Allison’s Book Report “Julie Chan is Dead”By Liann Zhang

We all spend more time on our phones than we would like to admit, watching reels and videos of everything you can possibly imagine, allowing the algorithm to take us away on a wave of cat videos, beauty influencers, or any number of 90-second clips.

If you’ve ever looked at a mega-influencer’s life and thought, “I could do that,” Liann Zhang’s debut thriller, “Julie Chan Is Dead,” is here to tell you to be careful what you wish for. This isn’t your typical “twins switched at birth” story; it’s a razor-sharp, darkly funny look at what happens when the curated world of social media crashes into a very grim reality.

​The story follows Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier barely making rent, while her estranged identical twin, Chloe VanHuusen, lives the high life as a viral influencer. They haven’t spoken in years, except for one awkward, filmed reunion where Chloe “generously” bought Julie a house for the views. But everything changes when Julie walks in and finds Chloe dead. Instead of calling 911, Julie makes a split-second, life-altering decision: she’s going to step into Chloe’s designer shoes. Literally.

​Suddenly, Julie is trading shifts at the register for high-end skincare routines and luxury fashion. The transition is surprisingly easy at first—mostly because Chloe’s millions of followers are too busy double-tapping to notice the person behind the screen has actually changed. But as Julie settles into the influencer lifestyle, she realizes that Chloe’s “perfect” feed was a total lie. Behind the scenes, her sister was drowning in paranoia and manipulation.

​The tension peaks when Julie joins an elite clique of influencers on a private island retreat. Trapped with Chloe’s “best friends”—a group of status-obsessed sharks who all seem to be hiding something—Julie has to keep up the act while investigating what actually killed her sister. It’s a classic locked-room mystery with a modern, satirical twist.

​Zhang does a brilliant job of exploring the cost of fame and the weird, performative nature of being “online.” As Julie peels back the layers of Chloe’s life, she discovers that the sinister forces that took her sister out are now closing in on her. It’s a fast-paced, addictive read that proves fitting in can be fatal, and that sometimes, the most dangerous people are the ones holding the ring light. 

Now put your phone down and pick up a copy of “Julie Chan is Dead” – or whatever book is calling to you this week. After that, don't forget to pop over to my Instagram @allison.the.reader - I'm not a glamorous social media influencer like the ones in this book, but I would love to talk about books with you!