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Book: “Julie Chan Is Dead” by Liann Zhang
Publishing Info: Atria Books, April 2025
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: In this razor-sharp, diabolical debut thriller, a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.
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.
Review: Thank you to Atria for sending me an eARC of this book via NetGalley.
Summer is right around the corner, and that means that lots of readers are probably looking for some perfect books for vacations, for poolside, for early evenings on the deck. I love having sudsy and fast paced thrillers for times like those, and I have a recommendation (though Serena and I will have more in June with our annual Beach Reads post!). “Julie Chan Is Dead” has a catchy title, an intriguing premise, and sounds like a “Parent Trap” story from Hell, with a woman named Julie being reunited with her long lost twin Chloe, who is a famous influencer… and then ends up usurping Chloe’s identity down the line after she finds her dead. Sounds sudsy! But it’s also whip smart and a sharp social satire as well as a crazy twisty thriller.
So there are two mysteries at play in this thriller: the first is whether Julie is going to pull off her identity switch after taking over Chloe’s life, and if she can seamlessly transition her behaviors, mannerisms, and full self into that of her beloved and powerful twin sister. The second is the mystery of what actually happened to Chloe. The latter takes a bit of a back seat, at least until later in the story, and it’s more about Julie trying to keep her identity swap secret so she can indulge in the life that Chloe had without being caught as a fraud. Julie isn’t exactly a GOOD person, but as a reader I fully understood why she made the decisions she did, having grown up in rotten circumstances after her parents horrible deaths while also being separated from her twin, who was adopted into a new wealthy family and leading a seemingly charmed life. I held my breath when Julie would be faced with the threat of her cover being blown, and I was very curious to see how far she would go to maintain her new life. To make matters more suspenseful, we get some hints that Chloe’s circle of influencer friends, whom have invited Julie on an exclusive retreat with them, may be hiding things as well, and the weird sinister vibes slowly build up as the story goes on.
But the most effective theme of this book was how Zhang takes on and satirizes influencer culture and the privilege/conspicuous leisure that comes with it, as well as pointing out the racism that can also come with it. I don’t really follow any influencers of this kind in real life (mostly political ones, as well as a guy who cleans and repairs/treats cow hooves?), but the idea of being a picture perfect vision of aspiration for an audience of millions (and to encourage them to consume consume consume!) is SO fascinating, and I always love a deconstruction and satire of the harmful aspects of the whole concept. Julie finds herself one of the only non-white women in a tight and popular circle of influencer friends, not only trying to perform as Chloe to keep up her ruse, but also to perform in a way that would be appealing to white audiences, and to perform for her new ‘friends’ and colleagues, especially when she finds herself on a retreat on a private island surrounded by them with no exit.
And here is the thing that really shocked me about this book: we got a bit of a CRAZY swerve in terms of plot and reveals… and I didn’t hate it! Normally when a thriller has a huge game changing moment that feels totally out of the blue I will be a bit put off. It really takes a talent and an engaging storyteller to pull it off, and Zhang really pulls it off here. I think what also helped was that a big part of this twist (I am not going to spoil it here) was left somewhat ambiguous, with room for the reader to question what exactly HAD happened, as opposed to completely shifting things definitively and too abruptly.
“Julie Chan Is Dead” is a well done thriller that kept me hooked. PERFECT poolside reading for the summer!
Rating 8: A wild thriller that has a crazy swerve that actually worked for me, “Julie Chan Is Dead” is about privilege, race, influencer culture, and getting a luxurious life at any cost.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Julie Chan Is Dead” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 Mystery Thrillers True Crime”.
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