It’s easy to poke fun at influencers because, let’s face it, they come across as more than a little ridiculous to those of us who aren’t in that world. Unfortunately, though, that means cultural depictions of influencers are often cartoonishly vapid in a way that can be funny without actually saying anything of value. That’s not the case for Liann Zhang’s new novel Julie Chan is Dead, which is a perceptive, witty, and appropriately horrifying take on the dark side of what it means to do this job.
We meet Julie as a depressed convenience store employee, constantly mistaken for her estranged twin sister Chloe – a famous influencer who is idolised by her fans. The siblings were separated as children in the wake of their parents’ death, with Chloe adopted by a wealthy white couple. One night, Julie gets a strange call from Chloe and, when she investigates, she finds her sister dead. Before she knows it, Julie has made the decision to steal Chloe’s identity and take on her high-flying life.
That would be enough to sustain a decent novel and, thanks to Zhang’s experience as a content creator, the bizarre world of follower counts and brand deals is sketched in nightmarishly plausible fashion. But in the second half of the novel, Zhang’s storytelling takes a bizarre, pitch-black left turn into something entirely different. Put it this way, I found myself reminded of the fantastical bite of Mona Awad’s spectacularly strange 2019 novel Bunny.
The opening half of Zhang’s book is methodically told and lays a lot of groundwork in terms of Julie as a character, as well as the influencer world in which she now dwells as Chloe. But this patient scene-setting is necessary to fuel the breakneck journey into mayhem represented by the second half, which unfolds like a mix between Midsommar, The White Lotus, and Zoe Kravitz’s horrific thriller Blink Twice.
Zhang’s writing is packed with sharp satirical points and twisted humour. While it’s easy to take potshots at influencer culture, Zhang’s personal insight means she’s landing those barbs from the inside – they’re spikier and more precisely targeted. This isn’t a book saying “look how vacuous influencers are”; it’s a more nuanced argument along the lines of “prizing follower numbers over human decency is a slippery slope towards danger”.
Julie Chan is Dead also highlights the seductive power of online filter bubbles – the ways in which a daily onslaught of affirmation from fans can convince somebody that their darkest impulses are actually helping the world. As Julie herself says in a dark moment: “I save people with my content. My followers literally tell me that every single day.”
But more important than its social commentary and its Black Mirror-like criticism of a society driven by technology is the fact that Julie Chan is Dead is a gloriously unpredictable thriller. If there’s any justice, this will launch Zhang as an exciting new voice with a savage and satirical imagination.
Julie Chan is Dead is available in the UK from 1st May 2025.
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