In this razor-sharp, diabolical debut thriller, a young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, 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 lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. 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.

I gotta say it—this book is absolutely unhinged. But in the best, most chaotic kind of way. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked it up, but what I got was a darkly hilarious, painfully sharp satire that reads like Yellowjackets crashed headfirst into the toxic influencer side of Instagram and then spiraled into a murder mystery fueled by iced lattes, detox tea, microaggressions, and buried trauma.

Our main girl, Julie Chan, is the hottest of hot messes, and her petty/bitter game is beyond on point. She’s not the kind of narrator who cares about being likable—and I loved it. Julie is awkward, mean, constantly scheming, and fully aware of how unhinged she is. While she sounds like the type of person I’d hate in real life, I totally understood why she was the way she was and why she did what she did. She’s just doing what she needs to do to survive. And maybe settle a few scores while she’s at it.

The setup is such: Julie’s estranged twin sister, Chloe—a popular influencer with a giant following turns up dead. And Julie is the one to find her body. But instead of reporting that Chloe is dead, she decides to slip into Chloe’s world and claim that she is Chloe and Julie is actually the one who died. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out, pretty much everything, and it’s all because Chloe was part of a friend group of mean girl influencers who call themselves the Belladonnas.

Watching Julie pretend to be Chloe is part comedy and part train wreck. There’s a private island retreat with Chloe’s influencer “friends” (read: walking red flags in coordinated outfits), and the entire thing starts to feel like a Real Housewives reunion directed by Jordan Peele. Detox smoothies, weird group rituals, fake tears—and under it all, the gnawing feeling that Chloe didn’t just drop dead. Someone wanted her gone. And now, Julie is likely next.

One thing this book nails is tone. It’s funny and brutal and weirdly touching, sometimes all in the same paragraph. Julie’s inner monologue is dry, biting, and full of moments where I laughed out loud—then immediately felt bad for laughing. Zhang absolutely skewers influencer culture, especially how it pretends to be inclusive while quietly pushing people of color to the margins. Julie knows she’s being used as a prop, a “diversity win” that the others can pat themselves on the back for. And she’s not having it.

This book doesn’t pull punches. It’s angry. It’s sad. And it’s got more layers than most thrillers even attempt. I loved that Julie wasn’t just a villain or a victim. She’s grieving, confused, manipulative, deeply hurt, and sometimes downright reckless. She’s a hot mess with a good reason to be. That emotional messiness grounds the chaos—and trust me, there’s a lot of chaos.

Speaking of chaos, most of it works well, but then the last third of the book kind of went a bit off the rails. There were moments where I wasn’t sure what tone the book was going for, and while I enjoyed the ride, I did wish it had held on to the reins just a little tighter. It gets weird. But weird in a way that mostly works—just maybe not for everyone.

Still, even when things got a little erratic, I couldn’t stop reading. That’s the power of Julie’s voice and Zhang’s writing. The group dynamics, the social commentary, the dry one-liners that make you pause and go, “ouch”—it all comes together in a way that’s surprisingly satisfying.

Would I recommend it? Depends. If you want a clean, tidy thriller with a neat little bow at the end—probably not. But if you love stories with messy women, unreliable narrators, influencer drama, and the kind of commentary that’s both funny and uncomfortable? Then yes. Grab this book, pour yourself something pink and overpriced, and dive in.

Just don’t expect to come out clean.

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