NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

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.

Theresa and I will be aiming to finish this one by 4/14

I'll try to catch up! :)

YAY! Jump in any time!

Thru Chapter 23 (view spoiler)[ Chloe and Julie are twins that were adopted by different families when their parents die. Chloe is adopted by a well to do family and becomes a famous influencer. Julie is adopted by an Aunt, who treats her poorly. She ends up working at a grocery store where she steals food and is about to get fired. Chloe did buy Julie a home but otherwise has no interest in a relationship. Julie gets a call late at night from Chloe but can only hear gurgles. So, she hops on a plane to NY and when she arrives she finds her sister dead in her apartment. Julie is misidentified as Chloe so she decides to go with it and moves into Chloe's "dream" life. (hide spoiler)]

Thru Chapter 50 (view spoiler)[ Chloe/Julie gets invited to Bella's Island for the 10 influencers to take a break and regroup. Well, doesn't take them long to rile Iz up and she ends up getting ostracized. Also, the 8 other ladies reveal that they know she is Julie and they accept her, but only if she joins them in the worship of Eto and they all swallow/eat baby mice. YUCK!! (hide spoiler)]

and done. (view spoiler)[ Julie finds a frees Iz. Then figures out that she needs to kill the other 7 influencers as they were never going to let them get off the island alive. She is confronted by Bella as she is dumping lighter fluid as she's getting ready to burn the 7 ladies. She decapitates Bella and then set fire to the bungalow. She ends up getting bail (which I find very hard to believe) and works thru a "story" with her attorney. Living back in her sisters apartment, whom she is also accused of killing. The ending is just a little hard to believe. (hide spoiler)]

through 18 chapters / 27 %

(view spoiler)[ I'd typically think it would be hard to sell me that this twin walked in and took over her life - but I buy it here. I don't the people in Chloe's life really knew her. They projected an idea of her against her and Chloe morphed to be whoever they thought they saw. I think she might be able to pull this off - if she can catch on this crazy schedule and figure out who is who

but wow, I wonder what did happen to Chloe. and is someone else going to try to kill her again!? Yikes (hide spoiler)]

through 35 chapters / 50%

(view spoiler)[ oh my - journals to help her become more like her sister.

You know, I wonder - I think the Belles maybe know Chloe is gone. I mean, she muted their group chat and archived it, didn't she? Julie had to pull it back out and unmute them. I wonder if they've been testing her, to see if she had the same backbone her sister had - to make it.

I wonder if they pushed the ex fan to mention the Julie / Chloe angle to see how she handled it.

I just wonder. . .if they did something to the parents - I wonder if they will help her with her aunt? lol

Maybe I'm totally off but I think this group of girls is the perfect cover for doing really awful things. What else might they have done? and what kind of control do they demand in order to have this life? hmmmm. . . This june trip makes me nervous! lol (hide spoiler)]

50 chapters / 75%

ha! I just (view spoiler)[ knew they felt like a cult! Right, like the whole - we've been sending you affirmations and love on your posts? like, what? lol

and wow, yeah, Iz was done! of course, they've unalived her, right? or will once they get back - just like Chloe? I wonder why chloe chose her parents - at least I assume she did. Did she push her sister Julie away because she was afraid of the group hurting her or using her for leverage?

and what really happened to Chloe? And what's going on with Angelique? Why was she sad? Sad Chloe was gone? hmmm . . .

still 25% to go, I wonder if they will crumble or if they will keep pulling this influencer thing off. . .
and it feels really realistic that Julie is a perfect fit for this cult to pull in because she's vulnerable. (hide spoiler)]

and done!

I loved this one!
(view spoiler)[ Ha! I loved how twisted it was when it flipped and we were in a culty story! And I love that she thought it was the god Eto! Super twisted and dark turn and I loved it! (hide spoiler)]

Finally got around to this one.

It started out strong - (view spoiler)[ I definitely can see how she could waltz into Chloe's life. Seems like Chloe keeps everyone at arm's length to protect the fake image she's created.

But then it just got weird. Like I find cults endlessly fascinating, but I think this one just took too many giant leaps for me. Suddenly she's killing a bunch of people? Depacitation?

And the best part.. she somehow gets BAIL after all that? C'mon.

I did like like commentary about the superficiality of social media influencing and how we define a friend.

(hide spoiler)]

ha Theresa agreed! (view spoiler)[ she didn't think she would have gotten bail!

This was such a wild ride lol I love how weird it got! (hide spoiler)]

I'll hopefully be reading this month! Did end up getting approved on NG.