This book was not what I had expected at all. I'd read it's like the Devil Wears Prada, and that's true but this book takes that to the nth degree and beyond. Not a particularly likeable character, Anna's career is quite literally "littered with bodies".

I read until the end, however, and I'd recommend it to anyone with a dark sense of humor.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun, entertaining, and dark book! I just loved it. I enjoyed the characters, flaws and all, and the story was captivating. I recieved a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

This book is straight up crazy cakes-in the best way. I loved it. The start was a bit slow for me but once I got into it I found it completely addictive-think watching a train wreck. Anya works for a fashion magazine and has some issues with some coworkers that she deals with in her own special was. Dark and over the top funny. The characters aren’t like able but that didn’t matter to me at all. I needed know where this was headed.

Mean girls meets Model behavior, this was a fun ride of a book. I loved the dialogue and fun little quirks. I would read this again and again!

Book Review: #FashionVictim by Amina Akhtar

The premise of this book is Heathers meets The Devil Wears Prada. A serial killer is on the loose in a fashion magazine.

The story is told from the point of view of the killer, Anya St. Clair. Anya over the short course of a few years, shed her old name, added a few “fake jobs” and landed a coveted position as Associate Editor for La Vie which is a fashion magazine. Her boss pits her against Sarah for a promotion. Off they go.

Anya starts to kill people for different reasons, whether they are a comment troll, someone knows her secret, or she pities them. She has various methods of killing so it’s hard to pinpoint that it’s one person.

My feels: I found this book a bit choppy and maniac which makes sense since we only follow Anya during her killing spree. I wished we had the point of view of the detective or the victims. I wished we would have seen how she catches her kills. She mentions them briefly but for the most part we just hear the aftermath of how she disposes the body.

I did enjoy the multiple mentions of Law and Order: SVU.

This book was fashion roadkill.

I give this book 3 stars

This review will be published in What to Read Next Blog in October.

I simply kept loosing interest while reading this, although I'm sure others will love it. Nothing particularly negative just not for me.

This book is beyond what I thought it would be. It was entertaining and clever and thrilling till the last page. I couldn’t put it down

“The seeing-red thing happened again. Like, literally, everything was coated in red. As if a layer of blood was dripping everywhere. Have you ever been that mad?”

Fashion can be killer. Literally. After all, in the fashion realm - one day you’re in - the next your dead. ❤️

#FashionVictim is the proof in the pudding; that the world of fashion is deadly. It’s a read that makes you giggle, wince, cringe and feel validated all at the same time. After all, all women can be a bit femme fatale at times, no? Remember, life is a competition and there is only one winner - and no one survives.

This read is yet another #Brandycertifiedmustread - yes it’s a 5 star read. How can you not love wading through the lines of a work that is bedazzled on the surface with fashion but when you look closely you are taken aback by the macabre and mysticism that makes it that much more glamorous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: graphic murder, self-harm, mental illness, fatphobia

The fashion industry is killer. Like, totes killer.

And Anya just wants to be at the top—and be besties with the glamorous Sarah Taft, even if she has to kill everyone at the magazine to do it.

This book. Just. Wow. I'm not even really sure how to unpack my feelings about it. At points, it wavered around a 4 star, and then it dipped into solid 1 star region. The overall storyline is enjoyable enough, although I kinda wanted someone a little more methodical and less frustrating than Anya.

Most of my issues with it stem from Anya, who is just about the most unreliable narrator in existence. She suffers from multiple several mental illnesses that include hallucinations that interfere with her reality (and therefore the reader's ability to know what exactly is real and what isn't), and it was remarkable (and unbelievable) that she was allowed to keep her job or even get her job in the first place.

I think this was marketed as Dexter meets Gossip Girl, and I can see a lot of the Gossip Girl (I'm assuming, I've never actually watched the show), and a little of the Dexter (while Anya is methodical, there's also a heavy dose of slip-shoddiness to her thoughts and her actions). Think Devil Wears Prada, if Andy didn't have the boyfriend or the friends, was super obsessed with Emily and was an overly medicated serial killer on the side.

I did enjoy a lot of the author's barbs at the fashion/media world, particularly with its token diversity efforts, rampant body policing, and their promotion of just about anything no matter how heinous in order to get views and reads.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

First, let me say that I know this books is dark and full of serious topics, however I appreciate the satire that can give some humor to mental health.

This book cracked me up numerous times. How can you not enjoy a Serial Killer that works in the fashion industry who should be caught repeatedly?!? Obviously the protagonist is a psychopath and maybe even a narcissist.

Sometimes it is acceptable to make light of serious topics in order to recognize that there is darkness in the world.

This book would make a perfect campy horror flick. At first I thought the main character was dreaming these crazy things, but then you realize she is a cold blooded killer. With a dark sense of humour. I really enjoyed this read- a dark twist on the catty world of fashion and magazines.

Anya works for a fashion magazine and is completely obsessed with becoming best friends with her coworker Sarah Taft. Sarah is wealthy, has all the best clothes, is invited and photographed everywhere. Anya’s drive to meet her goal takes her in many different places. She clearly has issues in her past and sees her psychologist regularly. There is the lightness in the fashion business and the darkness in her obsession. This book combines both in an unusual way.

Also reviewed on B&N under the name IrishEyes430. Could not find the book on Kobo

Fashion Victim was such an fun escape that blended the excitement and frills of the fashion world with plenty of dark humor. And blood, there’s plenty of that too. Touted as Heathers meets The Devil Wears Prada and I’ve never come across a more accurate description. Although if you throw in Dexter in Manolos, it would still be 100% accurate.

Anya St. Clair has finally made it to where she dreamed of being — working as an editor of one of the best fashion magazines. She’s worked hard to get where she is, although she’s still left wanting more. She wants what Sarah Taft has — looks, money, envy, you name it. And while she can’t *be* Sarah Taft, it doesn’t mean she won’t try, and she’ll definitely settle for being Sarah’s bff in that instance. And she’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she’s Sarah’s only bff.

#FashionVictim tells the tale of obsession and the lengths the obsessed will go to to make sure they get what they want. Anya is a psychopath and she’s got all the charm (and then some) that goes hand-in-hand with being one. Most of the story puts readers inside Anya’s head and while it was darkly thrilling, it was also a lot of fun thinking how she thinks, trying to rationalize the irrational, and feeling sympathy for her at times. I know, feeling sympathy for a psychopath? It was hard not to, especially considering how Anya is treated by those around her, despite her machinations for trying to win people over.

Bottom line — #FashionVictim was a fun romp through the world of fashion and while much of it was over-the-top, there’s still a tiny little shred of believability. No, I don’t mean Anya’s obsession and murderous tendencies, but the stuff that goes along with being in the fashion world — not wearing the season’s latest, being “too fat”, not having the “look” — doesn’t actually sound too far-fetched. In the end it was an enjoyable, fast-paced and fun read, and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for anything else by Akhtar. 3.5 stars.



*eARC received via NetGalley.

The fashion industry is front and center in this dark, sometimes humorous, satire.

Anya is a fashion editor who has worked hard to get as successful as she is. She has the job .. the clothes... the social media ... the name. She also has the bodies of anyone who ever got in her way.

When Sarah becomes her top competition for a promotion, the budding friendship may turn fatal. She's a one-woman killing machine in designer clothes.

Catty, back-stabbing, malicious, mean girls make up most of the characters. Frankly, some of them are over the top, but irresistible in wanting to see what nastiness they come up with next.

It's an engaging work by an author who truly knows the fashion industry.

Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this most entertaining story. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

It’s not often a book can make me gasp out loud, but this “American Psycho set in the fashion industry” story managed to do so within the first 30 pages. Anya and her socialite/fashionista frenemy Sarah are working their way up the ranks at La Vie, a prestigious fashion magazine. Unfortunately, things take a dark, DARK turn when the girls’ Anna WIntour-esque boss forces them to compete against each other for a promotion. The dialogue is outrageous and darkly humorous and you can tell the author is having a blast writing for these no good, terrible horrible characters...and while it all starts to feel a little repetitive after a while, this is a breezy, fun, easy read for those of you who prefer to fast-forward through the Anne Hathaway parts of The Devil Wears Prada and skip right to the Meryl/Emily scenes.

#FashionVictim is definitely the most interesting book I've read in a while. This book kept me on my toes, and for some reason, I was always so excited to keep reading. The perspective of Anya was just fascinating, and I somewhat enjoyed the plot. The gory details in this book can be a lot at times, so proceed with caution. Overall, I loved how thought out the plans were and just how everything worked out. The one thing that really irked me through this book though was the constant reminder that the main character, Anya, was "fat". At 5'4" and 130 pounds, she is exactly my size. The thing is, I know I'm not even close to being "fat" or "obese", and I actually have a fairly flat stomach with muscle definition. I also didn't like the portrayal of women being pit against each other, especially in an industry where they need to have each others' backs. However, I do recognize that this book was just a over exaggeration of the fashion industry with a little murder sprinkled in. It was fairly enjoyable, so I would recommend it to anyone interested!

Hey. Hey, you. Yeah, ask me if this was funny or entertaining. Go on.

You: *Was this fun—*

NO.

First, I feel lied to because this is not what I expected. Don't compare it to the Devil Wears Prada and then put ... this in front of me. From start to finish I seriously wondered what the point of this book was. The plot felt like it was all over the place, and that was probably be because the main character was all over the place. And not in a good way. Anya is a psychopath. The girl is a mess and not someone whose head I want to be. Throughout the entire book she is obsessed with this woman named Sarah. She flips from "Be my BFF" to "I want to smash her head in" to "Let me braid your hair" to "I will kill you." It made so little sense! And let's not forget how she behaves around an attractive cop. *eyeroll*

Second, I wanted to scream with how people were portrayed in this. I refuse to believe that the fashion industry is nothing but air headed bimbos who take advantage of everyone around them, back-stab and fat shame all day long. Grown women, conversing with gems such as OMG, WTF, and be-tee-dubs. I refuse to take that as the norm. Sarah, the woman Anya is so obsessed over, is the worst of the lot. What a god-awful bitch.

Third, I pretty much despised the voice from the first page. It wasn't until the last 10% that I kind of enjoyed it, thus two stars. And even then I was just whispering what dafuq to myself. Still, things came together in a proper thriller type situation that made me marvel at Anya. I felt that was where she finally shone in her logic and coolness. Where was that the rest of the book? Sadly, would not recommend.

The Devil Wears Prada meets American Psycho with a side of Single White Female in this incredibly dumb romp through the world of the New York fashion scene. From the inner workings of a fictional fashion magazine to the real life catwalks of New York Fashion Week, this young adult debut makes mockeries of them all with its terrible dialogue and less than stellar fashion moments (really, capes?). Dumb fun at its dumbest, #FashionVictim tries to make a point about body image and bullying, but ends up being a pointless shlockfest.

Guilty pleasure! Anya is going to get her way, no matter what. She's not one to let the Laurenbots block her from accessing fashion shows and she's not going to let her colleagues at laVie magazine push her around. Her fascination with Sarah, the queen of blond mean girls, turns to, well revenge. Don't pity Anya or something bad might happen. Don't do something bad to Anya or something bad might happen. She's a one woman death squad in designer clothes. I gotta admit some of this is just so out there and yet I kept reading, waiting to see what was going to happen next. It's definitely a dark- and frankly chuckleworthy- page turner. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. Fans of the fashion world- read this one!

Thank you NetGalley for access to this book!

This book was a slow burn for me. I'm not into fashion so I expected something not to my taste. I was so so wrong.

Anya works at La Vie magazine, keeping a violent past a secret. As time passes and she struggles to achieve her dream life, the violence catches up to her and threatens to expose her.

I loved it. The fact that you were in Anya's mind through everything just added to the insanity of the situation as you see her explain away everything and provide her justifications. Akhtar masterfully connects you to Anya, muddying the waters on how much sympathy to feel for her. All in all, fantastic read!