Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by fatedhearts_lorilee
Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the e-arc of Julie Chan is Dead! All thoughts in this review are my own and are given freely!
From the beginning of the book, I was hooked in to Julie’s story. Liann did a fantastic job of pulling me into Julie’s world right away. As events progressed, it was hard NOT to sympathize with Julie and at least kiiiind of understand why she did what she did.
The commentary on social media is really powerful and uncomfortable. The way Julie reacts to the attention is all too real. Even on an extremely small scale, it’s relatable. It feels validating to have people like and react positively to things you post, and when they don’t, it sucks. JCID is a very extreme version of the dark side of social media but it really resonates. As I read, I could understand why Julie wanted to be a part of that supportive group of women. But then it starts to get uncomfortable as you see how they are not actually all that supportive, and they’re saying, thinking and doing a lot of messed up things.
I loved how Liann weaved together the social media storyline with the mystery/thriller genre. I would absolutely recommend this book — once I started reading it, it stayed in the back of my mind and I needed to know what twists and turns were going to happen!
From the beginning of the book, I was hooked in to Julie’s story. Liann did a fantastic job of pulling me into Julie’s world right away. As events progressed, it was hard NOT to sympathize with Julie and at least kiiiind of understand why she did what she did.
The commentary on social media is really powerful and uncomfortable. The way Julie reacts to the attention is all too real. Even on an extremely small scale, it’s relatable. It feels validating to have people like and react positively to things you post, and when they don’t, it sucks. JCID is a very extreme version of the dark side of social media but it really resonates. As I read, I could understand why Julie wanted to be a part of that supportive group of women. But then it starts to get uncomfortable as you see how they are not actually all that supportive, and they’re saying, thinking and doing a lot of messed up things.
I loved how Liann weaved together the social media storyline with the mystery/thriller genre. I would absolutely recommend this book — once I started reading it, it stayed in the back of my mind and I needed to know what twists and turns were going to happen!