Reviews for Julie Chan is dead : a novel
Publishers Weekly
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Zhang debuts with a witty and insightful thriller about the pitfalls of influencer culture. Julie Chan and her twin sister, Chloe, were four years old when their parents died in a car accident. Chloe was adopted by the Van Huusens—an affluent couple in New York City—while Julie was sent to live with her grouchy, penny-pinching aunt. Now, at 24, Chloe and her luxurious lifestyle have attracted over a million social media followers, lucrative brand partnerships, and frequent all-expenses-paid trips to exotic locales. Julie, meanwhile, spends her days scanning coupons behind a cash register at SuperFoods. After years without contact, Chloe calls Julie and delivers a brief, garbled “I’m sorry” before she’s cut off. A worried Julie heads for New York, where she finds her sister dead. When the police mistake Julie for Chloe, the temptation proves overpowering, and she decides to step into her twin’s designer shoes. Suddenly, Julie is welcomed into the upper echelon of the country’s influencers—but she soon discovers that the newfound attention brings with it the kind of danger that may have cost Chloe her life. Zhang offsets the novel’s fast and entertaining first two acts with a gonzo final third, displaying impressive audacity for a newbie. It’s a marvel. Agent: Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic Agency. (Apr.)
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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Grocery-store cashier Julie Chan steals sandwiches just to get by. Meanwhile, Julie's identical twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, is a popular social media influencer, posting about skincare routines from her beautiful NYC apartment. So when Julie discovers Chloe’s dead body, it doesn’t take her long to make a decision: step into Chloe’s cushy life and experience the lucrative career of an influencer. At first, it’s like a dream come true, with fans and fellow content creators showering her with likes and love. Except all is not as it seems in Zhang’s twisty debut thriller. As Julie peels back the layers of her sister’s mysterious life, fans start to question why Chloe has changed, and her aunt blackmails her for large sums of money. When Julie gets an invite for a luxurious island getaway with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends, she gladly accepts. But that’s when her picture-perfect world truly begins to unravel. This fun, fast-paced read reveals the lengths people will go to in order to stay on top.
