twin falls

Julie Chen is struggling. She is in her 20s, working as a cashier at a grocery store, Nobody knows who she is, aside from the aunt who raised her and a cousin. And her sister, twin sister actually, an important internet influencer. Julie and Chloe have hardly spoken since their parents died in a car accident. Chloe got adopted by rich parents and grew up with money, going to private schools, wearing designer clothes. Julie stayed with their aunt, who was not kind to her, and she fought for everything she had.

Out of the blue, Chloe showed up at the store where Julie worked and filmed a video of her giving her twin sister a house. It was kind, as Julie had never gotten such a generous gift before. But then Chloe went back to her fabulous life, leaving Julie behind. Julie cares about her sister, but she doesn’t think about going to visit her until several days went by without Chloe posting on the internet. Julie tried to text and call, but she got to answers. She decided to head to New York City to make sure Chloe was all right.

Since Julie and Chloe were identical twins, Julie was able to get past Chloe’s doorman and up to her apartment without incident. But when Julie goes in and looks around, she finds Chloe has passed away, a bottle of pills nearby. Chloe’s neighbors and doorman assume that Julie is Chloe, and Julie realizes that she could be. She could change in her sad, lonely life for Chloe’s, upgrading everything in an instant.

At first, things are great. Julie is now blessed with designer clothes and makeup, an assistant, a gorgeous apartment, and plenty of money to pay the bills. And as she opens up online about her grief for her sister, she gets lots of emotional support and love. She has some things to learn about being an influencer, and she changes her diet and starts exercising to lose those few pounds that Chloe didn’t have.

But as the weeks go on, Julie has questions about her twin’s life. Where are her parents? Why haven’t they tried to contact her, especially when her twin sister had apparently taken her own life in Chloe’s apartment? And as Julie finds herself a part of the Belladonnas, a group of closer followers to Bella Marie, she feels instant acceptance and support. But there is a notorious secret weeklong Belladonna trip coming up, and Julie doesn’t know anything about what has happened there in the past. She has questions and no one to ask.

And there’s another big question, that her aunt points out to her as she attempts to blackmail Julie. Chloe had always had trouble swallowing pills, so why would she kill herself like that? Is it possible that someone killed her twin sister? And if so, does that mean that Julie is next?

Julie Chan Is Dead is a twisty satire of influencers and girl cults while also being a propulsive thriller. It cuts deep into the influencer culture and the way followers are sucked into the lies of their lives, believing that the facade is real. But it also took me on a crazy ride through secrets and lies until I knew what had happened. But even then, I could not see what was about to happen next.

I loved Julie Chan Is Dead. While I usually race through thrillers quickly, I took my time with this one, savoring it slowly. I was never disappointed. This story is so much fun, and it’s a debut as well, which means I get to see author Liann Zhang develop as her books pile up, which is a hobby I just love.

Egalleys for Julie Chan Is Dead were provided by Atria Books through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine, and I liked the book so much I bought my own Kindle copy.