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A Novel
by Liann Zhang
Book Reviewed by: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.
The ephemeral nature of social media means that books about the internet often feel dated by the time they publish, but Julie Chan Is Dead feels believably current... A former skincare content creator herself, Zhang clearly lives and breathes social media; and her fluency in the superficial world of doom-scrolling, #sponsored posts, and snark subreddits will resonate with readers who spend time in it, too...continued
Full Review
(688 words)
(Reviewed by Rachel Hullett).
Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty and Immaculate Conception
I devoured this sharp and wickedly funny novel about the intoxicating and corruptive promise of love and connection telegraphed by influencers. With prose that crackles off the page, Liann Zhang skewers our brave new world where everything and anything is leveraged for likes. Sophie Wan, author of Women of Good Fortune
As mesmerizing as it is grotesque, Julie Chan is Dead exposes the rotten insides of the influencer industry with sharp insight and dark humor. It perfectly captures the absurdity of our permanently online modern age.
As popular social media websites, like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter (now X), have grown in the past two decades, their popularity and ubiquity have given rise to a whole new type of career: the "content creator" or "influencer." According to a 2023 study, an estimated 27 million people in the US, or 14% of people aged 16 to 54, are paid content creators; almost half of those people do it full-time, while others do it part-time or as a hobby.
Naturally, a handful of individuals have risen to the top, amassing millions of followers across multiple platforms. Names like MrBeast, Nara Smith, and Alix Earle, while maybe not familiar to older generations, are household names to many Gen Zers and Gen Alphas. The average income of...
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