Jill MinorJULIE CHAN IS DEAD rating: four stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.
The grass is always greener on the richer side–or so retail worker Julie Chan supposes in the psychological thriller JULIE CHAN IS DEAD by Liann Zhang (Simon & Schuster, April 29, 2025). Identical twins Julie and Chloe were orphaned and adopted by different families and separated at a young age. When Julie finds her twin dead in Chloe’s swanky apartment after receiving a cryptic voicemail apology, she decides to step into her twin’s identity and steal her posh influencer life.
Thanks to Edelweiss Plus Above the Treeline and Simon & Schuster for sending this book to me for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
How hard could it be, Julie thinks, to curate your entire life for the adoring masses? Julie herself has been made into social media content for her sister’s audience, even though she and her sister are estranged. Chloe swooped into Julie’s working class life years ago and gave her a house as a gift–on video. Julie kept the house, but swallowed the bitterness that came with it as her sister soaked up the likes for her opportunistic virtue signaling and went no-contact again.
Now Julie gets payback by taking everything that belongs to Chloe, having her twin cremated to hide any evidence about her mysterious death, but this time she swallows guilt, shame, and curiosity. Was it a straight-up drug overdose (Julie tells the police that it was her who had the overdose, of course) or something more sinister that killed Chloe?
In the guise of Chloe, whose focus is skincare, Julie is suddenly awash in luxury products and designer fashion. Desperate to be liked and accepted, she worries about her weight and starts networking with other beauty influencers, some of whom she has admired since she and Chloe were insecure young girls. She begins to get weird vibes almost immediately. As an Asian influencer, there is tokenism at play; likewise, with the newly recruited Black influencer. The two form an immediate bond on the tenuous edges of the all-white inner circle, buzzing around an influencer Queen Bee, white of course, with stratospheric follower numbers and an “old money” background. Julie ignores all the red flags as she gets in deeper and deeper. These were supposedly Chloe’s best friends, but maybe there is a reason that her twin blocked all of these women before her untimely death. The ending will shock you.
This is Zhang’s debut novel? Hard to believe, with such a tight, nearly flawless writing style.
So why not five stars? Main character Julie’s wonderful narrative voice, dripping with irony and black humor, changes for plot purposes in the middle, and I could not do without that voice. It’s as if Cassandra stopped talking in the middle of I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith (published in the US by Little, Brown and Co., 1948) and Rose picked up the narrative. I know why the author did it, but for me it didn’t increase the suspense; it dampened it. When Julie got her voice back, it was obvious that the alternative narrative voice had not worked and made the action bog down in the middle. YMMV, and a good audiobook narrator may smooth over this narrative awkwardness. According to Overdrive Marketplace, the audiobook will be released on the same date as the book.
Despite some flaws, this is as thorough, and as devastating a satire of social media influencer culture as you’ll find in fiction.
Reading in context:
How far would you go for likes? In the sci-fi novel GIRLFRIEND ON MARS by Deborah Willis (W. W. Norton & Co, 2023), Amber Kivinen will go to the nearest planet per a billionaire’s dicey scheme after “winning” a reality TV contest. Her long-term boyfriend Kevin would love to stop her, but his stoner lifestyle doesn’t give him enough energy to challenge her effervescent, endorphin-fueled social media addiction–and the potential for abuse that comes with it.
Like this author, T. C. Boyle mocked social media and influencer culture with oodles of irony in BLUE SKIES (Liverlight/W. W. Norton, 2023), reviewed in a former blog. I’ve thought about that book a lot in the past week. Very prophetic.
I was also reminded of YOUTHJUICE by E.K. Sathue due to the themes of skin care, social media, violence, and the slow seduction of those who long to fit in. There are other parallels too, but no spoilers. Reviewed on April 9, 2024.
What I’m reading right now:
FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros, to be followed immediately by IRON FLAME (Entangled/Red Tower/Macmillan, May and September 2023). I know, I’m late to the party, but at least when ONYX STORM hits (January 21, 2025) I will not have forgotten the names of everybody but the dragons. I always remember the dragons’ names for some reason.
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https://jillsreads.com/julie-chan-is-dead/
#BlackHumor #BlueSkies #DodieSmith #EKSathue #ICaptureTheCastle #influencers #JulieChanIsDead #LiannZhang #mystery #racism #SocialMedia #TCBoyle #thriller #youthjuice
Alice
