Julie Chan takes the place of her late influencer twin sister after she finds her dead in her sister’s apartment. They were separated when they were young when their parents died. Chile was adopted by the Van Huusen while Julie was adopted by their Aunt. Julie struggles with the knowledge she doesn’t know about her sister’s life as a belladonna.

The concept for this book was really intriguing! About 70% of the way though it was hard to tell if it was another one of Julie’s nightmares or her current reality. It gave that something was off feeling which was later affirmed by Isla.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This is a fun one after coming off a slump. Writing was well done and the plot was definitely fitting for the times.

2.5/5

Julie Chan is Dead offers an intriguing exploration of influencer culture, highlighting the stark contrasts between Julie’s modest upbringing and Chloe’s opulent lifestyle. The initial chapters effectively portray Julie’s fascination and trepidation as she navigates this new identity, shedding light on the superficiality and pressures inherent in the digital age.

However, as the narrative progresses, it takes several abrupt turns that disrupt the story’s cohesion. The introduction of a sinister family cult subplot, coupled with themes of abuse and blackmail, feels disconnected from the initial storyline. This shift not only dilutes the central theme but also leaves several plot points underdeveloped, resulting in a disjointed reading experience.

Moreover, the transition to an island setting later in the book feels rushed and lacks sufficient buildup, further contributing to the fragmented narrative. While each subplot holds potential, their convergence appears forced, diminishing the overall impact of the story.

Despite these shortcomings, Zhang’s writing style is engaging, and her commentary on the darker aspects of social media is both relevant and thought-provoking. With more focused plotting and character development, future works could fully realize the potential glimpsed in this debut.

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC.

This book is way different than I was expecting - it takes you on a wild ride.

Julie Chan was separated from her twin sister after their parents died in a car crash. Julie feels slighted when her sister Chloe gets adopted by a rich white family and becomes a very popular social influencer. Julie gets a mysterious phone call from her twin that leads her to discovering Chloe dead in her apartment.

On a whim she lies and says she is Chloe - taking her place and “killing” her previous life as Julie. She then is thrust into the wild world of being an influencer.

Getting a background look into influencers was entertaining. You felt both jealousy and disdain towards their lifestyle. Seemingly feeling like they get so much for doing so little, when they also have to always be On to continuously make content.

THEN this book takes a wild culty turn. It was more twisted than I was expecting. It was quick paced and found myself wanting to keep reading to see how it would all pan out. While pretty unrealistic, if it did happen - it would make a damn good true crime doc, and that makes it a thrilling read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Read this very quickly! Usually mistaken identity books give me second hand anxiety to read but this was well executed and I really enjoyed the overall influencer critique

I received an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for my honest review. This book was entertaining and fast paced. I like the new trope of influencers being messy in the creepiest possible way. I just could not connect with the main character. She read as very immature to me. Overall, I would recommend if you like a quick “popcorn” style thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC for review!

I really enjoyed this book. It's the perfect amount of weird without being overly weird. This book was super easy to read (which is always a plus!) & I would definitely recommend this for fans of "Bunny".

Absolutely floored that this is a debut!
Definitely thought this was a murder mystery solving type of book then it developed into a weird girl cult book like Mona Awads Bunny(which is a top fave of mine).

So obsessed with this and can wait to see what’s next for this author.

Thanks to Atria for the eARC so I can provide my honest opinion

Hauntingly good. I so enjoyed this story from Zhang. She is a very talented writer and has crafted a book of characters that takes your breath away. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang is an intriguing book involving twin-switch and a glimpse into the lives of social media influencers. Full of suspense and twists, I was gripped at the beginning. However, the switch into the cult scenario was startling and unnerving. Overall, it was a good and engrossing read and the end was okay.
I received the ARC from Atria Books via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are mine

3.5/5 stars

Julie Chan is down on her luck, working an insufferable dead end job with little to no funds in the bank. Then one day, she is briefly and chaotically visited by her estranged celebrity influencer twin sister. I say "chaotically" because in their brief meeting, her sister gifts Julie an entire house and then ghosts her (but not before getting everything on camera!)

<b>Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL </b>

On a whim, Julie decides to visit her sister in New York only to find her sister's dead body. She assumes her identity in order to enjoy her wealth, but she’s also getting so much more than she bargained for.

This was a fun, fast-paced read that I could easily see being a great airport purchase or poolside read. I read it in a day and almost one sitting. The story is absurd and cultish-I frequently thought of the movie Midsommar-and suspension of disbelief or skepticism will work in the reader's favor. The absurdity is a bit far fetched, but I suppose it could also be a statement about the cult of The Influencer.

I felt the writing was a little...young? with the first half almost feeling YA to me, and the characters were a bit flat, including our main "heroine." But this book has been on my TBR for a while and I was glad to read it.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for the ARC. Book to be published April 29, 2025

I absolutely loved this book! It’s a very good mystery/thriller with an intriguing plot.
Twins Julie and Chloe were adopted separately when they were young. Chloe gets adopted by a well off couple and turns into a social media influencer. Julie is adopted by her aunt and grows up super poor and not really knowing her twin sister.
The book is entertaining and has unexpected twists that I didn’t see coming. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

Wow! Such a fun and twisty read. This book was like nothing that I had ever read before and captured my interest from start to finish. Very well done! Will be recommending for everyone to read when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed getting into the book, and I did not expect the second half to be so deep and dark. But great read that kept me guessing. Would recommend for those who are bored with same old scenario.

Holy wow. This book is not at all what I was expecting. When I say this kept me on my toes - I was literally pacing in my living room. Gripping, intense, provocative. An incredible debut by Ms. Zhang!! This is a story about influencers and greed and power and fame. Not for the faint of heart, but highly recommend if you enjoy thrilling books. I’ll definitely be thinking about this for a while. Thanks to netgalley and atria books for the arc in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars!!!

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I requested this after seeing the comparisons to Yellowface and The Other Black Girl, which are basically spot on - Yellowface but make it influencers.

Julie Chan’s identical twin sister Chloe is an influencer - one of those generically boring beige lifestyle girlies (but she’s Asian, so she’s automatically more interesting than the generic blond girls). Julie is constantly being mistaken for her, but the two are estranged - their parents died when the girls were 4 and Chloe was adopted by a white couple, while Julie went to live with her grifter of an aunt. Their only contact in the…indeterminate number of years since is the time Chloe bought Julie a house…but just so she could film it for her YouTube channel. It’s also one of those houses that was redone solely to look good in showings but is actually a hunk of junk. But one day out of the blue, Julie gets a strange phone call from her sister. Chloe seems to be in some kind of distress, but the one thing Julie can make out is “sorry” and “my fault.” Against her better judgement, she decides to go see her sister. But by the time she gets there, Chloe is extremely dead. Julie panics and calls 911, but when everyone mistakes her for her sister, she decides to just let it happen. After all, Chloe is rich and has a huge online following and they’re freaking identical. What could go wrong?

It goes about as well as you would expect. The interesting thing about only hanging out with fellow influencers is that they’re all fairly self-absorbed, so Julie is able to study Chloe’s old videos and no one really seems to question it. If anyone does, she chalks it up to grief over her long lost twin. And since Chloe herself had been “taking a break” right before her untimely death, Julie is able to invent a semi-convincing cover story for herself. Of course the grass is always greener on the other side of the TikTok, so it’s no surprise when Julie learns that her sister’s life wasn’t exactly perfect (and also that being an influencer is kind of grueling work).

Julie’s biggest challenge is a week-long retreat with the Belladonnas, a group of influencers headed by Bella Marie. She’s your basic white girl trying to surround herself with a semi-diverse (but not *too* diverse) group of fellow influencers, under the guise of supporting each other. It’s just as creepy and weird as it sounds. Unlike Yellowface, which stays firmly grounded in reality, this has a little more in common with The Other Black Girl, as it does veer a bit into that magical realism space (which was one of the things that took me out of both that novel and this one). However, it is a far, FAR better (and way less shaggy) story than The Influencers. And although I didn’t have a *great* sense of timing (I was unclear how old these people were supposed to be - 20s? Ish? Chloe buys the house in 2017, but I wasn’t sure what year all of this other stuff was meant to have gone down. We’re also maybe ignoring Covid, which whatever. I’d rather author just pretend it didn’t happen than try to awkwardly shoehorn it in), I did like that Zhang had a grasp of what platforms would have been around when. I remember being annoyed reading Rush Week, that it seemed like TikTok had been around since time immemorial, when it definitely didn’t exist in 2010 (although it’s probably been around longer than I realize - I’m an Old). It’s believable that Chloe et al would have gotten their starts on YouTube and then shifted to other platforms. And I also appreciate that Zhang really drives home how much of a grind it is to stay relevant. Julie’s aunt starts extorting her, so she’s constantly having to accept brand deals and sponsorships to stay afloat. It may seem glamorous, but it’s straight up exhausting.

In all, I *really* enjoyed this. I flew through a good chunk of it in a single afternoon. It has less of a trainwrecky feel than Yellowface - Unlike June, Julie is always acutely aware that what she’s doing is a bad idea, and she never really manages to convince herself that she’s in the right, as June does. But it’s super entertaining and hard to put down, so another good palate cleanser after the pretty terrible book rut I’ve been in lately!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The first half of this book is such a solid and interesting depiction of life as an influencer and I was really enjoying it but once it hit that half way mark? Everything changed, and not for the better. It gets into some weird cult vibes and I honestly think cults are just not something I care to read about so maybe that's on me for going for this book since it's alluded to in the synopsis but still it was just a little too outlandish for my tastes.

Wow. What I thought was a book about a woman who steals who sisters identity when she dies-turned into so much more. This book was way more of a psychotic thriller than the synopsis/cover lets on. It got more and more unhinged as the book went on-while I couldn’t put it down at one point, I genuinely felt uncomfortable reading it. I felt like there was an unnecessary amount of gore and dark symbolism.

This book was a wild ride through the world of the upper crust of New York City influencers, the kind you see on reality, television, haunting their design, designer clothes, and perfect make up.

It was so much fun.

Julie Chan was taken in by relative after her parents were killed in an accident, while her twin sister, Chloe was adopt adopted by a rich New York City couple. While Julie is stuck, scraping by, Chloe has turned into a star influencer on Instagram and TikTok. When Julie receives a strange call from Chloe after years of no contact, she hurries to New York, only to discover that her twin has been murdered. In a split-second decision, she decides to take on her twins, identity, and figure out what happened to her. But the truth is that underneath all of the designer clothes and fashionable parties, being an influencer is not nearly as glamorous as it seems.

What I loved about this book is that it touches on some really great themes about race, power, class, and all the ways that we interact with each other, both genuinely and on the surface.

I don’t want to say too much about what all goes down in this book, because it is quite a wild ride from beginning to end. I really had to stop myself from just racing to the end of the book and seeing what happened before I had even finished it because I was that into it. But I’m glad I stuck it out and read the whole thing because it was worth it. Plus, things get quite crazy in the last third of the book and you really need to be there for it.

But as I said, this is a great book that delves into a world that is extremely privileged, and it looks at the factors that cause people to look up to that sort of lifestyle and what that means. Again, you really need to read the book to get the full picture because it’s best to go in without any real assumptions or knowledge to get the most out of it.

So my advice, is just read this book. It’s really worth it.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read (especially the first half). Although this story kind of got a little crazy and took a turn I was certainly not expecting in the second half, I thought it was such a cool premise and executed well! I feel like this book will definitely find its audience and take off!