huusens. After years of estrangement, Chloe calls Julie one day and sounds like she's in danger. Julie travels to New York to check on her and finds her twin dead in her Manhattan apartment. Feeling owed for the terrible life she had in comparison to Chloes cushy one, Julie decides to take Chloe's place and enjoy the perks of her wealthy influencer lifestyle. As she settles into Chloe's life, the Belladonas, an influencer friend group, start to answer questions Julie had about Chloe's life, while at the same time causing Julie to wonder about what really happened to Chloe, and if she's on the same dangerous route.

The social commentary and biting wit had me hooked from the beginning, and the ever escalating suspense had me staying up late trying to figure out what happened to Chloe. Zhang masterfully depicts the hilarity and sometimes depravity of the influencer lifestyle while raising the stakes ever higher to an absolutely explosive climax!

Fans of Bodies to Die For, Yellowface and Kismet will love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I looooved this - totally nuts and frankly, exactly what I’d expect behind the scenes with a bunch of influencers

I’ve seen comparisons to Yellowface but I think that’s mostly for the 😬😬😬 feeling it evokes

Super funny while also being super creepy

This book was...kinda insane to be honest, but in like the best way possible. It's described as a thriller but I feel like horror comedy would be more accurate. Although I do feel like it was way over the top in so many ways, I still very much enjoyed it and was entertained the entire time. This was a great debut novel and I can't wait to see what Liann Zhang comes up with next!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

What do you do when your estranged sister dies? YOU TAKE OVER HER LIFE AND IMPERSONATE HER.

Julie Chan is Dead had me on the edge of my seat. I had so many questions. How did Chloe really die? Why don't her friends know Chloe isn't Chloe? Why are these social media girls so culty? YOU WANT HER TO EAT WHAT AS AN INITIATION?

Overall, this was a true definition of a thriller book, and I enjoyed my time with it. I do think this fits more of a niche thriller book - must love movies like Midsommar, Suspiria and Mean Girls.

Julie Chan Is Dead will be published on April 29, 2025. Thank you, Atria and Netgalley, for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for a review.