Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for an eARC ❤️

Julie Chan is invisible—a ghost in her own life. A supermarket cashier drowning in unpaid bills and the quiet despair of existing paycheck to paycheck, she’s trapped under the thumb of a corporation that would rather accuse her of theft than pay her a living wage. 😔
Meanwhile, her identical twin, Chloe, is everywhere—flashing across billboards, glowing on phone screens, a golden girl draped in designer clothes and adoration.
They haven’t seen each other since they were four, when a car crash orphaned them and split their lives in two. 💔
Julie was left with a bitter aunt who saw her as a burden; Chloe was adopted by wealthy socialites who turned her into a brand. Now, Chloe is dead—found face-down in a penthouse bathtub, wrists slit, a half-empty champagne bottle floating beside her. The internet mourns. The world moves on.
But Julie? Julie sees an opportunity. 🫣
With a press of Chloe’s thumb (still warm when she lifted the phone from her corpse), the Face ID unlocks. Suddenly, Julie has access to everything—bank accounts, DMs, a calendar full of parties and sponsorships. All she has to do is become the sister she never knew.
At first, it’s terrifying. Then… intoxicating.
She studies Chloe’s old videos, mimicking her laugh, her mannerisms, the way she tilts her head when she lies. She replies to messages with carefully crafted vagueness. She accepts invites to exclusive events, wearing Chloe’s clothes, Chloe’s face, Chloe’s life.
But the deeper she sinks into the illusion, the more she realizes: Chloe’s world was a gilded cage.
Her followers don’t love her—they consume her.
Her friends don’t know her—they know the persona.
And her death? Maybe it wasn’t a suicide after all.
As Julie digs, she uncovers the rot beneath the glamour—the handlers who controlled Chloe’s every move, the sponsors who traded her like a stock, the fans who turned obsession into something far darker.
Now, they’re watching her, too
And if she’s not careful, she’ll end up just like her sister—another beautiful corpse, another trending hashtag, another life reduced to content 💔

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.
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I really enjoyed this debut novel from Liann Zhang, but I am having trouble putting into words the reasons I did. It's described as a thriller, but it's not one of those twisty, turny psychological thrillers that you want to race to get to the end of. This book is quite a ride, however, and the plot includes some timely commentary about the electronic world we are living in and the focus we all place on our status in it. It was darkly funny, bent reality almost to the breaking point, and made me uncomfortable in a good way. It was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday off.

Julie Chan is dead is one of the hyped thriller debuts of the spring with echoes of Yellowface. Julie Chan is living a mediocre life-she works a dead end job at a food store, has is orphaned and has a strained relationship with her aunt who raised her. Julie has a twin-Chloe, who was raised separately from her when their parents died and is now a famous influencer. The twins don’t speak but Julie gets a cryptic call from Chloe one night with a garbled message that says I’m sorry and it was a mistake. Unsure of what it means and unable to reach her, Julie travels to New York to find Chloe dead and accidentally assumes her glamorous life, killing off Julie. Julie finds that life is a Chloe is not what it appears online and that there is a much darker and more dangerous side to influencing than what she sees on the screen.

A fun, twisted, fast-paced romp through the world of influencing and identity. I enjoyed this read and liked the tone-twisted with humor throughout, While makes less than desirable choices, she is a sympathetic character and one the reader can’t help but want to win. The plot spirals into unexpected territory that will keep the pages turning.
A perfect read for the upcoming beach and pool reading season!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with no friends, is floundering in life. Her identical twin sister Chloe Van Huusen, on the other hand, is a famous influencer, thriving in every aspect of it. When the twins lost their parents as young children to a car accident, they were divided during the adoption process- Chloe to the wealthy white Van Huusen family and Julie to her Chinese Aunt. While Chloe grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth, Julie was forced to succumb to the every whim of her Aunt, cooking and cleaning their house as a trade for having a roof over her head.

Julie and Chloe eventually connect as adults, but their connection isn’t what Julie expected when she realizes her sister is just using her as bait to gain more followers. When Julie unexpectedly receives a call out of the blue from Chloe, she rushes to her side in NYC, only to find her dead in her apartment under mysterious circumstances. With her conflicting emotions roiling, Julie decides to view her sister’s death as the opportunity to leave her life behind and seize the moment, stepping into Chloe’s glamorous world. As she quickly falls deep into the influencer universe, the picture perfect online life that Chloe was leading is not what it seems and, ultimately, may lead to Julie’s actual demise.

💎I thought this was a unique, fast paced debut that kept me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book. The author did a great job of making you really feel all the emotions that Julie struggled with.

💎I was all in on the first 60% of this book. The next 30% jumped the shark for me a bit and almost lost me but then it came back around for a solid finish.

💎This book gave me Yellowface vibes with a dash of Nine Perfect Strangers (both of which I really enjoyed!) I’ve also seen a lot of comparisons to Bunny (which I haven’t read yet).

Sensitive readers should check trigger warnings before reading this book.

After their parents died, Julie's twin sister Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white family. Julie went to live with her aunt, who never let Julie forget she was an unwanted burden. Years later, Chloe has exploded on the scene as lifestyle influencer. Julie is a grocery store clerk estranged from her prominent sister.

But then Julie gets an unexpected call from Chloe. And she doesn't sound great. Julie travels to Chloe's apartment in NYC, only to find that Chloe has apparently overdosed. When the police mistake Julie for Chloe she... decides to go with it. Why let Chloe's influencer empire go to waste?

But as Julie settles into her new identity, she discovers that Chloe has gone to extreme lengths to build her brand, and Julie has to decide whether she'll do the same.

At the outset, it felt like this book has a lot in common with Yellowface -- but here both main characters are Chinese-American, so there's not the tinge of racial appropriation. But both are dark satires about assuming someone's identity and fame, and while both take bizarre turns, Julie Chan's veers so hard that it goes completely off the rails.

The first half of the book proceeded as expected, with Julie working to cover her tracks and following some clues about the darker aspects of Chloe's life. But then Julie goes on a remote getaway with the cult-like Belladonna influencers and the tone and pacing shift dramatically. The change to the narrative voice is meant to reflect the influence that the group is having on Julie, but it didn't work for me. The uneven pacing of the final third of the book was also too jarring for me to enjoy.

For a debut novel, this is a great and promising start. Zhang created compelling characters amidst her dark humor, but the off-putting tone and pace of this book is holding me back from loving it.

I would watch the mini series on Netflix. This kept my attention from the first to last page. Some of it was silly but overall great read. My only complaint is the end, I would have loved to know how it all ended up with the courts and Julie’s Aunt and her and Viktor. I think that would’ve been a better ending, a little more info. I would read more from Liann. Thanks for the early copy!

Julie is a supermarket cashier who looks at her estranged twin, Chloe's, fabulous life with envy. After their parents died when the twins were young, Chloe got adopted by a wealthy family and Julie was raised by her cruel aunt. One day Julie receives an unexpected and mysterious phone call from Chloe, now a famous influencer, and runs to NY to see if she is ok - she is very much not and very much dead. Julie sees an escape hatch from her life and steps into the role of Chloe thinking she would enjoy a fabulous and easy life. However, it turns out that Chloe's life may have looked amazing on the outside, but there were sinister forces making Chloe very unhappy. A week on an island with Chloe's influencer friends leads to Julie unearthing what was really going on in Chloe's life and how she ended up dead.

I have been calling this the Yellowface for social influencers - one person stepping into another person's life after they find them dead (and someone they envied for years). This started out interesting and intriguing but sort of went off the rails for me and just got a bit too bizarre and unrealistic for my taste (take the bachelorette party scene from Crazy Rich Asians and amp it up multiple times). I liked the writing but I really did not enjoy the story after it went bananas. I did think the narrator was great and had the right tone, but it didn't help for me.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Know that this starts out as a light (sort of) satiric look at influencers but that it turns dark, very dark. Julie and her twin Chloe were separated when their parents died and now, years later, Julie's working at a grocery store and Chloe is an influencer. So when Julie finds Chloe dead, why not take over her life? It's all ok for a while, even though Julie's aunt is blackmailing her, and then there's the week away at Bella's private island. Bella is the queen bee of the Belladonnas, a group of female influencers who seem to have it all. And how did they get it? No spoilers from me. Isla, a new addition to the group, isn't interested in playing along with all of the, ahem, stuff but Julie finds herself pulled in. This shouldn't be compared to Yellowface as it stands on its own thanks especially to the horror elements. Julie is interesting and the other women are sharply drawn (fans of social media will no doubt recognize them). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It amps up to become a real page turner.

This was an entertaining thriller with one of the most farfetched plot twists I’ve ever read.

Julie Chan was separated from her identical twin at a very young age after their parents were killed in a tragic accident. Their lives have diverged since then - Chloe is a beloved, successful social media influencer while Julie is working a menial retail job. One day, after discovering her sister’s dead body, Julie decides to assume Chloe’s personality.

At first, the very YA writing style was a little off-putting to me, but it became more palatable as the story progressed. It’s difficult to know how to properly rate this story. The first 50% was both very entertaining and also kept me interested. While the latter half was also entertaining, the storyline took a turn that felt too ludicrous. I know there are definitely people who particularly enjoy thrillers with ridiculous plot points, but I’m not one of them. If you’re a fan of Julia Bartz, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

I enjoyed the commentary about social media, influencing, and overconsumption but the discussion felt a little superficial (ironically), and I would’ve liked to see more.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was AMAZING. Loved the premise. Became totally unhinged. And the end. Get out of my face! This was dark. It was funny. It was bizarre. It totally fed into the weird vibe I like in books. READ IT.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was interesting but pretty dark, in my opinion. If you want to read about an evil group of influencers, convinced they are guided by a higher power - this will be for you! I didn't particularly enjoy it but it has some interesting scenes. Give it a try.

Julie Chan Is Dead comes out next week on April 29, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

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

I was excited about this one and am so disappointed I didn’t like it. It started out interesting. Then got weird, but interesting. By the end it was just weird.

A woman assumes the identity of her estranged social media influencer twin after her unexpected death. She gets wrapped up in her twin’s life and tried to fit in with her friends. Oh and she’s being blackmailed by her aunt. Then all of a sudden it was like she was in a cult and on drug trip.

It was supposed to be a thriller but it just felt off. The plot felt disjointed and random. I think the characters were supposed to be a comment on vapid people posting meaningless content and out of control materialism/consumerism but it did not work for me.

3 stars - thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy. Pub date 4/29/25.

Liann Zhang is a new author for me. This is her debut novel and I picked it up because the description intrigued me and because it was described as a razor-sharp thriller. I do love thrillers.


Description:

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.

My Thoughts:
Julie and Chloe, twin sisters, were separated when they were very young. Their parents had died and Julie was raised by an aunt who didn't love her, and Chloe was adopted by a wealthy couple. The girls had no contact with each other until grown and both on their own. Julie was barely getting by as a supermarket worker and Julie was a rich and famous influencer. When they met fleetingly, Chloe used Julie to promote her brand and make her Chloe look good. After Chloe once again has nothing to do with Julie. That had to really hurt. Julie wanted nothing more than to build a relationship with her sister. When Julie gets an out of the blue call from Chloe where she makes some strange sounds, but says nothing, Julie gets a bad feeling and goes to New York to check on Chloe. Finding her sister dead she sees an opportunity: become Chloe and make it look like Julie is the one who died. With this move Julie could step into Chloe's rich life and turn her life around. Only Chloe's life is not what Julie imagined. The story turns dark as she is blackmailed and is drawn into an exclusive group with some very dangerous practices. I kept flipping the pages as I devoured the story. That's some scary group of girls! This is a great debut novel and I will be interested to see what Zhang writes in the future.

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

This is two totally different books in one binding, and the switch between the first half and the second half left me with whiplash and a "what in the world did I just read?!?" The first part is a delightful, light, chicklit dive into rich people behaving badly and influencer culture, and the second half is unhinged horror(?)/ thriller(?)/dark gore(?) with a dash of race and culture reflection. This book was unlike anything I have read in a long time, so for that, bravo. The huge left turn was unexpected, but not unwelcomed.

I picked up this book from Atria Mystery Bus on Tiktok. The whole team highly recommended it. As I am trying to branch out from romance I thought this mystery/thriller would be a good step since it was a mix of both. From what I pieced together and learned is the first half of this book is more mystery and the second half was more thriller. The first half of this story made me anxious and concerned. Having grown up around social media and influencers the commentary here was spot on but Julies actions or lack there of confused me. However, the second half of the story on the private island was an exciting amazing whirlwind. I loved the cult behaviors and the twists and turns. I wish the whole book was the thriller. Was this book for me? No, but I learned that I like thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I could not get into this one.

The horror aspect when it was there was creepy! It gave me chills! I wasn’t expecting it to be that in depth with its horror. So that made it feel like two different books. That’s my fault for not realizing there was a horror aspect to it, but it really threw me off. One side of it was Julie trying to navigate Chloe’s life, while there was random spurts of body horror or creepiness thrown in.

I just didn’t like Julie at all. Not enough to want her to succeed in tricking everyone. We didn’t get to know her enough before she tried to be Chloe to care about her.

She’s not a likeable character. Normally I don’t mind unlikable characters, but only when they’re supposed to be if that makes sense. Maybe Julie was supposed to be unlikable, but I got the feeling that the author wanted us to be on her side and sympathize with her. I did not at all. She was a pretty terrible person, especially when the money and fame got to her head. Even what she did at the end with Viktor made me feel icky inside.

It was smart to mention that none of these girls were actually close enough to Chloe for them to realize she’s not who she says she is because otherwise she would have been caught right away. It almost felt like she didn’t try to be Chloe. I get it would be hard when she knows next to nothing about her, but the way she would react to things made her very suspicious.

I didn’t care about any of the influencers. So how am I supposed to care about the plot?

It was very repetitive in the beginning. I know she has every right to worry that someone is going to figure out that she is not Chloe, but all she thought to herself at any little thing was, “I wonder if they realize I’m not Chloe.”

Iz had a good point at the retreat with how people of color had it harder than white people. Her speech was very empowering! It made me sad Julie didn’t side with her in that moment. Iz was such an outsider in that moment it almost felt like we weren’t supposed to agree with her. Which seemed so wrong. Then Isla turned out to be a bad person too! Not as bad as the other girls, but still! They are all so cutthroat. I am sure a lot of influencers are that way, but I wouldn’t think all of them are. I wish there was more genuine camaraderie with at least some of the characters. There was absolutely none to be seen.

It probably is my fault for making the wrong assumptions, but I thought that most of the book would be Julie trying to figure out what happened to Chloe, not her learning how to become an influencer. I knew that would be another part of the book, but not the only part. Then at the end of the book, it took a complete 180 and started getting into a cult aspect. The plot was just all over the place.

The animal cruelty made me so angry. And spoiler warning: the fact that a pregnant woman also ate a mouse and killed her baby, made me sick to be honest. How could she do that? Even if she wanted so badly to fit in, I can’t imagine she would think it was okay to put that into her system when she was pregnant. Even if she wasn’t pregnant! It was very hard to read. While it could have been anything else that made her miscarry, it seemed like we were meant to assume it was from the mouse. Especially when she was fine the day before.

It didn’t make sense either that Julie was fine with eating a live mouse (disgusting and cruel!!), but then the next day immediately thought it was bad. Even if she was on some sort of drugs or drunk, you should be with it enough to know not to do that.

It wrapped up too nicely in the end. I almost didn’t want Julie to get away with everything and I wanted people to be more upset with her. I know it’s a book, but it seemed very unrealistic. Everyone was okay with her taking Chloe’s place, which obviously some people would be because everyone is different. But the mass majority? I don’t think so. They pretty much just brushed it under the rug.

There were no consequences for her actions, and to me, she was a bad enough person that she deserved more consequences. It did have an open ending, so at least you can maybe determine that she does go to jail, but I’m guessing the author doesn’t want you to assume that.

A gripping and masterful debut, Liann Zhang was able to craft a story that held my attention right from the beginning. I love her writing voice, striking the perfect balance between humour and tension. My only complaint was that it did begin to drag in the middle. But all in all, this was a great read and I will definitely be picking up more books from Zhang in the future!

Julie Chan is working as a cashier at a grocery store, but her twin sister, Chloe, is living the high life as an influencer in NYC. Julie sometimes gets mistaken for her sister, which annoys her. They grew up separately. Julie was raised by her aunt; and Chloe was adopted by a rich, white family. Their backgrounds could not have been more different. Out of the blue, Julie gets a call from Chloe with some mumbling and maybe the word “mistake”. Julie tries to call her sister back, but her sister never answers. Julie decides to go to NYC to make sure her sister is okay. When she gets there, the doorman mistakes her for Chloe and lets her in. Julie finds her twin sister dead in her apartment. When the police arrive, Julie makes a last minute decision to say the dead person is Julie, not Chloe. Thus, she decides to take over Chloe’s life. Julie spends time reviewing her sister’s social media, trying to ensure that she can continue without alerting people. However, it becomes more difficult when a group of women influencers called the Belladonnas invite Julie to spend a week on an island with them.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book and was pulled in right away. Once the women got to the island, it was still interesting, but things got a bit weird. Also, I thought the pacing slowed down until the end, where things really went off the rails. First half was 4 stars and second half was 3 stars, so 3.5 stars overall.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC to review.

Y’all. This may be the most unhinged book I’ve ever read in my LIFE. I put it down and my first thought was, “What the heck did I just read?!” I thought I saw where this was going, but there was just no way to know. If you enjoyed Yellowface or The Plot, you’ll like this. Just know going in that if you’re a sensitive reader, this may not be the book for you. I hesitate to even share any more thoughts or trigger warnings for fear of spoiling it, but if you do read it GET IN MY DMS BECAUSE I NEED SOMEONE TO UNPACK THIS WITH!!! The characters are IN.SANE. The writing was amazing. I was so unsure how to rate this because it’s hard to say I “liked” it…especially one scene in particular…but it kept me on the edge of my SEAT. Couldn’t put it down. If you like an unhinged thriller, you’ll gobble this one up!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. The beginning of the book was strong and hooked me in right away with a very interesting plot-- Julie Chan taking over her dead influencer twin sister's life. However, the middle dragged a bit for me, and the last 25% felt pretty random and out there. I almost DNF'd it, but I'm glad I stuck with it-- the author wrapped things up well and I still find myself thinking about it! The story also got me reflecting on what it means to be an influencer and I think there is a lot of symbolism in the chaos of it all.