SYNOPSIS
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.
What. Did. I. Just. Read?
Okay, I love a good twisted thriller that has insane plot points and anti-hero vibes, so Julie Chan absolutely nailed that for me and I have so many thoughts about this novel.
- Julie girl, clean your house. I know it’s not technically YOUR house but you would feel a lot better if it was a nice clean space regardless of your sister giving it to you for internet cred.
- You just TAKE OVER your sister’s life? Really? That’s insane. Like, totally insane. I don’t even want to borrow my sisters shoes (she has tiny feet tho)
- Even I have a 2 factor authentication on my banking app and I barely make anything, yet Julie was able to get into every aspect of Chloe’s life with zero issues and just BE her. Nobody batted an eye. So wild to me.
Okay there might be some spoilers in this next part so stop now, go read this book and then come back so we discuss okay? Great?
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Back? Great! Let’s continue.
On the surface I think we can take this book as a really crazy ride through a make believe world of unbelievable characters making more money than you or I could ever imagine. It was campy and a bit silly and ridiculous.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper. The cult of Eto and sacrificing something you hold dear – what do we think of this? Do we find parallels in how toxic the cult of social media is? Oh you don’t think that social media is a cult? Let me direct you to Dr Steven Hassan’s BITE model on his website.
Influencers are a fairly new celebrity and I am genuinely fascinated by the concept of being famous for dancing next to your sick baby on an app (Yeah Whitney, we get it, the baby was feeling better, you were still in the freaking hospital), or for applying makeup while talking about your life. It is so interesting how people are absolutely desperate to look at the screen and find some sort of comfort in a stranger validating them that because we use the same makeup brand. I truly feel like people are getting lonelier and more isolated because every aspect of their life is lived for the ‘Gram and nobody is making any real connections anymore.
I have several “influencer” friends, obviously nowhere near to making tens of thousands of dollars on a single post, but on a small scale, they do make part of their living from posting, and I have noticed that aspects of living for other people’s views really does tend to screw with their perspective, or some become so absolutely inauthentic you have no idea if what they are saying is actually the truth about how they feel.
I had an experience where an online friend group reminded me just how important real life connections and friendships are. I made the mistake of sharing something that I was SO excited about – very quickly I was completely shut down for being naive and unrealistic about the situation. I had a really good cry, went for coffee with my best friend IRL and reminded myself that internet friends literally disappear the moment I power off my iPhone. Perhaps that friend had offered to Eto my joy and excitement as her compensation for a few more follows and likes.
My point being, it is so easy to get sucked into the culture of being like online and getting a following. I obviously have a very small presence on the internet as a book reviewer and Bookstagrammer (make sure to give me a like and follow bestie!) And there have been times where a post has not “performed well” and you actually feel disappointment that you ONLY got 200 likes. Could you imagine if 200 people showed up at your house to tell you they liked something you did? You would be absolutely overwhelmed. I think that this book was SUCH a brilliant way to remind us to look up from our phones, go touch grass and show up for the people in our life that actually matter before they are killed a sacrifice to an old god who blesses his followers with private islands and designer sunglasses.
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