Reviews - Julie Chan Is Dead

2.97k reviews for:

Julie Chan Is Dead

Liann Zhang

3.68 AVERAGE

ellacostello's review against another edition

4.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wish I’d given a bit longer gap between this and yellowface as there are some initial similarity but was still good overall although the ending was a bit abrupt

travelandreading's review against another edition

3.0

This book is wild. I enjoyed the beginning but it takes a left turn about 70% in and that’s where it lost me. It went off the rails and lost any sense of believability. It was a book that I couldn’t put down and I recommend reading it quickly as it’s not a story that you want to live in or dwell too long on. Julie was a hard character to like or have sympathy for. She made some really stupid decisions. There was also some body horror towards the end that grossed me out. The whole story just gave me the ick and I was glad to be done reading it.

I gave it 3 stars as I don’t think it was necessarily a bad book, just not one for me. If you liked this book, you’d probably also like The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi. The Centre is more literary but it has a similar vibe. Neither books are for me.

kot_zbigniew's review against another edition

3.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

babyleo22's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Major 5 star read. I couldn’t not get enough! This book is insane and unnerving. I felt so uncomfortable at some parts and loved it. It was so crazy to see how everyone acted and i honestly started to root a little bit for Julie but honestly everyone was insane. Such a great read with fast chapters. I also love how this is written by a Canadian author! We love to see it!

suzannehines's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

marvsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a wildly fun read! I absolutely love the concept of an influencer’s twin taking over for them when they meet their demise (secretly, of course). Especially when there are influencer besties, a scheming “parent” and all the pressures of being an influencer in the mix! I couldn’t put this down and know I’m late to the party on this one. Don’t sleep on this!

windsorgrace's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Wow ya’ll. This book is crazy, in a good way. I did not expect it to go so far off the rails into weird territory, but I’m here for it! What I thought was going to be a book about the bizarre experience of taking over your twin’s life, pretending to be her, and women bullying each other, got so dark so fast.

Julie Chan is not happy with her life. She has a dead end job in a dead end town and no one to care about her. Even worse, her identical twin, Chloe, who was adopted by a rich, white family (Julie is Chinese American) after their parents died in a car crash, is a mega famous influencer. People constantly recognize her and ask her about her twin, whom she’s only seen once since her parents’ deaths. One night, Julie receives a strange phone call from Chloe and when she calls back, the phone goes straight to voicemail. Considering they don’t have a relationship, Julie is understandably confused and not sure what to do. She does the only sane thing (lol) and drives several hours and states away to Chloe’s NYC high rise. Everyone in the building thinks she’s Chloe, so she has no problem getting in.

Unfortunately, Julie finds Chloe’s dead, rotting corpse. What to do? Obviously steal her identity! Suddenly finding herself in a world she has no reference to or history with, Julie is whisked into the glittz and glamour of influencing. While it all seems rather amazing and perfect, Julie learns she may have to give up everything to keep it.

Here’s another Weird Girl Lit Fic book that could also be classified as horror. Again, I did not read it as horror, but I can see why it is interpreted that way. Many horrifying things happen in this story, but like Open Wide, they’re not presented in a horrifying way (most of the time). Julie is the antihero I wasn’t expecting. She kind of sucks as a person, but she’s so relatable. The struggle is real, ya’ll. The end of the book is absolutely bananas and it happens to fast. Loved it!