Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Julie Chan is an identical twin who became separated from her twin Chloe at a young age when her parents were killed. Julie ended up with an aunt who was nasty, miserly and dishonest. Chloe was adopted by a wealthy white family on the east coast and become a successful online influencer. The girls become almost complete strangers until by an unlikely set of circumstances Julie appears at Chloe’s apartment to find to her dead. Of course Julie is mistaken for Chloe and takes over Chloe’s persona. The basic premise is an old one going back at least as far as Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. A quick google search turned up at least a half dozen twin/doppelganger switcheroo books, movies or TV shows on the first page. I have no objection to using a common trope if the author would do something new with it. Unfortunately, Zhang doesn’t.
The basic plot is a very predictable “grass is greener” fantasy for the most part. Julie falls in with a bunch of vapid, vain Internet influencers, all of whom seem to be fabulously wealthy, especially the queen of them all, Bella Marie. Thus follows hundreds of pages of descriptions of vulgar wealth and obsession with followers and likes on various platforms. Of course there are those who discern that Julie isn’t Chloe and that leads to complications. The ending is … well, let’s just say unsatisfying. The book was boring for anyone like me who has no interest in makeup, social media followers, jewelry, etc. But most of all, the book was disappointing because none of the characters was in the least bit appealing. They range from shallow and greedy to absolutely despicable.