I feel like this is a book that Shauna Shipman of Yellowjackets would eat up (no pun intended).

This was one of those books that I read in less than 24 hours. It definitely took a lot more twists and turns that I didn't see coming!

I was hooked on this book from the beginning and had a hard time putting it down. That said, I’m not sure how much I actually enjoyed the story. I really liked the first half but the second part jump the shark and was really over the top.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
📱 single timeline
📱 single POV
📱 1st person POV
📱 New York setting 🩷🩷
📱 slow burn

One thing needs to be made clear: I did not kill my twin sister.

As soon as I read the description I was so excited about this one; it is exactly right up my alley! I was immediately drawn into the story and I read it straight through!
I know they always say not to judge a book based off its cover 🤪🤪 but I definitely do and I love this cover!! It caught my attention sooo long ago and it stuck in my mind.
I hated all the characters in here but really how could you not? 🤪🤪
I just wish it wasn’t such a slow burn, with nothing really happening until halfway through the book.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was after the sister dies, the whole book just goes along like everything is great but like…. HOW DID SHE DIE??? Was it murder??? An overdose??? How is her sister not even wondering how she died??
Ok I’m out after they all eat baby mice 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 Nasty

What in the bunny did I just read? I loooooved the twisty weirdness of the last third. I didn’t expect it to dive right off the deep end. But I’m so glad it did!

This book feels like a tricky one to review because I felt so many feelings about it!

The first half I really loved and was super intrigued with where it was going. I really enjoyed the slow burn and getting to know the MC Julie. However it took a turn about halfway through and that’s where it lost me. It reminded me a lot of the movie Blink Twice and that’s not a compliment. It got super unhinged and I just found it a little much.

I will be curious what the author comes up with next, I liked her writing style and would for sure give her another shot. I flew through this one!

First half 4-5 stars, second half 2-3 stars so we are meeting in the middle with a 3. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Okay, so here’s my confession: I know very little about influencer culture. Somehow the algorithm just missed me with these women with the endless unboxing and sponsored posts. (Now if the Sleepy Time bear was on TikTok? Forget it. I’d be *influenced*)

This book is facetious and clever. It’s incredibly gory and there are some scenes that truly turned my stomach. But what surprised me most was how much truth it had underneath the satire. The author takes a scalpel (or maybe a ring light?) to influencer culture, carving out all the absurdity, performativity, and curated chaos—but she never lets us forget there are real people under the filters.

Even as I cringed and laughed and occasionally looked away from the page, I found myself unexpectedly impacted. Julie Chan Is Dead is part murder mystery, part social commentary, and part blood-soaked fever dream, but it’s also about identity, power, and what happens when the performance becomes the person. If, like me, you’re not fluent in the language of likes and collabs, don’t worry - you’ll still find something sharp, strange, and weirdly resonant here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have received an advanced copy of Julie Chan is Dead from the author, NetGalley, and Atria Books! 🫶

Julie Chan is Dead is one of the craziest and most unhinged stories I have ever read in my life! 😱🤯🙊 If you think of Gossip Girl, Yellowface, Bunny, and Decoding Jessica with a sprinkle of Severance and mice and combined them together that is Julie Chan is Dead in a nutshell and I loved it! 🫶 I was devouring this book like I would eating a massive bowl of popcorn! 🍿 I just kept wanting more and more and more! 🤭

There are so many plot twists in this story and I had so many theories as to what I thought was going to happen and I was wrong on every single one of them! 🙀🙀🙀This story truly looks at the dark side of being an influencer and how quickly one can get absorbed up into the world of social media. It truly was such a wild read. I read this story as a buddy read with one of my friends who also got an advanced copy as well and we kept increasing the chapters we were reading to the point that we basically said to just binge-read the entire rest of the book! 😂😂😂 That’s how hooked we were with this story! 🫶

If you love thrillers, gossip girl meets yellowface meets bunny meets decoding jessica with a sprinkle of severance and mice, mystery, and a book you just can’t put down then definitely be sure to read this book! 🫶

The influencer culture of social media is explored, exposed and ripped part in Liann Zhang's debut Julie Chan Is Dead. Young influencer Chloe seems to have it all-beauty, friends, a glamorous social life, wealth and millions of adoring fans. Her twin sister Julie (both adopted by different families after their parents' car crash) is struggling financially, professionally and is decidedly alone. However, she has one thing Chloe doesn't-Julie is alive. When she receives a call from Chloe (a couple years after Chloe ambushed her for a social media post where she bought Chloe a house), Julie didn't even have her phone number. Chloe could only utter a few words and hung up. Not sitting right with Julie, she finds her way to NYC to check on Chloe and discovers her dead body in her apartment. Already mistaken for Chloe several times, including by the doorman, Julie decides she can change her life by stepping into Chloe's. Soon, Chloe's social following is skyrocketing even more with Julie at the helm and she becomes entrenched with Chloe's influencer friends-the Bella Donna's. While it's difficult keeping up the double life, Julie (as Chloe) scores a week=long trip with the Belladonna's to Bella Marie's private island for a chance to disconnect from technology and reconnect as leading influences. What follows is unhinged, satirical and twisty beyond belief. There are some jaw dropping moments readers won't see coming. Zhang's writing is fluid, with flushed out (if unlikeable characters) and the influencer lifestyle is well researched. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

4.5 stars for this strong debut!

I really wanted to love this one more than I did. I found the premise intriguing and wanted it to be more tongue and cheek like Yellowface. While it's compared to Yellowface, the tone of this one is different.

Thank you to Netgalley & Atria Books for this advanced copy!

This is a tricky one to review. I have heard this comped to Yellowface (which I haven't read yet) but for me I would say this is like if Cover Story and Nine Perfect Strangers had a really really weird and messed up baby.

I loved SO much about this book and if I was going off how I felt about this for the first 50% - this would be a five star book for sure!

I enjoyed every minute of this bonkers story that dealt with estranged twin sisters, family dynamics, stolen identity, class and influencer culture. It was biting, funny, dark and oh so much fun!

And then the second half...I just...I don't know. It just got bonkers in a way that didn't 100% work for me. I enjoyed the culty vibes of a bunch of social media influencers going to a retreat led by basically a fabulous cult leader but then it just got so weird from there. And trigger warning - there was a scene that dealt with mice that made me gag and made my skin crawl in the worst way.

It is so hard cause I flew through this book and couldn't stop reading but I just felt like it got bonkers (which normally I love) in a way that didn't totally work for me at the end. I am interested to see what the author does next. I did enjoy her writing and humor and social commentary. It's worth a read though and overall was a lot of fun but just left me feeling slight icky about the back half.

3.5/5 stars
Julie Chan is Dead is a delightfully entertaining thriller that blends mystery, dark humor, and social media savvy into a fresh, clever page-turner. Liann Zhang’s slick, immersive prose keeps the story zipping along, anchored by Julie’s sharp wit and a tension-filled journey from envy to empowerment. The eerie island retreat adds a deliciously sinister edge, heightening stakes while skewering influencer culture’s glossy artifice.

While the novel shines as a sly critique of curated internet identities and sisterly rivalry, it stumbles slightly in execution. Julie’s integration into Chloe’s elite inner circle, the Belladonnas, leans on archetypes over organic bonds, making their dynamic feel underdeveloped. The final act, though packed with drama, loses some pacing finesse, rushing twists that could’ve landed harder with deeper groundwork.

Still, Zhang delivers a propulsive, glittering tale of secrets and survival. A few bumps aside, this debut proves her knack for crafting addictive, modern suspense—a quick, escapist thrill with bite.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Julie is dead broke working at a grocery store and hasn't seen her twin, Chloe, now an influencer that was raised by an affluent white couple, since they were orphaned at 4 years old. Well, except for when Chloe bought her a house in a video that viral years ago. So when Julie gets a distressed call from Chloe, she is unsettled and uses her last dollars to fly to NY and check on her, only to find her dead. Julie then decides to go on as Chloe and get the benefits of her fame while also solving the mystery of what happened to her sister.

This book got weird and unhinged. I thought the premise was very different and interesting, but by the end it devolved into something too offbeat. That said, I enjoyed the humor and the overarching elements of influencer culture and the shallow cult-like qualities of some of these circles.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for an eARC of this book.

How far would you go to live the life of fame, adoration, and wealth? Well, for Julie, she will go pretty far. It's an interesting and crazy ride!

Julie is given or takes the opportunity to leave her dull life behind. To bask in the glory of social media, wealth, adoration (so she believes) and be a part of the "In" crowd. Will it be everything she really wants?

This book is a wonderful look at social media influencers, their perceived power and the people who follow them. The writing is smart, biting and creative!

If you are a fan of Yellowface or Bunny, you will probably enjoy this book.
Add this to your TBR!

4-4.5⭐️

I swear this cover does NOT do this book any justice. What a fun, INSANE, twisty ride. I wasn’t expecting any of it. The first half was definitely a slow-burn with hilarious banter. It really set the tone for the unhinged second half. This was honestly like reading two different books but it worked.

I loved Julie so much. She was a wild card but despite being practically brainwashed, she never lost her true sense of self. I l also loved the way the story ended. We never really know the cards that Julie was dealt and if she paid for her “crimes”. Man, I wish I could read this story again for the first time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
📱Debut
📱Influencers
📱Cult Vibes
📱Unlikeable Characters

Described to be for fans of Yellowface… which there was a little essence of that here, BUT I liked this one more than Yellowface personally.

Julie Chan is Dead was the antithesis of a slow-burn. Easy to binge and kept me engaged all the way through. I thought the pace was perfect, I felt there were some thought provoking moments, and for a debut I was impressed by what it was able to hit for me. Would look forward to reading more by Zhang in the future.

Narrated by Yu-Li Alice Shen whom I’ve heard from The Quiet Tenant and I’m Not Done With You Yet. She fit the bill well as Julie. 👏👏

I split this read between my Kindle and on audio. Both were awesome!

Thank you Netgalley & Liann Zhang for an arc in exchange for an ohonest review. I would give this 3.5 stars.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her estranged twin sister, Chloe, has everything, until she dies. Separated at a young age and raised in different homes, Julie has always watched Chloe’s glamorous influencer life from afar. But when she discovers Chloe’s lifeless body, Julie makes a bold decision: step into her sister’s shoes and take over her identity. After all, how hard could it be to be an influencer?

Julie was completely unhinged and I loved every second of it! She had nothing to lose, and her reckless choices made for a gripping read. I found the behind-the-scenes look at influencer culture fascinating; it felt chaotic, isolating, and surprisingly stressful. While I enjoyed most of the book, the ending didn’t land for me. The plot became increasingly far-fetched, and I was ready for it to wrap up. I wish the story had stuck with the influencer angle and delivered a more satisfying reveal or fallout

Fine Julie, I get that you were tired of being that forgotten sister who had nothing while the other twin is swimming in money and opportunities. But girl, you didn't have to turn into this annoying character.

I don't know how to say it without giving away a lot but I liked the things this story exposed about the influencer culture. It was meant to show all the good, the bad, and the ugly. (oh no! they cannot be ugly!!!!!!)

Between heavy books, I appreciated the laughter this book brought into my day and make me put away my phone down for a second.

I made it through about the first 30% before I just had to put it down for good. It came across as silly in tone, like a teen movie from the late 1990s/early 2000s, and I just couldn't stick it out to the end with reading like that.

Another 5 star read! This is an amazing debut book by Liann Zhang! I could not put this book down! This one isn’t so much of a need-to-turn-the-page-full-of-twists kind of thriller, but more of a study into the “influencer” lifestyle and just how dangerous it can be. I found myself very entertained and completely absorbed in this story. A bit off the rails at some points, but honestly that just added more to this book! I loved it and will be recommending the heck out of it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang in exchange for my honest review.

Well, that was a wild ride! Julie Chan is Dead by debut author, Liann Zhang, was a banger of a thriller. Friends, I could not put this one down, and as much as there were moments when I wanted to look away, I just could not.

Julie and her identical twin, Chloe, separated as children following their parents’ death in a car crash, have grown up with two completely different families and lifestyles. Chloe was placed in a wealthy family and later became a famous social media influencer, whereas Julie was sent away to live with her aunt and cousin who find her to be nothing except a burden. But when Chloe suddenly and unexpectedly dies, Julie slides right into Chloe’s persona and lifestyle. Told from Julie’s perspective as she navigates through her newfound fame and fortune, we witness first-hand what someone will do to conceal their true self in order to embrace a false identity.

Julie Chan is Dead is a fast-paced page turner, intermingling the thriller and horror genres, resulting in some moments that I wish I could un-see, but will probably continue to live rent-free in my brain for the unforeseeable future. This book has a lot of snark and humor as well, especially in its commentary on influencer culture. Zhang did a fantastic job interweaving the comical with dark themes, leaving me entertained, with a lot to think about while devouring this book, and even after I turned the last page. I will definitely look forward to reading this author again.

Readers who loved exploring the themes in Yellowface by R.F Kuang, enjoy a snarky, yet dark thriller, want to deep dive into the murky waters of influencer culture, and have a strong stomach (don’t say I didn’t warn you!), might want to give Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang a try.