#FashionVictim

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!

"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)

I definitely enjoyed this book! I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Mean Girls meets the fashion world, and I would agree; however, it also evoked a brand of dark humor reminiscent of Heathers. This was a unique spin on a murderous thriller. It married fashion, chick lit and psychological thriller with wit and snark. It was entertaining to see the nonchalance with which the murders were committed, and the protagonist could definitely be described as an anti-hero.

LOVE that cover design!!! I totally judged this book by its cover and turned out RIGHT this time.

I was a little surprised about how much I enjoyed it actually. Not that I expected I wouldn't, just been a bad few hypes lately. I feared this would turn out to be some sort of chick lit - thriller crossover, but nothing of the sort.

Don't get me wrong there's plenty of girls in various shapes forms and outfits, but the main narrator is nothing like your regular fashion chick.

I loved the attitude of this book. Cool, up-to-date chatty but not in a boring dialogue kind of way. More like informative and giving you the inside head of a rather complex and twisted young woman with so many secrets and skeletons in her closet that the hairs on your back are unwittingly rising up at times.

That being said, oddly enough you still find yourself sort of rooting for her in a sick way - this is a refreshing fashionista narrative, TRUST ME!

And then when you start seeing where the story goes...well, I was engrossed. She didn't have a bored (read: innocent) moment.

Without giving any spoilers I feel it necessary to sort of warn the reader that this isn't a fashion friendship story exactly. More like the synopsis says: "One day you’re in, and the next day you’re dead."

And that ending...even an experienced bookaholic won't see that outcome coming!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this copy in exchange for my honest review. I would definitely recommend this as a refreshing beach read for all the style loving ladies.

Also, if you've ever had a moment of I-COULD-KILL-HER-RIGHT-NOW...this is definitely your read!

Oh! Emm! Gee! Akhtar’s #fashionvictim is an all out bloody funhouse of horror! A dark comedy with plenty of twists and turns. I could totes see this as a dramedy on the CW. I found myself both cheering for and cringing for the heroine/slasher. Hold on to your Helmut, slip on those Manalos and get ready for a wild ride!

I thought to read this book because of the fashion aspect and figured a predictable little murder mystery would accompany the clothes and shoes. Wow, when I am wrong, I am wrong.
This book totally took my by surprise. Narrated in the first person, we get an unusual perspective on committing murder and the reasons that they have to happen.

There is a great dose of snark, some really fun discussion of clothes and a really interesting view of obsession.
This is a great, fun read; it took me a bit to really get what was going on and even that was entertaining.

It is rare when a murder mystery comes along and takes a really novel approach - this was one of those occasions.

Fashion do. FOUR AND A HALF STARS!!!

Calories burnt reading this: Probably not as much as I liked since I'd stay up reading this.

This book gave me what was promised, a The Devil Wears Prada meets Heathers experience. I think you could even toss in some American Psycho into the mix to truly describe this story.

Steps taken today: None. Like literally none. Because the last time I walked with my nose buried in a book, I was in the hospital with a sprained ankle.

The story centers around Anya. She's a girl trying to make it in the La Vie fashion magazine world. Her boss, Celia, is the devil incarnate. Her "friend" Sarah is just as desperate to "Mean Girls" her way above Anya. So many interns I can barely remember. So many evil cackles... and one handsome detective who could be Mr. Right. If only he could see the girl before him.

Fashion don't: Ignore this book.

For some reason, I found this book oddly compelling. The cover is eye catching. The over-the-top characters--Zhazha, I'm talking about you--kept this story going. Parts where Anya seemed thrown out like yesterday's sweater. Parts where Anya was the new "it" pair of Manolo's... This book was more than entertaining.

The psychosis of Anya was a whole new character in itself. And I think that is what contributed to the "ride" of this story. You didn't know who or what was real life and who or what was in her head. You had to keep reading to see who dies next--because you can't do Heathers-like fun without a death or ten. Just saying.

Now modeling: The best ending to this kind of story I've read in a long while.

By 85% completion, I didn't have a clue as to what was going to happen or how it was going to end. I did guess one plot revelation that came about at almost the tail end, but as for the true ending--hence the 1/2 star that's missing--I was pleasantly surprised.

Diet do's: Voraciously read this book!

The whole book was so enjoyable. At least for me. I cannot recommend this one highly enough!!!

If there were ever to be a sequel...which is difficult to say if that's even a possibility, though I wouldn't doubt it, I'd snatch it up and read it in a heartbeat.

Definitely FOUR AND A HALF STARS worthy! Read it!

TENS ACROSS THE BOARD.

Holy SHIT. this is THE year for awesomely psychotic (and fashionable) serial killer books. first #Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil (which i loved, see review at our blog), and now September's #fashionvictim. Anya St Clair would do ANYTHING to be best friends with Sarah Taft -- even if it means killing anyone who gets in her way.

Guys, this book was amazing from start to finish. Snarky AF, Anya is deliciously delusional. The body count keeps rising as she fights to get a promotion at LA VIE, the magazine where she works. I loved her conversations with Dr. M. I loved her fantasized relationship with the detective investigating the murders. I loved that the people she killed kept showing up every where she went (especially Mulberry....!). Seriously, if Dexter were a woman who loved fashion -- you'd have Anya St. Clair. She's 100 percent diabolical and someone you do NOT want to cross.

If you're looking for an engrossing, not so much of a mystery but murder book -- THIS IS FOR YOU. also, i love Jack. he's so freaking shady!

I'm going to go all out and say I definitely loved this book. It had an interesting and quirky main character. Not going to lie - most of the twists were apparent, however I don't think that matters. In fact I think that adds to the enjoyment of the novel. 

The book is easy to read and the story easy the follow. The main character is consistent, terrifying but consistent. Even her colleagues seem to feel the same: they often make fun of her for the way she presents herself but don't gang up on her. Almost as if they know she lives her life on the edge and can only cope with one issue at a time. 

This book is probably not for everyone; but that's ok, life would be boring if we all had to share the same taste? After all Anya St. Clair has killed for less...

A very solid 4/5 - I would recommend it to some of my friends as a 5/5 because I know it will speak to them as it does me (#welovethecrazyladies).

*A free copy was provided by the publisher through netgalley for an honest review*

This is scheduled to be posted a week before publication date.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.**

Getting ahead in the fashion industry is murder, literally. #FashionVictim by Amina Akhtar is a devilishly good read that follows Anya St. Clair as she does whatever it takes to achieve her goals and get ahead in the fashion industry.
Anya has been obsessed with Sarah Taft since childhood and has made it her goal to become her BFF. Now they work together at La Vie a premier fashion magazine. Anya is so close to making her goal a reality until her boss throws a wrench in her plans. Instead of becoming best friends, Anya and Sarah are now pitted against each other for a top job. Anya will do anything to keep her and Sarah close, even if that means murder.
#FashionVictim is a great read, the perfect blend of dark comedy and suspenseful thriller. You really get into the mind of a killer. The author does a great job of making you love Anya and even rooting for her despite the methods she chooses to achieve her goals. I would definitely recommend this book.

American Pyscho meets the Devil Wears Prada and they had a love child in the form of Anya St.Clair. St. Clair is a unique narrator who piques the reader's attention from the beginning of the novel as she writes about her "friendship: with the beautiful and nasty Sarah Taft. The reader is shocked at the nasty attitudes of the women around Anya and her reactions to how she has been treated will make your blood run cold. #Fashionvictim is a fun read filled with murder, blood and humor

#FashionVictim is the debut novel from Amina Akhtar, a fashion and lifestyle writer who has written for publications from Vogue to Refinery29. The description of #FashionVictim being a combination of The Devil Wears Prada and Dexter was appealing to my eclectic concept of fun in reading. I was provided an ARC copy by NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.

From the beginning, our lead Anya St. Clair is presented as an unreliable narrator. Stating herself that she needs medication in the prologue. The first chapter breaks into a violet fantasy that straddled the line of reality and making you believe the worst has happened before pulling you back. Despite this, I found myself sympathetic to a character who's coming from behind and entering a difficult industry solely on her own merit (or at least ingenuity). I wanted her to do well - at work. I didn't want her personal life to be falling through the depths of madness.

Anya is a clear case of the anti-hero. There is no real good guy in this story (ok, maybe one). As Anya herself points out, the fashion industry is cut throat, maybe just not this cut throat. (There are just too many killer puns to have fun with here.) You root for her, you want her to meet her goals. There's nothing actually Dexter like in her, she's no anti-hero killing off bad guys, she's feeding her own madness.

Akhtar's writing is fun and witty. She's not dragging you down a dark path, she's pointing out the directions and your running after ready to find out what pops out from the next corner. I would say this book is great for anyone who liked the Pretty Little Liars tv series. Especially if you occasionally rooted for A.

Final verdict: #FashionVictim is fun. It's fast paced and you're never dragged down by lengthy exposition. You find out everything in due time, but there's enough ground work that it flows. I'm looking forward to seeing where Akhtar goes from here (and if she feels like telling us more of Anya's story, I'm here for it).

This book was good stuff. Murder, obsession, black comedy, girls in cat fights, competive spirits turned deadly, the fashion industry and its exclusivity. For a debut novel, #FashionVictim, was a winner for me! I love the title being a hashtag too, that so modern and eye catching! 💋

Have you ever daydreamed about a mash-up between The Devil Wears Prada and American Psycho? Me neither, but I tell you what: it really, really works.

This book is so far out of my wheelhouse. I hated American Psycho so much (don’t trust a boyfriend who says it’s his favourite book – blech), but I’m always intrigued by unreliable narrators, and I loved The Devil Wears Prada, so my curiosity got the better of me when it came to #FashionVictim. I was a little worried in the opening chapter that it would be too graphic for me, but in the end I found even the murders much less disturbing than I thought I would. The story is utterly compelling and I had to force myself to put it down to go to sleep!

The cut-throat world of fashion magazines is a great setting for a murder mystery, but a mystery this is not. We know from the very beginning that Anya, our protagonist, is completely unhinged and responsible for the deaths. What keeps the story rolling along is Anya’s voice, which is fascinating – friendly, but psychotic. She’s a wonderful study in unreliability, and I was thrilled to watch her justify her actions. You’re not exactly rooting for her, but you’re fascinated and can’t look away.

The violence here is mainly directed against women, but it lacks the sexual overtones that made American Psycho so disgusting to me. Anya kills out of jealousy, insecurity, a misguided need for love – she felt very real to me. I liked the use of the psychiatrist sessions to highlight how very subconsciously aware she was of her own issues. She’s pretty unapologetic, but weirdly understandable? The fashion world makes so little sense that amping the bitch-fighting up to Level: Murder just works – it kind of makes you wonder how Andy never went mental and smashed Miranda Priestly’s head in.

I also loved the cutting take-downs of social media and bloggers. I used to be a fashion blogger. I know that shit. No one ever tried to murder me, but damn was it competitive and jealous. Anya uses Instagram and Twitter as a vital tool in her plans to deflect suspicion, and it added a lot of dark humour to the situation.

Basically, it’s fun. Dark, witty, murdery fun. It would make a really great Netflix series, in the vein of Santa Clarita Diet. Four out of five stars for sure!

PS. I’m pleased to report no nightmares last night, so it passes my scare test!

Working in fashion, there’s so much to do. Plan the next spread, choose people to photograph, kill so and so, find the next blogger to work with, the list goes on. How Anya can fit it all in is a mystery!

But Anya doesn’t have everything she wants. Not like Sarah Taft.

When Anya starts to work at La Vie, funny things start happening and when the first body turns up, terror ensues. Who has it out for the people at La Vie? Is anyone safe?

So well written that I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened to Anya, I had to know about the people being murdered and about the friendship “blossoming” between Anya and Sarah. It’s addictive and so well written. It makes you constantly question the sanity of the characters involved. Would highly recommend!!

Couldn’t put this book down! I love reading the perspective of the antagonist in books. This book had me laughing and shaking my head at the same time. It was hard to feel sorry for any of the characters as they were all so self absorbed but that is why I enjoyed reading the book so much.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Anya St. Clair is a fashion editor for La Vie magazine, with a twist. She is obsessed with her co-worker, Sarah Taft, and she not only wants to be her BFF, she wants to be HER. When their boss pits them against each other for a promotion, Anya will do anything to win. Anything... including knocking off anyone who gets in her way or she feels threatened by. He house calling psychiatrist, Dr. M, tries to put her on the right path, but what does he know? This is a darkly humerus, highly entertaining first novel from Amina Akhtar, and I certainly look forward to seeing more from her! I devoured most of this book in one sitting. Loved the characters, and was sorry that some of them had to go. But that's the way the fashion industry works. #amirightoramiright

Wow! What a book! Fans of "The Devil Wears Prada" will love this one. I'm very surprised that this is the author's first book. Highly recommended!

#FashionVictim is what you get when you put a Dexter-like personality in the world of The Devil Wears Prada, and give it a Gone Girl twist. Anya is an obsessed deranged young woman, who idolizes Sarah Taft so much that she wants to be her BFF; not her minion, her equal. And she is willing to do whatever it takes, step over how many bodies she has to, in order to get that goal. Sure, that’s not a protagonist you would generally like reading through, but GDI Anya makes it ridiculously entertaining.

The author sets up the world of fashion perfectly with all the backstabbing (sometimes literal in this novel), snide comments, and plastic personalities. And since it is purely in Anya’s first person perspective, we get all of that with her extremely snarky commentary. Like, the girl hates the world but still wants to get to the top of it, and that takes a lot of determination and a lot of hallucinations. She regularly drags the media and fashion industry, while also maintaining that balance between vapid fashionista (she loves her Manolos, yo!) and clever serial killer. And all of this while keeping a smile on her face. Conceal, don’t feel, and all that jazz.

Kill them with kindness and enthusiasm if you can’t kill them at all

The entire book is her fighting against everything that stands in her path of becoming Sarah’s BFF, even if that thing standing in that path is Sarah herself. Online troll leaving negative comments on only her post? Kill! Sarah’s existing BFF getting too close to her backstory? You got that right! She leaves a body count without signing her work (because she smart, ya’ll) or leaving any DNA (gloves are this girl’s best friend). Her headspace is a jumble of conflicting ideals – and her way of dealing with it is either wry humor or getting reading to bring myrrh-der!

But still, Diana needed to get, or lose, a life.

The thing about Anya is, she imagines and fantasizes all these relationships – with Sarah, with the detective investigating the murders, with her therapist (wait till you reach the reveal of that one). She manipulates the people around her while looking like the ingenue. And while the detective has some skills, he is no match for her level of planning.

I wanted a look that said innocent, but hot

And working in the fashion industry is not doing her mental health any favors – between the people who are intolerably getting into her personal space, her boss who wants her to get thinner thinner thinner, and the pressure of competing against Sarah, what’s a girl to do?! The good thing is, you don’t tire of her constant need for approval and her ambition and her twisting things to suit her perspective. The bad thing, well, murder! Though I must say, I still don’t get how she doesn’t leave a single clue yet manages to scrape up enough to frame someone else (there was no DNA for what seemed to the police as a psychotic break of their suspect aka the person being framed). And there was also the fact that some things were exaggerated to manufacture more tension for the protagonist: there’s no way a successful fashion magazine will care about commnents THAT much, especially when it is only ONE troll. So, yeah, if you keep aside those pesky little irregularities, it is otherwise a very entertaining novel.

Long story short: This is a black comedy that will keep you entertained till the last page.