This one was very easy to read! I enjoyed the first half of the book more, where it shows the life of influencers and stuff. Once a trio happens, there is a different vibe and I wasn't as invested. Overall, is a bonkers story and very entertaining!

Reading this book is like eating a doughnut and finding out it has jam in the middle when you thought it was plain.... but then LOVING the jam anyway. I thought it was MAD and absolutely brilliant. There's a level of crazy that I applaud the author for getting to, for really ripping that layer off content creators and just how dark social media really can be!!!

I loved Julie and the other characters, but mainly Julie was just so.... normal? She behaved exactly how I feel i would have done (well up until the island chapters because that's too far for me) but I loved all the behind the scenes, like the PR unboxings and the assistants etc.

Writing was fab, I cannot believe this is a debut. So relatable, so easy to read, fab pacing and I didn't want to put the book down until I was finished.

Absolutely bonkers! Absolutely brilliant!

Julie and Chloe are identical twins who were raised separately after their parents died. Chloe is a popular influencer, surrounded by glamour, wealth and brand deals. Julie is broke and her life is going nowhere fast.

When Julie discovers Chloe’s body, she can’t help but declare the deceased to be, well, herself, meaning she now has Chloe’s identify and influencer life and nobody will know the difference. All she has to do is fit in as Chloe.

Dark, funny and absolutely riveting, this book explores the dark side of social media and influencers lives, reminding us that not everything online is a true representation of reality.

The second half, when a group of influencers spend time on an island belonging to their queen bee, Bella Marie, went a bit too far to be believable, so be prepared to suspend your disbelief for a while and enjoy the crazy ride!

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Liann Zhang and Bloomsbury for an ARC in return for an honest review.

3.5 Stars. Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this e-arc in return for an honest review.

Julie Chan is Dead is a fast-paced, dark exploration of identity, fame, and the toxicity of social media. I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Yellowface, which is one of my all time favourite books, especially in terms of the identity themes that both works explore. The first half of the book felt eerily similar, particularly with the jealousy-driven dynamics, though it wasn't necessarily a bad thing—it just made me reflect on how these books intersect in their commentary on identity and societal expectations.

The novel’s portrayal of women acting unhinged is honestly refreshing. I’m here for that “good for her” vibe when characters embrace their darker impulses, even if it’s a little unsettling. Julie Chan’s descent into this chaos is fascinating, especially considering how she starts off so much like everyone else. By the end, she’s fully overtaken by the vicious cycle of fame, making her evolution the most gripping part of the book. And also shocking!

The influencer world, with its unhealthy comparisons and cult-like behaviour, is dissected with sharp commentary. While the narrative didn’t give me a character to root for (Julie included), I think that’s actually one of the book’s strengths. The lack of likeability isn’t a flaw, but rather a reflection of how disconnected and detached these characters have become. I wasn't as emotionally invested in Julie’s fate as I thought I’d be, but the story still had me hooked.

The second half of the book takes a darker turn, and the pacing is fast, which I love. The chapters are short and bingeable, making it a quick read that pulls you through its chaotic narrative. I find long chapters just drag on, so this book was perfect! Well-written, but definitely unsettling in places—like the part with the mice, which... let’s not talk about that, still turns my stomach.

Overall, Julie Chan is Dead is an unhinged ride through the highs and lows of internet fame. The exploration of self-destruction and obsession with social media is a timely and important conversation, though there were moments where I wished the characters were more fully fleshed out. Still, it’s an intriguing, darkly funny, and thought-provoking novel that’s perfect for fans of fast-paced, somewhat unhinged fiction.

THE THRILLER OF THE YEAR!.

This book is not what you think! 👀 From the incipit I would have expected anything but that I read the further I went!

I don’t want to give you too many clues because it is just such a unique experience to slowly enter the life of the late Chloe and I don’t want to give any spoiler. I will just say that it was crazy and sort of hilarious to see the transformation of the protagonist from her initial personality to her influencer one  to an even more delusional one lol. To know more you just have to read this book as soon as it comes out, I recommend it to all thriller fans!

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

As a guest of honour at Bloomsbury Big Night In, I was given the opportunity to read Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang and it was such a delight. I had expected it to be similar to Yellowface and while there were some similarities, Julie Chan is Dead firmly sets itself apart with a few interesting and jaw dropping twists. There is blackmail, social media pressure and deep, dark secrets.

Julie is separated from her twin Chloe when Chloe gets adopted by a rich couple. Chloe goes on to build a high-end influencer brand and has ignored her twin who feels trapped in her supermarket job. Julie had hoped to rebuild their relationship when Chloe gifts her a house in a video that goes viral but Chloe again ignores her. Until one day, Julie goes to see Chloe after a strange phone call and finds her dead. Strange circumstances result in her being mistaken for Chloe and after a moment of hesitation, she steps into Chloe’s shoes for better or worse.

You are drawn to understand Julie’s emotions, her hopelessness, her desperation, her desire to keep the life she adopted, no matter what the cost. Is it worth it really? Or does the cost of losing the fame, and the fortune too much to risk?

The story is cleverly written with moments that made me laugh out loud, literally.

“Some family portraits are so old, I’m surprised a British Museum hasn’t taken them."

Pick this up for a quick, interesting and entertaining read but be warned, there was a moment that had my stomach feeling a bit queasy. It’s a necessary turning point however so don’t let this put you off.

Thank you to @tandemcollectiveglobal, @bloomsbury_export and @theliannz for the opportunity to read this.

After receiving a weird call from her estranged influencer twin sister, Julie feels the need to go check on her. However, when Julie arrives to Chloe's New York apartment, she finds her dead on the floor. After unlocking Chloe's phone to call 911, and getting a glimpse of what her life looks like in the meantime, Julie decides to take over for her twin.

This was completely unhinged from the very start, and I absolutely loved it. Julie makes one bad decision after the other, and it's so frustrating, but also makes for such a page-turner. It is so fun to watch her dive into this world she has no clue about and slowly but surely blend in, while also finding out more and more about her twin's life, and realizing that maybe it wasn't as perfect as she had imagined.

I would say I did enjoy the first half a lot more, and it definitely felt like there was a complete vibe switch in the second one. It got even crazier, in a way that I expected, but also totally didn't see coming, if that makes sense? It definitely wasn't bad or anything like that, it was just sudden and somewhat out of the blue. It got so completely unhinged at one point, and I thought it was going completely off the rails, but then it came out around, but also didn't? The writing was so easy and engaging, it made it so easy to get sucked into this world, and it genuinely was such a fun ride.

"Julie Chan is Dead" by Luann Zhang is a razor-sharp and darkly comedic thriller that delves into the treacherous world of social media and influencer culture.

The story follows Julie Chan, a woman living a mundane life who steps into the identity of her deceased twin sister, Chloe, a glamorous influencer.

The book has an engaging plot, unexpected twists, and incisive commentary on social media, privilege, and identity. It was captivating and hard to put down, loved the exploration of the dark side of online fame and the lengths people will go to for validation.

Overall, "Julie Chan is Dead" is a fresh and entertaining debut that offers a thought-provoking, albeit sometimes over-the-top, ride. If you enjoy thrillers with dark humor, social commentary, and aren't afraid of a wild plot, this book could be for you.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The plot was engaging and suspenseful. It took several turns I was not expecting but I liked their darkness. The social commentary was strong and compelling. The main character was unreliable and the other characters and the main character were pretty much all unlikeable but it made sense for the story and it did not bother me at all. The writing felt mastered and not clumsy like a debut novel can sometimes be.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The book was not what I was expecting at all.  The premise is that Asian identical twin sisters are separated at around 4 years old when their parents die.  One (Julie) is brought up in a working-class home with her horrible aunt, and the other (Chloe) is adopted by a rich white couple.

Chloe is a popular influencer with millions of followers, while Julie works in a convenience store.  One night, Julie gets a phone call from Julie that is garbled. It sounds like ‘I’m sorry’.  When she can’t get hold of Chloe on the phone again, Julie makes the decision to get a bus to New York to find out what Chloe is sorry about.  On arriving at her apartment, she finds her sister’s dead body.  Long story short, she decides to take over her sister’s influencer life.

All goes predictable in what you imagine an influencer’s life revolves around – events, product launches, lunches, collabs, etc.  We also meet Bella Marie and her Belladonnas – the ‘friends’ that Chloe seems to have.  They all jet off to a secluded island for their annual wellness detox where they go off the grid and leave all social media behind for a week, and that’s where everything goes crazy. 

I’m sure some influencers will do anything to get followers and paid endorsements, but this was so far-fetched.  But overall, I still enjoyed the book. It definitely makes you think twice about all these celebrities that do paid endorsements for certain products.

A MUST READ OMG ?!?!?

I’ve just finished this and let me tell you THE JOURNEY you will be on once you start this book!! The things you will witness, the shock, the absurdity the spiraling the more you keep reading omg

I loved this I loved this I loved this. I don’t even wanna say too much about the plot cause I don’t want to give anything away, I just loved how crazy and also kinda funny it was, especially when we see the change in Julie’s character throughout the book, from her initial self to the influencer persona to the straight-up crazy cult transformation lol

PLS READ THIS BOOK THANK U
(and thank you to netgalley, tandem collective and Bloomsbury export for the copy)

What would you do to be a social media star? Well, in this book, due to the tragic situation of her twin's death, Julie finds out! And what a wild ride it was. Not only does it give you a good look into what it takes to be an influencer but how the highs of likes and followers are super addictive and that can cloud thinking and lead to choices that might not be so wise. Add in a dash of something like Stepford wives and something darker (way darker) for a riveting read that drew me right in to see if Julie can get out of the mess she did not know she was stepping in when she took over Chloe's life and gets tangled in with the Belladonnas (aptly named for sure!). It is a nice balance of horror and comedy and I really enjoyed reading this! Being influencer famous can take you down odd and dark paths, at least in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read an advance copy of this thrilling and exciting read!

It took a while for me to get into this and I never felt like I fully did. I like the funny, dark humour POV stories but this one didn’t really work for me, I never connected with the main character. This was just ok.

I won’t lie, I was a bit anxious about this one! It’s not my usual genre of book, but I was very pleasantly surprised!

I really enjoyed this book. I ended up feeling quite bad for Julie, she wasn’t perfect and was actually quite terribly flawed, but I definitely understand why she did everything that she did

As someone who grew up struggling to make friends etc, I get it! She just wanted to be loved and feel seen for maybe the first time in her life, she perhaps just didn’t go about things in the right way

It was a very entertaining read and I really loved how it tackled influencers and social media

Thank you so much for this arc!

I really enjoyed this read, I felt so sorry for Julie, her life sounds like it had been such a struggle for her so I absolutely did not blame her when she ‘took over’ Chloe’s life but I don’t think she was expecting what she got!!

I love how Julie really embraces being Chloe and the fact that she can spend money on things because she has it now instead of stealing sandwiches from her place of work. Obviously, it’s not all plain sailing as her aunt is still as greedy as ever!!

She finds herself making friends for what sounds like the first time in her life, and the appreciation and adoration she gets as Chloe on social media really boosts her. The ‘friends’ however, are not what they seem and this for me was the best part, I couldn’t believe what I was reading and I think at one point Julie was really ‘under their spell’ it could have hone in either of two ways but I’m really glad that it went the way that it did.

I thought this was really well written, it seemed to flow really well and I found myself flying through the chapters to see how it was going to end up.

A fun, fast paced and addictive story. I knew nothing about this book going in and that made it all the more enjoyable. Julie was terrible, but such an entertaining character to root for. She was flawed, egotistical and annoying but I loved reading about her. I really enjoyed the plot too, it was clearly barrelling towards something big and the ending did not disappoint. The back up characters were also immensely entertaining, this entire story was so much fun to read. A great commentary on social media and influencers, with the added bonus of being funny too.

A whip-smart contemporary thriller about influencers and the power of social media. I enjoyed the first half of this book a lot, but the second half not so much as the tone changed and it became a heck of a lot darker. But I did still enjoy it as a whole and thought it was very clever. I particularly liked the writing style which weaved in elements of humour into the darkest of scenes.

Thank you for the ARC net galley! I was so excited to read this. It’s a contemporary thriller exploring the themes of influencers, societal media and identity.

The novel, is such a fast read which a mush mash of grey characters, I loved to hate. I didn’t know where the story was going and that was half the fun! The morality of the Julie’s decisions and actions keep you turning the page. It had me cringing, gasping and laughing at different stages. My only “criticism” which wasn’t an actual issue, was that it felt like 2 books in one, the turn the story line takes contributed to that feeling but upon reflection- that’s what makes the book so unhinged, in an entertaining way.
While exposing a side of social media influencing we may have some idea about, it digs deeper into the relationships of influencers, the good the bad the ugly & how much they sell their souls for the success. Highly recommend! A great bookclub option too!

The premise is super intriguing, what if your life sucked but had an identical twin, who’s life you wanted and could be her.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the pacing was good and stories were being rounded out. The second half, seems too long and feels more repetitive.
Overall I did enjoy the tension and most of the build up.
Chloe lives in NYC but it really could have been any major city. Some of the vernacular didn’t sound American to me.
If you enjoy the psychology behind who influencers behave and work, this will appeal to you. It also touches on the ethics of their work especially when they start doing family content.
Also taking another look at para social behavior on both the side of the influencer and the influencee.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

Julie Chan may not have killed her twin, but she did take her life.

I did not find Julie likeable. That did not stop me from reading as the whole time, I was like, “Girl, how do you not find that suspicious?!” I did sympathise with her up until the point where she becomes Chloe, because let’s be real, her life kinda sucked. She was not happy, her aunt was abusive, and she was alone.

Once she became Chloe and started meeting the other influencers, it was clear how bizarre the whole situation had become. Julie started off the book thinking about influencers as vapid but over time, we see her turn to social media and her fellow influencers for validation.

It’s an interesting narrative; just like how we can get sucked in by social media, Julie finds herself changing to the point that she almost had me believing she was Chloe.

Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me this arc.