#68// double the trouble
why are twins?
Dear Reader,
How are you doing? I am glad that the weather’s gotten colder, which gives the perfect excuse to treat myself to a cup of hot chocolate before bed. Nothing as warm and comforting.
Read
I’ve been trying to catch up on my reading list before the year ends. Today I want to recommend a book to you that is such fun and totally binge-able. Remember fun books? I miss them! Many new releases follow a ‘moral of the story’ formula or try very hard to win the attention of an audience that might otherwise be uninterested in them.
Today’s book is about twins, lifestyle, and social media facade. Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang completely ate me up with its deliciously compulsive plotline. It is dark, unhinged beyond levels you would imagine, ostentatious, and shifty. It is best you go into this debut novel without knowing anything about it (as I did. I saw this was somebody’s favorite book and liked the sound of the title and decided to give it a go).
We follow twins separated at a young age. One of them, Julie, leads an ordinary life as a supermarket cashier while the other, Chloe is a rich, high flying influencer with six million followers and an aspirational life. When Chloe is murdered, Julie swaps identities, but keeping up with an influencer is harder than you can imagine.
Here comes the part that might make or break the book for you. The book undergoes a complete tonal shift in the second half. In fact I caught myself thinking ‘Is this the same book I began obsessively reading?’. In the second half this book becomes like Bunny by Mona Awad—trippy, hallucinogenic, mysterious, random, unreal. I love Bunny, so I quickly adapted to this change, and ending up loving Julie Chan is Dead in spite of the abrupt shift. You will have to read the book to find out what causes this shift.
This novel offers a discourse on influencer culture, hierarchy among influencers, performative lives, aspirational cliques, money, social capital and the fine line between authenticity vs ‘what the audience wants’. Stir in some murky cult vibes and exclusive group chats. Ah! Love it.
By the end of the book, you feel a little giddy, a little dazed, a bit betrayed, and a bit confused (whether there is more than you should be inferring from this story). All in all, a good read!
Watch
It’s been a while since I binged a show; I am responsible viewer with limited intentional TV time. But All Her Fault, was an excellent thriller series that kept me up way past my bedtime. It follows a family whose toddler son goes missing, and let me tell you, the first scene makes you forget to breathe.
It is predictable if you have watched a lot of thrillers, and it reveals the ‘who’ way too soon and tries to answer the ‘why’. More than the investigation, what really struck a chord with me were the scenes dissecting marriage, power dynamics between a couple, the invisible load that often falls upon women in a household, ‘her faults’, and the demanding parenthood. There were scenes that made me pause and let out a deep sigh—one in the women’s bathroom when one mother talks about how the fathers say ‘You are amazing. I do not know how you do it all’ and the other mom instantly gets what she is talking about. Another favorite is a conversation between a husband and wife about self-care and doomscrolling Tiktok, in a parking lot. The wife tries to plead her case that even her peeing time is not her own while the husband argues for his individuality and personal space. When the woman reflects loudly thst maybe her son would see their marriage (and parenthood) and think uneven partnership is the normal—that’s when it hits hard; and she goes about to make her own choices. There are several such heart touching moments, about unhappiness, told between an otherwise tense investigation. A word of friendly advice to thirty somethings and beyond—Late night binges are not recommended *yawwwwn*
Amazing Links
Remember when social media felt social? - “The loss of “social” isn’t an accident; it is a business model. What began as a social network is now a machine that sells us never-ending “aspiration” and endless “insecurity”…Everything is rebranded to us as a “hack”, “inspiration”, or “advice”, when, in fact, it is a nonstop treadmill of comparison.”
How is it November already? Here’s hoping the year ends well for all of us. Get started with those books you’ve been meaning to finish and those shows you’ve forgotten to tune back into, and tick them off your list before year end. If you are an early planner and looking for holiday gift recs, feel free to shoot me an email with your specific requests and I shall try my best to match you with a book.
Until next time,
Much love,
Resh x