{ "item_title" : "Julie Chan Is Dead", "item_author" : [" Liann Zhang "], "item_description" : "INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of NPR's Books We Love for 2025 2026 Libby Book Awards Best Thriller For fans of Bunny and Yellowface, this razor-sharp debut thriller blends biting satire with chilling suspense, as a young woman steps into her deceased twin's influencer life--only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media fa ade. Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything--except a pulse. Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier barely scraping by, 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 body, she doesn't call the police. Instead, she slips into her dead sister's meticulously curated life: luxury fashion, high-end skincare, and a devoted online following who never noticed they weren't quite the same. At first, the transformation is seamless. Julie relishes the perks of influencer fame, but quickly learns that behind Chloe's flawless feed lay secrets far darker than she imagined. Her sister's final days were shadowed by paranoia, manipulation, and something far more sinister. Now, trapped on a private island retreat with Chloe's inner circle--an elite clique of influencers obsessed with status and secrecy--Julie is forced to keep up the act while being haunted by her sister's untimely death. 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. Darkly funny, fiercely paced, and full of sharp commentary on identity, fame, and the cost of visibility, Julie Chan Is Dead is a twisted thrill ride where fitting in could be fatal--and the people behind the posts are the real danger.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/66/806/789/1668067897_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "28.99", "online_price" : "28.99", "our_price" : "28.99", "club_price" : "28.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "28.99" } }

Overview

Customers Also Bought

Details

Social media is life, especially if you’re a gorgeous and popular influencer . . . but what happens when that life is lost and your extremely-offline twin sister assumes your identity? Liann Zhang’s Julie Chan Is Dead is a darkly witty romp through the screen of a phone and into the heart of a mystery. How did megarich and famous Chloe VanHuusen die, and does her long-lost sibling even care when there’s, well, money and fame to be had?

Chloe and Julie were separated as young children after their parents died. While Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white couple who only wanted one kid, Julie endured borderline neglect from a penny-pinching aunt. As adults, Chloe, with her glamorous dream life, and Julie, who works at a grocery store, have only interacted once: Chloe reunited with her twin and bought her a house as a viral media stunt. But after a mysterious phone call, Julie journeys to Chloe’s glamorous New York City apartment and discovers her twin’s rotting corpse. Julie quickly “becomes” Chloe, adopting everything from Chloe’s elaborate, documented skincare routine to her exciting life with a group of influencers known as the Belladonnas. When Julie-as-Chloe joins the Belladonnas on an exclusive island retreat, she discovers the real price of Chloe’s fame, along with her late twin’s long-buried secrets and the sinister truth behind the Belladonnas. Julie’s a born survivor, but can she make it off the island alive?

A former skincare content creator, Zhang is intimately familiar with the perks and pitfalls of living largely online. The debut novelist, a graduate of the University of Toronto with a degree in psychology and criminology, brings her wealth of experience to this juicy thriller and cautionary social media fable. Julie is a wonderfully complicated and entertainingly unreliable narrator, navigating newfound fame and its many façades while growing increasingly curious about what Chloe’s analog existence was really like. Julie Chan Is Dead keeps the reader on their toes and doesn’t shy away from the brutality of Chloe’s and, now, Julie’s double life—heavily filtered fantasy versus mean-girl reality—made more complex by the fact that said life is stolen. Put down your phone, pick up this book and strap in for a wild ride.