#FashionVictim is dark, in a mocking way. All of the characters are over-the-top caricatures of "Fashionlandia"-type people. If someone were to read this book, expecting something serious with real-life grit, they might look elsewhere. The charm in #FashionVictim comes from its quirks. The summary is a bit misleading, and there are indeed murders, but they are gruesome and unredeemable, and the book holds up moral standards in its own way.

Anya was a robotic narrator, and difficult to sympathize with at times, but I found her honest nevertheless. Her views of her coworkers and her hot-then-cold attitude toward them was entertaining to read. I especially enjoyed her dynamic with Sarah, specifically seeing the difference between how Anya thought about nurturing friendship compared to what different people might try. This, like the rest of the book, is taken to an extreme using Sarah’s behavior and Anya’s reactions to it, therefore I found it hard to believe that Anya would want to truly be Sarah’s friend after all of her actions. Regardless, I continued to enjoy Anya’s narration and view of the fashion world.

However, something about the writing made the rest of the book feel like plastic. Everyone, except for Anya seemed flat and one-dimensional. They all clearly had one characteristic and went full-speed ahead with it. This worked well for the tone of the book, but I continue to wonder how the story might have turned out if everything had been a smidge less satirical and more in line with a horror/mystery storyline. I want to be obsessed with this book the way it is, but I can’t stop thinking about the ways it could have been.

Definitely worth a read, but maybe not late at night! 3/5 stars.

If one of the Mean Girls met Dexter and then had Hitchcock direct it...well, you see where I'm going with this! I absolutely loved this satire about the fashion industry and how it makes young women--and men--willing to do literally anything to gain fame and friendship. Anya craves Sarah's popularity and style and will go to drastic lengths to befriend her, even if it involves a little (or a lot) of blood. (Did you know you can kill someone with a shoe)? Although Anya is a size two, her boss orders her on a strict diet as she's too plump for this job and forces her to "plank" at the office. Many of these scenes had me both wincing and laughing out loud as they all vie for attention and "Insta" their way through selfies and snarky comments about each other. Comic and dark, this novel is a great summer (or really any season) read if you want an insider look at the underbelly of the fashion industry!

Another mystery/suspense/page turner, #Fashion Victim by Amina Akhtar. This book is getting a lot of early advance praise and people are saying that it’s, “darkly humorous” and its a “thriller” and “psychopathic” and that makes me very interested!

Premise:

Fashion editor Anya St. Clair is on the verge of greatness. Her wardrobe is to die for. Her social media is killer. And her career path is littered with the bodies of anyone who got in her way. She’s worked hard to get where she is, but she doesn’t have everything.

Not like Sarah Taft. Anya’s obsession sits one desk away. Beautiful, stylish, and rich, she was born to be a fashion world icon. From her beach-wave blonde hair to her on-trend nail art, she’s a walking editorial spread. And Anya wants to be her friend. Her best friend. Her only friend.

But when Sarah becomes her top competition for a promotion, Anya’s plan to win her friendship goes into overdrive. In order to beat Sarah…she’ll have to become her. Friendly competition may turn fatal, but as they say in fashion:One day you’re in, and the next day you’re dead.



The way the book is described reminds me a little of my own novel, The Blondes of Bel Air. Dark humor, suspense, a little bit of craziness and a swiftly moving plot will appeal to those who want a quick, fun, thriller for a summer afternoon.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this early release copy.
Anya is a young miss just trying to make her way in the fashion world and bi*ches keep getting in her way.
I thought this would be a Devil Wears Prada sort of book with a hint of mystery.
It is soooooooo much better!!!
Anya is neurotic, paranoid, hilarious and creepy.
So of course I LOVED her!!!!
Though if I'm being honest I would never wanna meet that brand of crazy.
The side characters were interesting and catty (Jack was super adorable!) without stealing the show.
This was a light and giggle filled read that I hope turns into a series 'cause it was mega fun!

DNF -- From the description, I was expecting a social drama with a murder mystery, but one-note characters and gory details made this not my taste. Thanks anyway!

"Frantically, I mouthed WWMKAAD (What Would Mary Kate and Ashley Do) to myself over and over until the rage subsided a bit.”

just such a #me book and would make such a #me tv show so it better get picked up for series by another network because i need it (i also need willa fitzgerald back on my tv screen)

WHAT the F did I just read?

So here I was, preparing for a light and fun NA read in a world of fashion and what to I get? Incredible insight into a psychopaths mind. It was a thrilling read with typical light fashion banter.

Its a story about Anya who is thriving for greatness. Not so much in general but as to be the greatest BFF ever. All she wants is a friend. But when her "BFF" becomes her boss its becoming harder to manage and dead bodies start piling up in the elite fashion magazines office.

I'm used to reading crime books where you don't know the killer but Amina Akhtar shows that it might be as interesting and mysterious read even when you know "who 'dunnit". The thrill and the questions are just on the other side of the road now. Even though at some points in the book you're like "Yep, that's gonna happen!" it still manages to be surprising and shocking.

To be honest the author of this book isn't someone I'd like to get an autograph from. I would be scared. To write this kind of genius insight one has to be a pretty hardcore researcher with very good knowledge of psychology or..... a psychopath.

Mildly spoilery:
What I love about the book is that even though the MC is a serial killer and the author makes her very likable this book isn't okay with murder. Its not putting forward the idea that it's okay to go on a murder spree. Every death, to me, was shocking and hurt.
The second best thing - the pretty authentic portrayal of the superficial yet hardworking world of fashion. I came for the fashionista slam and banters and I got it all + a thrilling crime story.

So why not 5 stars then if I liked it so much? It's exactly like the fourth star is named - I really liked it but its not gonna change my life nor will I think about it much in the future. Though I will certainly recommend it. It was a great book to pass the time with and it left me with shivers - there are people like that out there!

A fun YA book, I guess not fun, but yet I enjoyed it. It reminded me of mean girls or clueless, with a bit of horror or thriller setting. I was able to quickly get through it and did enjoy it pretty well. Not the usual thriller I would choose, but glad I was chosen to review.
Will give a recommendation closer to publish date in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Book Review: #FashionVictim – Amina Akhtar

“God, there was always so much work to do. Update this, kill so-and-so. I wish people understood how hard we worked in fashion—all to make it look effortless, easy.”

#FashionVictim is The Devil Wears Prada meets American Psycho.

The book revolves around Anya, a girl with a shady past and an unhealthy obsession on her coworker Sarah.
Anya is obsessed with EVERYTHING Sarah does, she even hacked her emails, installed tracking software on her phone and made copies of her house keys so she could sneak in while Sarah was away. Which, you know, is hella creepy.

But things start going south when Anya feels like Sarah is spending too much time with other people. So she kills them. I probably would have gone the feeling sad route, but that’s just me.

The book starts of very strong. There is a murder almost immediately and we know why Anya did it. So from the get go you know Anya is a bit unhinged. But it becomes a bit boring when the answer to all her problems is murder. Girl pities her? Kill her. Someone is hogging Sarah? Stab them. Girl is spreading rumours about her? Poison. And on it goes. Whenever she encounters a problem she solves it by killing the source. It was a cool concept to begin with, but it got old fast.

The main questions I had throughout the book where; what happened to Meredith? And did the psychiatrist know? You get bits and pieces of information about what happened to Meredith, but you only find out Dr. M’s role in all of this near the end, which if I’m truthful was the only part of the book that kept me guessing.

Things started to get interesting again when Anya decided to frame Sarah for the murders. But it didn’t manage to hold my attention like it did in the beginning of the book.

#FashionVictim is fast paced, doesn’t keep you guessing for long and definitely contains thriller elements. It gets predictable and heavily plays into the catty fashion girl stereotype, but it took me three hours to read the entire book, so all in all not bad.

The book had a few typos and sentences with words missing, but it is an ARC so these issues will most likely be fixed by the time it is released.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

My Favourite Thing About The Book: I was constantly thinking that Dr. M was in on it all… Boy was I wrong

First Sentence: Elmer’s glue sticks changed their formula.

Favourite Character: Jack? The detective? You only see the characters as Anya does, so the view is pretty warped

Least Favourite Character: Sarah… she’s just mean

#FashionVictim
By: Amina Akhtar
Published By: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: 11 September 2018
Genre: Mystery, Thriller

*I was sent a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The pretense of this book was interesting and I found it to be quite an enjoyable read with a very multifaceted main character. What really ruined this book for me was the syntax that the author used.
This novel was riddled with too many OMGS, and tots and just odd language. This book took place in the fashion industry, however, it didn’t appear that the author did that much research into the fashion industry because there were many inaccuracies and it was a bit unrealistic.
I also feel like the protagonist’s mental state could have been greater developed and more depth into the character. Everyone besides the main character had very weak character development. There was no insight into any other characters so this book was a 3-dimensional character surrounded by other 1 and 2 dimensional characters. I wish that there had been a clearer plot arc as this book kind of meandered along and there was no clear or specific plotline followed, so at some points I was bored.
The idea behind this book unique, and it was a fun read that had me laughing at points so despite it's flaws I found myself enjoying the novel.

I received an ARC of #fashionvictim from Net Galley.

On the outside, Anya seems like just any other young women trying to make her way in a cutthroat fashion industry. She works side by side with a women she's obsessed over and idolized for years, Sarah Taft. Sarah is the Paris Hilton type: thin, blond, rich, and decked out in designer. Anya is convinced that she and Sarah were destined to be "besties" and she's determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it means eliminating the competition.

From the very first chapter Anya's delusions are pronounced. She's paranoid - fantasizing about hurting anyone who may be a threat to her. As the chapters pass by, we learn just how desperate Anya is. There are no lengths she won't go to get what she wants - and what she wants, is everything that Sarah has.

This novel has been described as "Dexter" meets "The Devil Wears Prada" and the whole time I was reading this book I couldn't stop thinking of just how accurate of a description that is. While some parts of the plot were predictable, it always maintained a twisted element where the only appropriate response was "WTF?!". The characters perfectly portray the types of people you would expect to find in the fashion world and I really enjoyed the satire and wit that they brought to the story.

This is SUCH an interesting read. I haven't ever read a book before that was such equal parts funny and thrilling - if Single White Female had a baby with Mean Girls and The Devil Wears Prada, the baby would come out as #FashionVictim. I think "campy" is a good word to describe this book - it never takes itself too seriously, which is appreciable. We are in our main character's head, but still don't quite "get" her like we get most main characters. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of thrillers and also chick lit - this is a rare hybrid.

***Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of #FASHION VICTIM by Amina Akhtar in exchange for my honest review.***

Take the movies HEATHERS and CLUELESS add a dash of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, sprinkle with extra satire and you’ve got #FASHION VICTIM.

Anka is obsessed with coworker and fashion icon Sarah. Obsessed with a capital O. Anka want Sarah all to herself, to be Sarah, who only scorns her biggest fan. We know Anka sees a therapist Dr. M, but not why. Whatever the reason, I doubted he knew the seriousness of her pathology.

#FASHION VICTIM is fun and campy, even the murders are more silly than serious. The characters are caricatures of the worst stereotypes in fashion, shallow, air-headed and ruthless. Amina Akhtar makes this work often with humorous excess.

I can picture #FASHION VICTIM on the big screen and becoming a cult classic. The ending leaves open the possibility of a sequel. Delicious.

Anya is a fashion editor obsessed with Sarah and wants to be her best and only friend especially as Sarah could be in line for her job and so befriending her keeps her close enough to be able to keep a close eye on the competition as there's six weeks until the best girl wins...



When one of the other girls at their work turns up dead however, obviously the police are involved and start to question everyone after its obviously a murder, even trending online under the title hashtag whilst we see Anya's character is not at all nice, in fact she's violent and sneaky as well as only ever looking out for herself to the point her past is hidden away...



With multiple murders they use online for news while the magazine staff all have to stay looking their fittest by seeing a Dr. M whom works with them all to achieve their best looks wise and gives them probably unnecessary prescriptions.



There's the usual work drama working for a magazine and writing articles to deadlines, gaining online traffic etc. But there's also the murderous side to one of the girls we see whom leads to a shocking conclusion of the book which I enjoyed but left me wondering just what would happen next? No one's safe still aren't they worried even a little?



Besides that, it was a good book, if a little stale in some parts, I would've liked more action and maybe the staff members trying to figure out who it is a doing the killings rather than assuming once the finger was pointed with persuasive evidence at one person over another and they believed it easily enough too, not doubting a thing. I would still be uneasy over it all happening so close but still the main mystery kept me reading wanting to know who did it all and I wasn't let down with the last quarter of the book at all it was the better part to me at least.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!