Did not enjoy this book. While the description was intriguing, the writing st times seemed amateurish. That being said this is a novel that some will enjoy. It is dark, which is just not my thing. I thought I would try given the fashion background, thinking it would be more along the lines of The Devil Wears Prada. The darkness of the novel just was off putting for me and also where the novel went amateurish in my opinion.

This is a story that really peeked my interested when I read the synopisis, but after reading it, I don't think it was the story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amina Akhar for allowing me to read and review #FashionVictim. I'm sorry to say that this book wasn't for me and didn't hold my interest.

I love reading about the world of fashion and magazines and so those words were a draw to this book for me. The book does have lots of that in spades, it's also set in New York another one of my fave locations. I loved the rivalry between the staff at La vie and Anya's desperate need to be a part of the trinity that contains Sarah and Jack.

What I wasn't prepared for was the lengths that Anya will go to, to get what she wants. This is no Ugly Betty or Mean Girls, it's more like Saw meets the Devil wears Prada with a little of The Heathers! There is even an Editor that Meryl Streep would be proud to play, complete with all those digs at everyone and stealing credit for their work. She'll come to regret that though.

I did find myself grimacing each time a murder took place, but not liking Anya any less - how weird is that? A killer who describes the fashion outfit she's wearing down to the Manolas and makes sure her body shots hit Instagram . The ingenuity of the murders and the story of Anya and her quest to be Sarah's BFF kept me gripped and I wondered how this was all going to end? Well brilliantly would be the answer to that!

The writing is fast paced and there is never really a dull moment in the story. If you love fashion, snark and the darker side of murder then this book will be for you. If you are expecting chick lit then maybe look elsewhere.

#FashionVictim stars Anya St. Clair, the associate editor at La Vie who wants to become BFFs with the gorgeous Sarah Taft. Sarah has it all—looks, wealth and status. When her boss brings up the possibility of a promotion, Anya thinks that if she gets it that her goal of being BFFs with Sarah will become a possibility. So, with that thought, Anya will do ANYTHING to get that promotion—and that’s when the murder spree begins.

This book was a guilty pleasure for me. Very addicting. Once I started it, I was hooked until I finished that last page. It was deliciously entertaining and kept my adrenaline at a max at all times. It was awesome and very funny. A definite five stars for me.

I highly recommend to Devil Wears Prada, Heathers and Clueless fans.

Anya St. Clair is living her best life. She has the job at a fashion magazine that she always wanted. She has a wardrobe to die for. All that’s missing is making fashion superstar Sarah Taft her bff.

Sara is one of those women who always looks her best. She is the princess of social media, never taking a bad selfie. She has the best of clothes, the best of friends, the best of everything. And Anya wants to be in her inner circle.

The problem? Anya doesn’t naturally fit in with Sarah and her crowd. So she has to work extra hard. And that is stressful. And sometimes she has to ease her stress through sessions with her therapist and brutal workouts that leave others battered and, occasionally, dead.

Amina Akhtar’s debut novel #FashionVictim is a hearty helping of obsession, aggression, and fabulous shoes. This snarky, darkly comic Heathers meets The Devil Wears Prada story is a wild ride of designers, parties, and blood with a hearty helping of insider info on fashion and the magazines that make it. I highly recommend this for its darkness, its chill, its setting, and its freaky main character. Anya St. Clair is the fashionista I’d love to be!

Galleys for #FashionVictim were provided by Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

You know it’s bad when you don’t realize it’s a comedy until after you finish the book.

No but really, I had no idea that this book was supposed to be funny until I read other people’s reviews. And I usually dig macabre humor?? But <i>#FashionVictim</i> is just not that funny.

Also, the queerbaiting and homophobia in this novel is off the fucking wall. I don’t think it’s just the gay-colored glasses I’m wearing at all times saying that the blurb really leads you to believe that Anya was going to be queer. But nope! She’s the straightest of the straights, and this isn’t even the kind of queerbaiting where a character is queer-coded but straight in the end, but the OG queerbaiting where another character asked Anya If she’s hitting on her and Anya is like “me? gay? HAH.” So that’s fun.

And not only that, but the benevolent homophobia towards the-one-gay-character-whose-name-I-can’t-even-remember-because-literally-his-entire-character-is-being-gay is very…. Yikes. If I have to hear one more straight girl use the phrase <i>”proper gay bestie”</i> my eyes might literally fall out of my head.

I will give the book this – the writing was very addictive. That’s it. That’s the only good thing I have to say. The characters were bland except for Anya, and the plot felt really jilted and I literally guessed the plot twist within the first twenty pages.

So would I recommend this to others? No. unless vaguely homophobic, boring stories are your thing. If that’s the case, then have at it.

This is just not my type of book. Reading this book is like reading the Devil's Wears Prada, except the characters are Black Swan level of psychopath and talks like Mean Girls. And that's not a good combination. And I feel uncomfortable being inside the head of the main character, it's super creepy and while I understand it might meant as black comedy, it's just not for me.

As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

Don't let my two start rating lure you into a false comfort--this novel was deliciously evil and is the textbook definition of guilty pleasure. It's witty and biting, it's dark and disturbing, it's utterly stylish and blasé while hitting certain topics right on the nose. It is fun and vicious.


#FashionVictim is highly reminiscent of Gossip Girl: Psycho Killer and I love it all the more for this reason. The story begins at a Vogue-like office setting; paired with one deliriously messed up narrator, Anya, and her Blake Lively-esque co-worker, Sarah, who Anya not only wants to be BFFs with, but who she also--ahem--stalks. And this is only the beginning.

At its core, the novel is about wishing for something more. Also high-fashion and murder. In other words: readers are in for a wildly absurd ride that they are either going to love or hate. Much like Anya's worship or kill tactics... there are no inbetweens for reader and #FashionVictim.




Let's start with the positives of #FashionVictim, shall we?

Anya is a highly violent wildcard, armed with a passion for fashion and intelligence, and is almost the perfect match for another chilled-to-the-bone literary killer: Joe Goldberg from Caroline Kepnes' You. The similarities are there from the start and God help us all if they were to ever cross paths. Anya is chilling, end sentence. You almost--almost--find yourself rooting for her in the moments of delusion she showcases and that is unsettling.

I loved how Amina Akhtar hit all the right notes on criticizing the fashion industry, in her satire, and how toxic certain work environments can be, with or without killers lurking. She tosses in some very relevant topics for good measure and it almost creates a pretty decent balance.

One of the creepier elements of the novel is Anya seeing her victims at various points throughout the novel. This is a nod to how out of touch with reality she is and it adds another layer of terror to what is happening all around us. Tied into how intelligent she is, how sneaky and manipulative we see her to be, and how the novel sets up its endgame, it just adds an extra kick to every kill and every little mishap.

Anya is the ultimate unreliable narrator. You have a sense of what she is going to do next, what she is capable of. It's the aftermath that makes everything more interesting. Her lack of empathy is as enthralling and it is horrifying. I loved and hated her. I was terrified and intrigued which, I hope, is exactly what Amina Akhtar intended while crafting Anya.

As for the less-than-stellar parts of the novel: #FashionVictim reads a little chaotic. Which could be for one of two reasons. (1) It's meant to match Anya's mental standing or (2) My ARC was just very sloppy and unedited. I wasn't all too keen on this either way and it made many parts of the novel seem messy and disjointed, and sometimes unnecessary.

Which in turn made it drag on longer than I cared for.

The trick to enjoying #FashionVictim is to not take it seriously and indulge a little in the tone. If I were to rate the novel solely on entertainment, I would be giving it a solid 4 stars out of 5. I think it accomplished the entertainment aspect perfectly, even as it hit lower notes and dragged on. Problematic elements and all.

Yet, if I were rating the book in all other terms, I'd probably give it a mere 1.5 star out of 5, because the writing left a lot to be desired and could have been something much bigger than it was.

Amina is not a bad writer by any means, there is just a lot about #FashionVictim that made me wonder how much it had been edited. With that being said, I need to stress that the copy of this book I received WAS a galley and the finished product is likely much more polished.

While it wasn't my favourite novel of the year and it could have been better, in my opinion, it was still a book that I wanted to stick with and finished relatively quickly.

I received and ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley.

I almost gave up on this book 40 pages into it but then, I read some reviews on Goodreads and I decided to stick with it.
The reader is propelled into the mind of a fashion crazed, BFF obsessed serial killer with a wicked sense of purpose and an interesting sense of humour. Don't get on her bad side or you might appear on one of her "mood boards."
This book was kind of unique in that you're actually rooting for Anya to kill off the really shallow, spiteful, diet obsessed people she works with. I found myself wondering how she was going to do it and found simple satisfaction in the intricate details of the crime. This girl is committed!
Interesting read and I'd read more by this author. If you find yourself wanting to give up on this, try and push through, it gets better.
Glad I finished it.

Fun, Entertaining and Dark!

I loved everything about this book... Great characters with a fun, captivating storyline! I would say it's like The Devil Wears Prada with a little Dexter thrown in for good measure.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

#FashionVictim is kind of like The Devil Wears Prada mixed with murder and I loved it. Anya was all over the place, but she kept it funny in the darkest way. Although this book was out of my element, it was really good.

It was a very quick read and I was surprisingly not turned off by the main character. Don't get me wrong Anya is a horrible person, who is clearly in need of help, but you still root for her some how!   The characters we all catty and backstabbing, just like I would have expected a fashion magazine to be. 

The plot is not all that interesting if I'm being honest, but this book is much more character driven, so the plot is really rather secondary.

A woman obsessed with her coworker must compete with her for a promotion. She’ll stop at nothing to reach that higher level, even if that means resorting to murder. Author Amina Akhtar shocks readers and invites them into her bizarre world that hits all the right story elements in her debut novel #FashionVictim.

Anya St. Clair works at La Vie, one of the hottest fashion magazines in New York City. She gets to see the latest trends before the world does and hang out with clothes and accessories designers. For most women with an abiding interest in fashion, this would be a dream job and for Anya it is. Especially since she works alongside Sarah Taft, her fashion icon.

All Anya wants is to be Sarah’s BFF. Besties. The person Sarah turns to in crisis and the first name on Sarah’s list for nights out. Sarah, however, doesn’t seem to get it, no matter how much Anya ingratiates herself to her. It’s almost as if Sarah doesn’t like her or something.

When both of them get tapped to compete for a promotion at work, then, it’s simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing Anya has done. She would do anything for Sarah, and working for her—getting to spend infinite amounts of time with her—would make Anya’s life complete. But Anya isn’t totally blind; she sees how Sarah belittles her. Maybe, she decides, Sarah needs to learn a lesson.

As Anya works out how to make Sarah realize they should be intrinsic parts of one another lives, a variety of other people just keep getting in the way of their friendship. There’s Cassie, the intern; Lisa, Sarah’s current bestie; Diana, the frequent commenter on La Vie’s website who can’t keep her insults of Anya’s articles to herself; even Zhazha, the exotic Russian blogger who Anya brings on board as a contributor.

All of these people and more keep annoying Anya, and she keeps having to take care of them. Murder is hard work but only second to the diet that editor-in-chief Celia insists on for Anya. All in all, none of it seems to be impressing Sarah much, and Anya starts to wonder what other measures she might need to take in order to make Sarah—and the rest of the fashion world—notice her once and for all.

Debut author Amina Akhtar relies, no doubt, on her own training in writing about fashion to build the story world for her first novel. The result is a strange version of a magazine workplace, but that version actually works. With a little bit of patience, readers who are open to a creepy version of The Devil Wears Prada will encounter a joyride that will leave them grinning at the end of the book.

Anya doesn’t try to hide the fact that she’s a psychopath, and Akhtar has capture Anya’s voice with perfection. The sarcasm, the snark, the astute observations of the fashion world, all these traits and more will make readers want to know just what Anya will do next. After a certain point in the book, it becomes easy to believe that Anya truly is capable of absolutely anything. For a change, it’s fun to get deep inside the point of view of this kind of unhinged character.

Readers looking for some moral resolution or a finger-shaking at Anya will be sorely disappointed. Instead, the story should be approached as a brief interlude in the life of someone who is flat-out nuts. It’s never clear whether Anya knows just how far off the deep end she’s dropped, and at some point readers may not even care. Akhtar shares hints of Anya’s past, and while it might have been nice to have had a little more context for Anya’s background at some point the body count gets so high readers will find themselves just trying to keep track of it and nothing else.

For those readers looking for a rollicking ride that doesn’t require thinking about what came before or what happens after the story, I recommend they Bookmark #FashionVictim.

What a crazy read, but I really enjoyed it. In parts, it really did remind me of The Devil Wears Prada but this version has horror mixed into it.

Fashion is cut throat, literally.

It also has a splash of mean girls as well, Sarah by far is Queen Bee and is nasty to Anya and the others and makes them bow to her every whim. Will she get what she deserves in the end? There are so many twists and turns to this book - it can be intense at times but not overboard.

There are fashion disasters, murder, cheating, torture, you name it, it's all inside!

This book is American Psycho, but so much better. A dark, gory, and glamorous take in the world of high fashion that's not afraid to go deep into the insecurities that trouble us all, while also showcasing a delightful amount of gore. #FashionVictim isn't afraid of anything, in fact the book embraces its premise in a way few other books do. It allows itself to be unapologetic and spiteful and bloody, and because of that it's just such a fun read. There's meta commentary on racism and body image in fashion, there's editorial murder scenes, and an incredible character in one Anya St. Clair. This book exceeded every expectation I had. It's glamorous. It's gruesome. And it's just so good.

Two of my favorite genres to read are chick lit and thriller/mystery. This book combines them both (kind of.) I enjoyed the insider's view of the workings of a magazine and use of social media as well as the "mystery" aspect of #FashionVictim. Although, it really isn't a mystery because you know "who done it" right from the start. This book kept my attention and I did want to see what happened in the end. I didn't love any of the characters; they were all pretty unlikable, which is okay because the story is pretty good and I am pretty sure they are meant to be unlikable. If you are a chick lit fan you will probably like #FashionVictim, but if you are a mystery fan you might not (but give it a try!). It's more of a dark comedy than mystery/thriller/suspense. #FashionVictim is original for sure, and different. My test to determine if I really liked a book is asking myself if I would want to read other books by the author. I would give other books by Amina Akhtar a chance, so #FashionVictim passes my test.

What an outrageous dark novel! The main character, Anya is a deranged murderer. She will murder anyone that stands in her way to rising to the top at her fashion magazine, La Vie. Akhtar was such a good author that she made me almost want Anya to succeed. Her writing was sharp, witty and concise.
#creepy #darkhumor #psychotic #diabolical #obsessed #chic #fashionista #murderhallway #satire #4hugestars
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for an e-copy of #FashionVictim for review. This story is a look at the world of fashion from the eyes of a psychotic killer. Anya is working a high profile job at a high profile magazine with fashion icon Sarah Taft. Sarah is from a rich family, has great fashion sense, and knows all th right people. Everything that Anya wants in her best friend.
#FashionVictim is a fun book. Nothing serious, a lot like Dexter as it is very dark, but dark in a light hearted way. Nothing groundbreaking but just campy, gory, and a whirlwind.
Be prepared for some blood, some fun, and Fashion Week antics!

I didn’t have the highest expectation, but this was the most entertaining book I’ve read in a while. It was hilarious, sarcastic, gruesome and gave the feel of a cult classic like Heathers. The characters are all perfectly described with just the right amount of cynicism. I loved it from beginning to the very last work. I actually kept swiping my kindle for the next page not realizing it was actually over. Wish it didn’t have to end, but it was a perfect ending!

I can see this being a really entertaining movie if done right.