Julie Chan is Dead Summary, Characters and Themes
Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang is a chilling exploration of identity, deception, and the destructive forces of envy and longing. The story follows Julie, a woman trapped in the shadow of her famous twin sister, Chloe, who is a popular influencer living a glamorous life.
After Chloe’s sudden death, Julie, consumed by feelings of inadequacy and bitterness, decides to assume Chloe’s identity. The book delves into the psychological toll this deception takes on Julie, as she grapples with guilt, fear, and the overwhelming desire to experience the life her twin led. It’s a compelling narrative about the dangers of living vicariously through someone else’s life.
Summary
The story begins with Julie, a cashier at SuperFoods, living a life far removed from her twin sister Chloe’s extravagant existence. While Julie struggles with her mundane reality, Chloe enjoys fame and wealth as a popular social media influencer.
Julie’s resentment toward Chloe grows as she spends her nights scrolling through Chloe’s glamorous posts, feeling an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. The distance between them is not just physical but emotional, as their childhood separation after their parents’ tragic death set the stage for a lifetime of envy and unresolved issues.
The rift between the sisters is further deepened when a group of teenage fans mistakenly approach Julie, thinking she’s Chloe. This brief encounter brings out Julie’s bitterness, as she is reminded of her twin’s success and the painful memories of their past.
While Chloe’s fame continues to rise, Julie’s life remains stagnant. Years later, the two sisters briefly reunite at the age of 21 when Chloe buys Julie a house and shares a viral video of their emotional reunion.
But soon after, Chloe cuts ties with Julie, leaving her to cope with the crushing weight of abandonment.
Julie’s life takes a dramatic turn when she receives a cryptic voicemail from Chloe, suggesting that her twin is in trouble. Julie, desperate to connect with Chloe once more, travels to New York, only to discover her twin’s lifeless body.
Shocked by the sight of her deceased sister, Julie retreats to the bathroom, overwhelmed with grief and disbelief. As she processes this traumatic discovery, Julie begins to grapple with the idea of assuming Chloe’s identity.
Driven by a mix of guilt and desire, Julie takes Chloe’s phone and social media accounts, pretending to be her deceased twin. This deception starts off as a way to cope with the loss of her sister and the emptiness she feels in her own life.
Julie, who has always longed for Chloe’s wealth and lifestyle, soon finds herself trapped in the web of lies she has spun. She begins to experience the privileges of Chloe’s fame, but at the same time, the guilt of impersonating her twin consumes her.
As Julie continues her charade, she lies to the police and even fabricates a story to cover up Chloe’s death. Her conscience constantly torments her, but she cannot stop herself from living the life that Chloe once had.
The further Julie goes in her deception, the more she feels entangled in the web of lies she’s created. The guilt is unbearable, and she begins questioning the morality of her actions.
She struggles with the growing realization that even as she lives Chloe’s life, she can never escape the emptiness she has always felt.
Julie’s imposter life becomes even more complicated when Chloe’s friends and colleagues start contacting her. Fiona, Chloe’s social media assistant, calls Julie, believing she is still Chloe, and demands a public statement about Chloe’s death.
Julie creates a false narrative, claiming that Chloe died of a drug overdose, which garners public sympathy and support. As Julie becomes more entrenched in the influencer world, she finds herself interacting with other members of Chloe’s circle, including Bella Marie, a famous influencer.
Despite not having a close relationship with Chloe, Bella’s powerful influence only adds to Julie’s sense of guilt, as she becomes more immersed in the superficial world that Chloe once inhabited.
The tension of pretending to be someone else intensifies when Julie attends a high-profile event with Bella Marie. At the event, Julie is surrounded by influencers who belong to the exclusive “Belladonna” group, a tight-knit circle of powerful women in the social media world.
Julie’s struggle to blend in grows as she is forced to maintain the facade of being Chloe, but the internal conflict of impersonating her twin never subsides.
As time passes, Julie begins to experience vivid hallucinations of Chloe’s decomposing body, a constant reminder of the terrible deception she has undertaken. Paranoia sets in as Julie fears that someone will uncover her lies.
She begins receiving suspicious calls and messages from her estranged aunt, who senses that something is wrong. Despite the mounting pressure, Julie continues to pretend to be Chloe, fully aware that her life is spiraling out of control.
Her sense of guilt intensifies as the weight of her lies becomes increasingly unbearable.
The tension reaches a breaking point when Julie realizes that even though she has taken Chloe’s place, she cannot escape the emptiness that defined her existence before. She is still haunted by Chloe’s ghost and her own guilt.
Julie’s decision to impersonate Chloe ultimately leads her down a path of emotional ruin, as she faces the reality that living someone else’s life cannot fill the void within her.
The final moments of the story leave Julie trapped in her own lies, a prisoner of her own making. She is consumed by the fear that the truth will come to light and that she will be exposed for the fraud she has become.
Despite her growing paranoia and guilt, Julie is unable to stop herself from continuing the deception. The story ends with Julie’s psyche unraveling, as she is left to confront the consequences of her actions, trapped in a cycle of lies and guilt that she cannot escape.
Characters
Julie
Julie is the protagonist of Julie Chan is Dead and the central figure around whom the narrative revolves. Her character is deeply complex, shaped by years of resentment, envy, and emotional turmoil.
As the twin sister of Chloe, Julie’s life has always been marked by a stark contrast to Chloe’s glamorous, public existence. While Chloe flourished as a social media influencer, basking in fame and wealth, Julie struggled with feelings of inadequacy, living a far more humble life working as a cashier at SuperFoods.
This disparity fueled Julie’s bitterness, and her emotional distance from her twin only deepened after their brief and publicized reunion. When Chloe dies, Julie’s grief quickly morphs into a desperate, even obsessive desire to assume Chloe’s identity.
Julie’s decision to impersonate her sister, taking over Chloe’s social media presence and life, is both a coping mechanism for her trauma and a manifestation of her yearning for the life Chloe had. This act of deception reveals Julie’s internal conflict, as she oscillates between guilt, longing, and self-loathing.
Throughout the story, Julie is consumed by her duplicity, finding herself trapped in a cycle of lies while also grappling with the ghost of her twin. Her transformation from a marginalized woman to a media sensation, as she becomes embroiled in Chloe’s world, highlights the destructive nature of identity loss, jealousy, and the quest for validation.
Chloe Van Huusen
Chloe is Julie’s twin sister, whose life is defined by fame and luxury, a stark contrast to Julie’s existence. She is a successful influencer, embodying the allure of social media stardom and the privileges that come with it.
Chloe’s life, however, is not as perfect as it seems. While she enjoys the superficiality and rewards of her career, Chloe is often seen questioning the meaning and cost of her lifestyle.
This is particularly evident during the retreat with the Belladonnas, where she begins to feel uneasy about the manipulative and controlling nature of the group. Despite the facade of confidence and success, Chloe is a woman grappling with deep emotional struggles, particularly related to her past and her strained relationship with her aunt Julie.
Her interactions with the Belladonnas and the uncomfortable rituals they engage in reveal her internal conflict. Chloe’s sudden death acts as the inciting event for the narrative, and though she is physically absent, her presence continues to haunt Julie, both literally and metaphorically.
Chloe’s death leads Julie into a spiral of impersonation, guilt, and self-doubt, showing the impact of fame on personal identity and the emotional burden of living a life dictated by others’ expectations.
Fiona
Fiona is Chloe’s social media assistant and a key figure in the influencer world that Chloe inhabited. Although Fiona does not have a particularly close relationship with Julie, she plays a crucial role in Julie’s impersonation of Chloe.
Fiona’s interactions with Julie are pivotal in the story as they highlight the tensions between the public persona of Chloe and the reality that Julie faces in her attempts to maintain the illusion. Fiona’s demand for a public statement regarding Chloe’s death, and her insistence on managing the narrative around Chloe’s passing, force Julie to deepen her deception.
Fiona represents the superficial world of influencer culture—focused on image, public perception, and control. Her role underscores the performative aspect of Chloe’s life and the pressures of maintaining an idealized version of oneself in the eyes of others.
Bella Marie
Bella Marie is the leader of the Belladonnas, a group of influencers who live in an insular, cult-like environment. Bella embodies the manipulation and superficiality that permeate the influencer world, as well as the intense control the Belladonnas exert over their members.
Though Bella initially appears to be an advocate for unity and self-improvement, her actions reveal a darker side. Under her leadership, the Belladonnas engage in strange rituals, including the ritual burning of negative emotions, which hints at their deeper, more controlling practices.
Bella Marie is a symbol of the toxicity that can accompany social media fame—her need to maintain power and influence over her followers is evident in how she silences dissent and encourages conformity. As Chloe’s unease grows within the group, it becomes clear that Bella’s leadership is not as benevolent as it might first appear.
Bella’s actions and the cultish dynamics within the Belladonnas force Chloe to confront her dependency on fame, and her eventual disillusionment with the group reveals the emotional toll that the influencer world exacts on its participants.
Viktor
Viktor plays a significant role in Julie’s increasingly desperate attempts to understand her sister’s death and to escape the influence of the Belladonnas. He is deeply embedded within the cult-like world of the Belladonnas and is initially a mysterious figure, reluctant to reveal the truth.
However, through manipulation, Julie convinces Viktor to disclose critical information about Chloe’s final actions, which include offering her adoptive parents to the cult during a ritual. This revelation leaves Julie grappling with the disturbing possibility that Chloe’s death may have been a result of guilt for her role in the deaths of her parents.
Viktor’s character highlights the theme of manipulation and control, as he serves the Belladonnas while also becoming an unwilling participant in Julie’s quest for truth. His relationship with Julie is a complicated one, as she uses him to further her understanding of Chloe’s life and death, but his influence also serves as a reminder of the dangers of blind loyalty to a controlling, manipulative group.
Iz
Iz is a newcomer to the Belladonnas’ retreat and an important character in the story’s exploration of self-awareness and resistance to manipulation. Iz stands out from the rest of the Belladonnas by questioning their superficiality and calling out the privilege that underpins their existence.
Her challenge to the group’s beliefs creates tension and sparks a heated argument, but her voice also represents a potential path of liberation from the oppressive dynamics of the cult. Iz’s presence at the retreat encourages Chloe to reflect on her own role within the Belladonnas and the cost of conforming to their ideals.
Although Iz’s role is not as prominent as some of the other characters, her challenge to the group’s norms highlights the theme of self-realization and the destructive consequences of unchecked privilege and influence.
Themes
Identity and Self-Perception
The novel tackles the notion of self-identity, particularly the struggles of assuming and reconciling with a false persona. Julie’s journey of impersonating her deceased twin, Chloe, unveils the complexity of identity in a world where external validation is crucial.
Julie’s constant internal battle reflects her struggle to escape her own life by stepping into someone else’s shoes. Chloe’s life, adorned with fame, wealth, and recognition, represents everything Julie feels she lacks.
By pretending to be Chloe, Julie seeks to absorb the attributes of a life she envies. The act of impersonation begins as a coping mechanism for the trauma of losing her sister but quickly morphs into a dangerous psychological game.
Julie’s inability to separate herself from the persona of Chloe eventually leads her into an existential crisis, where her sense of self becomes increasingly fractured.
The distortion of identity is compounded by the external pressures she faces. As she manipulates Chloe’s social media and interacts with Chloe’s friends and colleagues, Julie’s own self-perception begins to blur.
At the same time, she is haunted by the guilt of betraying her twin, the very person she longs to embody. Her attempts to maintain Chloe’s identity demonstrate a desperate need for approval and acceptance, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that no matter how convincingly Julie plays her sister, she cannot escape the emptiness that fills her own existence.
The longer Julie lives under Chloe’s identity, the less she is able to differentiate between the two, which emphasizes the fragility of identity in a world that often values surface appearances over deeper truths.
Envy and Social Comparison
Julie’s overwhelming sense of inadequacy stems from her envy of Chloe’s life. The stark contrast between their lifestyles is a central theme throughout the story.
Chloe, a successful social media influencer, lives a life of glamour and luxury, whereas Julie is confined to a mundane existence working as a cashier. This disparity fosters an intense resentment in Julie, who spends her time obsessively following Chloe on social media, always comparing her own unremarkable life to the perfection of her twin’s.
The novel showcases the destructive power of envy, as Julie’s longing to have Chloe’s life ultimately leads her to make immoral decisions.
The theme of social comparison is further explored through the lens of social media, a platform that magnifies the perceived divide between different social classes. As Julie assumes Chloe’s identity and steps into the influencer world, she is introduced to the superficial dynamics of this high-status circle.
Despite the allure of fame and fortune, she begins to realize that these external markers of success are hollow. The relentless pursuit of perfection and external validation, which forms the core of Chloe’s public persona, is exposed as a double-edged sword.
Julie’s envy of Chloe’s life thus transforms from admiration to a toxic obsession, ultimately leading her to adopt a persona that is not her own. This theme critiques the illusion of success propagated by social media and the psychological toll it takes on individuals who are trapped in a cycle of comparison and desire.
Guilt and Moral Conflict
As Julie descends further into her lie, guilt becomes an inescapable presence in her life. Her act of stealing Chloe’s identity may have initially been driven by a need to escape her own reality, but the consequences of her actions weigh heavily on her conscience.
The novel highlights how guilt can erode the human psyche, transforming what may seem like a simple lie into a spiraling web of deception. Julie’s internal conflict grows as she continues to live a life that is not her own, and as she grows more entrenched in Chloe’s world, the guilt of betrayal intensifies.
The moral dilemma Julie faces is amplified by her growing awareness that the identity she has assumed is not just a lie to others but a lie to herself. At some points, she seems to become lost in the persona she has adopted, which causes her to question her own motivations and morality.
Her guilt is further complicated by her deepening involvement in Chloe’s life, as she starts to manipulate Chloe’s friends and the police, further entangling herself in a cycle of deception. The novel thus presents guilt as a complex, multifaceted emotion that not only affects the individual but also the people around them.
Julie’s internal conflict reflects the difficulty of reconciling one’s actions with their sense of moral integrity, and it ultimately leads her to experience a profound sense of self-loathing.
The Desire for Validation
The novel also delves into the human desire for validation and how this need can drive individuals to make extreme choices. Julie’s motivation to steal Chloe’s identity is deeply rooted in her yearning for recognition, validation, and a sense of belonging.
As she watches Chloe garner affection and admiration from millions of followers, Julie longs for the same kind of acknowledgment that eludes her in her real life. Her feelings of inadequacy and invisibility in the real world push her to take on Chloe’s identity, believing that she will find fulfillment through the external validation that Chloe’s fame provides.
This desire for validation is tied to Julie’s belief that her worth is determined by how others perceive her. This theme is intricately tied to the rise of social media and the modern culture of self-promotion, where personal value is often tied to online recognition.
However, as Julie experiences the superficiality of fame and the emptiness of living a life based on lies, she begins to question the very nature of validation. The story explores the hollowness of seeking approval from others and suggests that true fulfillment can never be found in the eyes of others but rather within oneself.
Julie’s pursuit of validation is ultimately revealed to be a hollow endeavor, as she discovers that even in living the life of someone else, she remains unfulfilled and disconnected from her own identity.
The Destructive Power of Influence
The story also critiques the influence of external forces—particularly the cult-like power exerted by the Belladonnas and the influencer culture that surrounds Chloe. The Belladonnas are portrayed as a group of women whose seemingly perfect lives are underpinned by manipulation, control, and a toxic desire for power.
Bella Marie, the leader of the group, wields her influence over the other women, including Chloe, drawing them into a cycle of self-obsession and conformity. The retreat on the private island is a microcosm of the dangers of such influence, where individuals are stripped of their agency and forced to conform to the group’s expectations.
Julie’s journey intersects with the destructive power of this influence, as she becomes entangled in the web of lies and deceit spun by both the Belladonnas and the influencer world. The narrative critiques the way in which power and influence can manipulate individuals into compromising their morals, identities, and sense of self.
Chloe’s descent into the Belladonnas’ world, and Julie’s subsequent involvement in the same world, highlights the insidious nature of influence and the lengths to which people will go to maintain power and control. The novel suggests that the desire for acceptance and the willingness to be controlled by external forces can lead to a loss of personal integrity and self-determination, ultimately causing irreparable damage to one’s sense of identity.