Liked the premise & writing right away. Definitely a page turner.
But this book felt like two books for me. The first part I loved and couldn’t put down.
The second part took a sharp turn into a really weird place. Not bad but definitely very weird.

Still a debut thriller/dark comedy with a lot of highs for me, loved the dark humour I will be looking for more from this author.

Thank You to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author Liann Zhang for the advanced reading copy, all my opinions are my own.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Mystery Thriller

Julie Chan is a supermarket cashier, while her identical twin sister, Chloe, is a social media influencer and sensation. The two sisters were separated at a young age following the death of their parents. So the sisters were never close. One video of Chloe’s reunion with her sister goes viral, and Julie Chan comes into the picture and her sister’s life. But she discovers that all the kindness that her sister shows her is just a way to get more views!

One day Julie Chan finds her sister dead at her place, so the idea comes to her to become Chloe and claim that Julie Chan is dead instead. The glamorous lifestyle that Chloe lived encourages Julie to do that, unaware of the dark secrets that her sister had.

I’m a big fan of stories that involve twins, so this checked one big box for me. For a debut novel, the book was very entertaining. It is nicely written, and the story has constant tension and twists. The more secrets came out, the more the protagonist realized that her decision was a very foolish one.

The story concentrates on themes like distant sibling relationships, manipulation, the influencer culture, and one’s identity. The pace is fast and steady. However, there are no likable characters in this book. Both the twins were not decent human beings. They both were selfish and manipulative.

If you read this book and enjoy it, try to watch Bette Davis’ Dead Ringer (1963). I love that movie, and it has a very similar theme to this book, where the poor sister kills her rich twin sister and impersonates her. Like this book, that film has lots of tension and stressful events.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.

4.5 - this book sucked me in from the first moment - I finished it within a day. If you're a fan of books like Yellowface by R. F. Kuang and Bunny by Mona Awad, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a try. It feels like watching a car crash in slow motion or being a frog sitting in a cauldron that slowly heats up. Like if you had a daydream (nightmare?) about following through with all your intrusive thoughts.

The characters are deeply unlikeable, and yet you can't look away. I'm not quite sure what I expected when I received this book, but I know for sure I was entertained through to the last moment. The writing was sharp and funny - it managed to balance a lot of serious topics (privilege, racism, misogyny, para-social relationships) with dark humor. It's clearly influenced by the books I mentioned, but ran with the concepts in a creative and unique way. My only complaint was that the pacing was a bit jarring - it dragged a bit in the middle and then goes 0-100 within a pretty short span. That and a few instances of commentary were very on the nose. Overall neither of those things took away from my enjoyment of the book and I'd definitely recommend it.

Truly one of the best books I’ve read in a while! It delivers the guilty pleasure of a trashy reality TV night but with absolutely wild twists. I genuinely had to pace myself because of how outrageous things kept getting. This book is such a fun, fast-paced read—I’ll be recommending it to everyone (and their moms) looking for an entertaining palate cleanser that never gets boring. I also loved all the little Easter eggs that tied the story together so well in the end. I can’t wait for others to read it when it drops—I’m so grateful to have had the chance to read this ARC!

At first I enjoyed this dark humorous satire - and possibly felt the same towards the end, but in the middle it went off the rails and no one was likeable.

Dark, twisted, and wildly entertaining. It gives Strange Sally Diamond vibes in the terms of the weirdness. I found myself totally engrossed in the pages and read this every chance I got. The ending got even more twisted and unexpected and was quite satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can't express how much I absolutely LOVED this book! This book was thrilling and horrific and fun and unpredictable and ALL of the things. The FMC was diabolical in the best way possible and I grew to love her. I felt like this book felt highly unlikely while also feeling entirely possible at the same time. I loved the way influencers and young people today were portrayed in this book because most would do anything within reason to become famous - but this was the opposite of that - think what is the worst thing you would ever do for fame times 100 and then do that! This book kept me on my toes, I thought at the beginning it was so predictable and I'd have it figured out halfway through, but by that point it went dark and I couldn't predict a thing. Overall, I loved it and think anyone who loves a horror/thriller will too!

Thank you to the author, Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Okay the premise was wild but the last few chapters were WILDER! I didn't expect that to be the ending. It was a good and satisfying ending to me. I did wish we learned a bit more but still. I enjoyed the book. I did get a bit bored during the middle of the book and skimmed some parts. I got kind of annoyed with Julie and especially her aunt. Her aunt is horrible ! What Julie did was obviously not great but also like the Belladonnas was def a cult.

Spoilers below:
Julie gets a call from Chloe and this causes Julie to go find Chloe. In Chloe's apartment, we find that Chloe is dead and then Julie decides to take Chloe's identity since they are twins. Julie starts becoming a influencer and takes on sponsorships due to her aunt's extortion over knowing she's not actually Chloe. She finds out that Chloe's parents had gotten into a HORRIBLE car accident. We later find out the Belladonnas at the island are kind of like a cult. They pray to Eto and theirwishes come true. Bella actually killed Chloe because Chloe had wanted to expose the Belladonnas and the cult. Julie ends up killing Bella and the other girls in a fire. She does get arrested, but Viktor helps her and so people rally behind julie and think she did the world a favor. I didn't expect the cult and the gore and the murder.

Where to begin.. this book had me absolutely hooked! Missing hours of sleep kind of hooked, and honestly thank god because I was dealing with anxiety and this book distracted me sooo hard I forgot to be anxious 😂😂

“Razor sharp” is definitely an accurate description, the main plot of the book follows the every day life of social media influencers but I promise it isn’t shallow, there’s lots of deeper subtext and relevant / truthful subject matter in here, And it’s also just a lot of fun to read!

The ending had me nervous, I wanted to have faith in Julie and Eto because I’m rooting for her to succeed but it is left to the interpretation of the reader and I’m
Just going to leave it with positive vibes and wishful thinking 😂

Thank you to Atria Books, Simon & Schuster Canada and Liann Zhang for the EARC! I’ll definitely look forward to more from this author

Publish date : April 29th 2025

Julie Chan Is Dead is a story about two estranged twin sisters, Chloe and Julie, who have lead vastly different lives since the death of their parents. Chloe is an influencer, while Julie is working at a grocery store, struggling to make ends meet. When Julie receives a mysterious phone call from her sister, she heads to New York to investigate, leading her to discover her sister is dead.

After being mistaken for her sister, she decides to assume her identity. The book takes you through her journey of becoming Chloe, but around the halfway mark, starts to transform into something darker. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers, but it shows you the dark side to attaining fame and fortune.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit and read it in less than a day. It was a quick, easy read, with characters made for you to hate them. I did enjoy the first half more than the second, which is why I dropped it down to 4 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy of this book for review! All thoughts expressed are my own.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

3.5 stars rounded up

This was a ride! The first half was incredibly interesting, sad, and truly made you actually feel for Julie. The second half was surprising to say the least. I did not expect it to go where it did, and while it kept me on the edge of my seat, it felt a little kooky to be honest.

Julie Chan is struggling to pay her bills. She works as a cashier at a grocery store where is is often in trouble for stealing a deli sandwich or something else to eat. Julie has an identical twin sister named Chloe who is a successful influencer. The two sisters were separated at the age of four when their parents were killed in a car accident. Julie was sent to live with an aunt who was unkind and took Julie’s savings whenever she could. Chloe was adopted by a wealthy couple, the VanHuusens. The sisters have not kept in contact over the years except when Chloe buys Julie a house which she posts on her social media sites to garner attention and more followers. Julie had hoped it would be the start of being closer to her sister but is only disappointed when the whole thing just seems to be a publicity stunt. Time goes by and then a mysterious call from Chloe comes that sounds distressed and Chloe says “I’m sorry”. Julie goes to Chloe’s condo to find out what’s going on and is shocked to find Chloe dead. Julie calls the police but rather than tell the truth that Chloe is dead, Julie takes advantage of the misconception that she is Chloe and it is Chloe’s sister Julie that has died. So Julie decides to take over Chloe’s life and be the successful influencer. I thought this was a very good premise for a book and I enjoyed seeing Julie take on being Chloe. I had a more difficult time enjoying the last part of the book when Julie, as Chloe, travels with a group of influencers known as the Belladonnas to a private island for a week of bonding and being off the grid. The book just goes way out there - it was a bit too much for me - very dark and creepy. The author keeps things moving at a good pace, I just didn’t care for the dark turn of events and the characters were very unlikable. I’m kind of torn how to rate this book since I enjoyed the first part but not the second. I’m going to give the book 2.5 stars which I’ll round up to 3 because as I said, I liked the first part of the book but the last part really left me with bad feelings and images.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 29, 2025.

Holy $*!#. What the heck did I just read?! I did not expect that.....so obviously I highly recommend.

Julie and Chloe Chan, orphaned in childhood, were raised in very different circumstances and have been estranged throughout their lives. Until Chloe, a well-known influencer, makes a great gesture on Julie’s behalf. Julie mistakenly thinks there is an opportunity for a new start. When she later gets a mysterious phone call from Chloe, then can’t reach her, she travels to New York to find out what’s wrong. She finds her twin dead in her condo, and seizes on a misunderstanding to become Chloe and take over her good life. She gets involved with a similar group of influencers called the Belladonas and that’s where things get weird.

There are many facets to the story and it went into a direction I did not see coming. There was a lot to learn about social media, its ‘seductive power, ambition, and privilege” and “the biggest thief of time but a impossibly addictive form of escape”. It was a challenge for me to find characters to like and the turn the book took was tough to buy. Having said that, it was well-paced and the story moved along. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books!
I loved this book. It was so interesting I couldn’t put it down. Julie Chan was an antihero of a main character. I couldn’t predict what happened next, I loved the twist and turns.

I was beyond thrilled to receive my first ever ARC and I’m happy to say it did not disappoint!

Julie and her twin sister Chloe were separated at just four years old after their parents died in a car accident. While Chloe rises to fame as a wildly successful influencer, Julie struggles to make ends meet at her grocery store job. But everything changes when Julie discovers Chloe dead in her upscale New York apartment and makes the decision to assume her identity. As she steps into Chloe’s world and meets her influencer friends, she uncovers a web of secrets and sinister connections that are chilling and totally unexpected.

This book was incredible—I flew through the pages, completely unable to put it down. The first and second halves of the book are pretty different, but I loved them both. With a lot of thrillers, I often hit a lull where the pacing slows and I lose interest for a bit—but that never happened with this book. It was like an ongoing adrenaline rush. I also really liked that it centred on influencers and the dark side of social media—while it’s a bit exaggerated, it also feels really real and unsettling.

This was such an unexpected pleasant surprise—don’t skip out on this one!

3.5 stars. What an absolutely WILD ride this book was!

It started off tame. I was totally intrigued by the storyline that seemed a bit like the book Yellowface. I was digging it and excited to see where it would go.

The second half of the book was a total mindf*** and I have no idea how I feel about it.

I was confused when I was still in the first half of the book and read some reviews that talked about this book being in the horror genre. However, I get it. I wouldn’t classify it as horror, but it definitely had some horror-like elements. There were a few scenes in which I put down the book, took deep breaths, and walked away.

This book is totally unique. Again, I am so torn on my rating. Its originality should be praised but it definitely takes some seriously dark and unexpected turns.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be perfect for fans of multiple genre books, who love a side of whack-a-doodle in their reading (and I mean that in the best possible way). This book releases on April 29, 2025.

This book really took "commit to the bit" seriously. I’m very impressed with the way things went so over the top. Very Chicago the musical.

I had a good time reading this, but because it was about influencers I do feel like the whole time I was skimming the surface. It there felt like there was more depth to be explored but I wasn’t privy to it. The ending was a bit rushed considering it was one of the most interesting parts. This was good overall but I wanted more.

3.5

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang was just really, really fun! It definitely has Yellowface and Bunny vibes as others have mentioned, and it requires an attitude of just 'rolling with it', but what a reward for your effort. I loved this book and was definitely entertained and had a few moments of "what did I just read??"

If you want something engaging, satirical, and weird, Julie Chan is Dead is a fabulous choice. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Liann Zhang's 'Julie Chan is Dead' is a masterclass in suspense and character development. From the very first page, I was utterly captivated, turning pages with a desperate need to know what would happen next. There wasn't a single lull; the pacing was perfect. Zhang expertly crafts flawed, complex characters that feel incredibly real, and the unreliable narration adds layers of intrigue that kept me guessing until the very end. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves a gripping, thought-provoking story. Five stars simply aren't enough!