This book is a timely commentary on the content creator influencer world we are all living in. Two sisters separated after a family tragedy have very different upbringings with very different outcomes. After one sister is found dead, the other sister takes over her life and all the complexities that come with it. This book is one of the quick paced books that you can picture as a movie or miniseries. And maybe that is actually the best part of the book and the worst part of the book. The ending seemed almost too manipulative and unbelievable. I am not sure how I would have preferred it to end but I was disappointed in the ending. However, this book would be a great book club book because there is a lot to talk about!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Julie Chan Is Dead is a very clever, very relevant novel tapping into the absurdities of internet culture with the perfect mixture of biting satire and insightful social commentary. Zhang’s concept feels eerily plausible in today’s influencer-obsessed society, and the novel does an excellent job threading the needle between darkly hilarious and disturbingly dystopian.

The book reflects on wealth, privilege, and the disingenuity of online personas. It manages to be laugh-out-loud funny and deeply unsettling, sometimes within the same scene. Julie’s character is compelling and I found myself genuinely worried for her as the story progressed, which speaks to how invested I was. While the story walks a fine line between ridiculous and grounded, the ending brings things full circle in a way that’s as satisfying as it is absurd.

My only critique is that the plot was a bit predictable, and I spent much of the book waiting for the inevitable fallout, though the journey was still extremely entertaining. 3.5 / 5 stars (rounded up to 4).

This book is whackadoodle and I loved it! Rich influencer twin sister found dead and poor estranged twin sister assumes her identity. Big indictment of social media influencers and how far people will go for power, likes and love. Is it love??!!

What a book! This was such an interesting plot - both wild and kind of believable. Julie Chan has a twin and the whole book revolves around the two of them plus a group of online influencers. The story starts kind of bananas, but it’s easy enough to follow the why. That continues to be true, until it doesn’t. And then?! It’s just wild. And unhinged in a good way. I hated the ending even if it was perfect and fit perfectly with the story.

Advanced reader copy provided by Atria and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

📚: Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on #goodreads)

Julie and Chloe - identical twins, separated at a young age with two very different upbringings. As adults, Julie finds herself in a dead end job as a supermarket cashier. Chloe finds herself as one of the internet’s most popular influencers.

Then, suddenly Julie comes across Chloe’s dead body. And she thinks, “what if I became Chloe?” And jumps into her influencer life.

This book was a wild ride that went from crazy to start to completely unhinged by the second half. As the plot spiraled, I found myself less engaged, although still entertained.

Thanks to Atria Books via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Julie Chan is Dead is out on April 29th.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review copy.
 
This was a lot of fun.  The writing flows easily and I quickly became engaged, the pages flew by, I was reluctant to set it down.  I love getting completely sucked into a book like this!!  There are a lot of supporting characters and I mostly was able to keep everyone straight, which is impressive.  

This book teeters on the balance between horror and thriller, and it started to feel like it didn’t know what it wanted to be.  Is this a comedy/paranormal horror? Or a thriller that is satirizing society?  Answer: yes, it's a little bit of all of that.  I felt like Zhang wanted to write an insane book like  [book:Bunny|53285047], but she was afraid to fully commit.  So the story kept teetering between realistic psychological thriller, and wildly outrageous fantastical horror, which at times made it feel like it wasn't living up to its full potential.  Go Full Batshit!  I had this same problem with [book:The Other Black Girl|55711688], I wanted it to be more fully horror than it was.  Either fully commit to the horror and batshit insanity, or keep things realistic. (This is probably a "me" issue.)

I thought I knew where this was going, but then it took a surprising turn.  I alway appreciate being surprised by a book!  The end was not what I expected, either.

Overall, I loved this book and I cannot wait to see what else Zhang writes.  I'm amazed that she's such a young author.    

My complaints:  Julie Chan made a few incredibly stupid choices that took me out of the story.  Julie is kind of dense.   Maybe she's supposed to be? 

First of all, when you are pretending to be dead, you don't answer your phone.  It's kinda Rule #1 of Pretending to be Dead.  So right there, Julie fails rule #1.  At that point I had a hard time continuing to really support her, since why bother supporting someone who does dumb shit like that?   

Second, when you're away from home and weird shit keeps happening after meals and you keep waking up feeling hung over and not able to remember everything ... yes, it's possible you're being drugged.  That should be, like, your FIRST thought upon first waking up hungover.   But it takes Julie DAYS to get there.

The first 70% of this book just felt like a knockoff of "Yellowface" to me and I'm not even sure how to explain the last 30%. The ending really ruined the book for me. Sure, the first part wasn't super great, but I had fun reading it. The ending, however, felt super out of place and like I was reading an entirely different book. I really wanted to love this, but now I just feel bitter about it.

Honestly maybe closer to a 4.5! This book took an unexpected turn, but I was along for the ride. Julie’s narration got a little off the rails for me, but in a way that was unaligned with the rest of the book for me- with that said, it wasn’t enough to devalue the reading experience!!

Thanks to NetGalley et al., for the ARC!

Dark thriller about a sister taking on her influencer twins life after she discovers her body. Commentary on social media, race and identity, loneliness and grief, cliques and cults. Entertaining debut that felt a little disconnected between the NYC location and the private island mayhem. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy for a honest review.

I had the opportunity to read Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang, a gripping novel about twin sisters who are separated and later reunited—only for one to be found dead, prompting the other to assume her identity. The book almost felt like two distinct stories in one, but I found both parts equally compelling.

Around the halfway mark, the narrative shifts from a classic whodunit to something more rooted in psychological horror, and I really enjoyed how the genre blended and evolved. It added depth and kept the story feeling fresh and unexpected. Overall, it was a quick, engaging read with a unique twist on familiar thriller tropes.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this novel.

I definitely understand the comparisons to Yellowface after reading the novel. It definitely had the same vibes.

I really loved the first half of this book. I loved the influencer aspect and how it was so over the top with the money and the sponsorship. It really shone a light on the whole industry.

But I will say the second half of the novel kind of went off the rails for me. When they went on the trip and the cult aspects of the novel came into play it kind of lost me a little. I just went so overboard I had a hard time really getting into the second half.

I did love this authors writing and even with all the crazy events in the second half of the story she did keep me interested in seeing how the story would play out.

3.25/5 stars

I’m obsessed with this book! It was the definition of a page turner, with short addictive chapters that kept me up way too late because I had to know what happened next. Every time I thought I had it figured out, Liann Zhang hit me with another twist. The writing is sharp, and the exploration of influencer culture felt super relevant. I loved the author's voice, and had so much fun reading this. It's definitely one of my top reads of the year! If you're online way too much (like me), you'll fly through this. Definitely recommend going in blind, but if you liked the tone of Yellowface, I think you’ll like this one too.

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of Julie Chan Is Dead!

While the premise of this book seems enticing, it's giving Yellowface, it's giving The Other Black Girl...this book falls pretty flat for me. The issue here is the writing style, you can tell the author is trying to weave in thrilling aspects to keep the reader spooked, but the mix of pop culture references and the fact that Julie really just sucks doesn't work. Bringing in supernatural forces also just doesn't work...they're literally just influencers. Maybe that's the point, that someone could crave the attention and popularity so much that they would be willing to bend the rules of natural for it, but idk it's pretty unbelievable to me.

There's not much more to say other than that.

I say this with love - what in the everloving universe was this book, holy heck.

Absolutely unhinged, this book delves into the inequality within the influencer space, privilege, and the addictive nature of social media, external validation, and "love."

After her parents die in a car accident, and her twin sister is adopted by a rich, White family, Julie is shafted by the system and ends up being raised by an abusive Aunt and useless cousin. When she gets the chance to see the world from the other side, she takes it, stepping into Chloe's life after she dies.

Julie, from the start, is like a wild animal - a bit erratic and unpredictable, but when she steps into Chloe's life, that hunger for something more turns into the addictive need to be loved by Chloe's friends, and adored by Chloe's fans. Even as a reader, I got totally sucked into Julie's story, falling deeper into the rabbit hole with her as she navigated this elite world with the eyes of someone who's experienced poverty and abuse.

The commentary around influencer culture - the racial aspects, the privilege of many influencers, and the addictive nature of wanting more and more - felt so real and relevant. Although the story took an absolutely bonkers turn, it still felt grounded in that hunger for more followers, more clout, more money, more everything. I understood that deep seated instinct to fight for it.

I absolutely ate up this book - the Belladonnas were giving Bebe vibes (a Kim Possible reference, for the zillenials), and as everything unfolded, there was no way I could stop. It felt voyeuristic to watch it all go down, in the same way viewers obsess over their faves and watch their lives online. Addictive and toxic, I was glued to this book.

As a whole, I applaud Liann Zhang for creating something so absolutely unhinged. Every twist was just bonkers and it kept getting wilder and wilder.

TW: emotional abuse, bullying, toxic relationship, disordered eating, grief, death of an animal (not dog), drug abuse, alcohol abuse, miscarriage, blood, pregnancy; mentions death of parents, racism, sexual content, car accident, suicide, murder, death

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World Building: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

ARC gifted by Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

This novel follows the titular character, Julie Chan, as she takes on the life of her influencer twin sister, from whom she was separated at a young age. However, as she takes on this life, she realizes all is not as it seemed on social media and there are many mysteries to unravel surrounding her sister's life. This was a fun read that moved at a good pace, though some of the mysteries are never fully solved and some aspects of the plot and setup were a bit too extreme to be believed.

⭐️2.5 stars⭐️

Where do I start.. quick recap is that the main girl Julie Chan and her twin sister Chloe were separated when they were very young. Chloe is adopted into a rich NY family and becomes a famous influencer. Julie was raised by her vindictive aunt, and works as a cashier at a grocery store. The girls have nothing to do with one another until Chloe is killed and Julie finds her body. From there, she decides to take over Chloe’s life *cue chaos*.

First things first, I hated Julie Chan. Her character went from martyr-ey victim to dim-witted opportunist to Anna Delvey vibes at the end. I didn’t find it believable that she’d take over her twin's life just to become an influencer. She never thought to investigate the murder or contemplate that taking the place of her murdered sister may put her in danger.

Halfway through the book, there’s a girl's trip with Chloe’s influencer crew. I found that part intriguing at first but like the rest of the book, dragged on way too long.

I’m not even going to go into the ending but it felt like 3 incoherent stories that just didn’t come together for me. Not to mention all the stereotypical cliques scattered throughout the book.

I was hooked on this book from the first chapter. This book was so unique and I couldn’t put it down even when it increased my anxiety lol. I was shaking in my boots for Isla at the retreat when she was speaking the truth. I agree with the editor that this author is going to go far and I’m sure this book is going to break the internet with its unique take of the influencer world.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

How far will you go to gain money and fame?

Julie lives an average life - she works at a grocery store, lives paycheck to paycheck, and has an influencer twin, Chloe, who reconnected with her only to use her for a video where her twin sister buys her a house. Just the average human experience!
One night, Chloe calls her in distress. All Julie can hear is the word “mistake” over and over again. The call begins to haunt her over the following day, leading her to Chloe’s New York apartment. When Chloe ends up dead on the floor of her luxurious abode of an apparent drug overdose, Julie gets an idea. She begins to situate herself as her sister. But, the beautiful and charming life Julie imagines that awaits her in Chloe’s life, may not be what she gets. Chloe’s life is riddled with secrets she didn’t expect her to have and having money wasn’t as glamorous as Julie had imagined it would be. Especially when someone Julie knows finds out her secret. Things begin to change when Julie finds herself in the middle of an influencer group that Chloe was a part of, which isn’t exactly as it appears.

For the most part, I enjoyed the twisty turns of this book. I wasn’t sure where exactly it was going to take me, but I was along for the ride. Towards the end, I kind of found it fizzling out a little bit but the meat and bones of it were pretty good. I couldn’t put it down so that has to count for something, right?

Thank you to Liann Zhang, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the e-book ARC.

3.5 ⭐️

<i>Julie Chan Is Dead</i> is a thriller meets weird-girl novel in which Zhang clearly had a lot of fun pushing the girl-takes-twin's-place narrative to its limits.

Humorous social media satire hooks you from the beginning of this story and continues throughout. And, although the story's setup in middle section lulls a bit, things start to get <i>really</i> weird (in a great way) making the novel is absolutely unputdownable from the 3/4 mark to an ending with a payoff that is totally worth it.

3.5 fun stars for this one

✨️twin swap
✨️murder mystery
✨️influencer lifestyle

This was such a fun read. Julie Chen gets the opportunity to step into her dead twins influencer lifestyle. She thought it would be nothing but a glamorous time but she realizes she was wrong. Her sister Cloe had secrets.

This book was filled with satire and was funny. I feltlike the first half and second were rather different but not in a bad way but the transition was just weird. If you're looking for a quick humorous but yet almost sinister influencer type of read then this is for you.


A big thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Release date April 29, 2025