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#FashionVictim by Amina Akhtar

Thriller

#FashionVictim

Debut

We love supporting debut authors. Congrats, Amina Akhtar, on your first book!

by Amina Akhtar

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Quick take

A murderously clever send-up of the fashion world and the girls who will kill to rule it.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Heavy_Read

    Heavy read

  • Illustrated icon, LOL

    LOL

  • Illustrated icon, Creepy

    Creepy

  • Illustrated icon, Unlikeable_Narrator

    Unlikeable narrator

Synopsis

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.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of Amina Akhtar's #FashionVictim.

#FashionVictim

Two years ago

Elmer’s glue sticks changed their formula. They used to smell better, more toxic. More likely to get you high. I bet a bunch of fifth graders used to sniff and lick the shit out of them, and their mommies complained, so the company had to dial it down. They were barely usable now, but I still liked them; they were good for mood boards. Some people like to use pins for mood boards, but where was the dedication in that? The commitment? If you want to have a fucking mood, own it. Put some elbow grease into it.

I cut carefully along the photo, making sure to get her hair in. Her perfect fucking hair. I wanted hair like that. Long, cascading, blonde. My hair wasn’t like that—it was just below my shoulders and dark brown. Too thick, too wavy. She had extensions in this shot. I know because I’ve sneaked into the same parties as her just to catch a glimpse. Her eye makeup sparkled; her lips were ultraglossy. She wore Gucci boots and supertight jeggings and carried a comically large bag by Ce?line. She wore her hair at different lengths during the week, courtesy of extensions. Later, I copied that look to a T. It was amazing what those bags could carry.

My mood board was filled with shots of Sarah out partying, going to fashion shows, beaming at the camera. She was an associate editor at La Vie, and she was perfect. Her family was rich, she was gorgeous, and her closet would make you cry. She was the opposite of me. I didn’t have photo spreads in magazines. I didn’t have summer houses and beach cottages. I had barred windows as a kid and a paper cup full of pills. Now I had a small apartment, but it wasn’t as nice as Sarah’s. (There were photos online.)

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Why I love it

Have you ever thought about sticking a shard of glass into someone’s chest and kicking them while they’re bleeding out? Yeah, me neither. But you might, after reading #FashionVictim. I’m in the entertainment industry, and I’ve had my fair share of insufferable comments and shade. But I’ve never met anyone as daunting as the backstabbing (yes, I mean that literally) coterie of girls in this delicious parody about the fashion world’s most ruthless social climbers.

Anya’s fixation on her co-worker Sarah Taft borders on the psychotic. Stylish and stunningly hot, Sarah’s rise to the top of the fashion influencer game seems practically pre-ordained. Anya’s just looking to cling to her coattails—but when a promotion is announced that they both want, her little obsession becomes, well, lethal.

I sustained a few papercuts tearing through this book, but they were all worth it. Not only is this story of millennial schemers in designer clothes compulsively readable, but Anya’s voice—she’s a sociopath, don’t forget, and the judgiest mean girl ever—is as cutting as a sharpened stiletto. This is an inside account of the fashion world from a debut author who has been there and seen it all.

Member ratings (2,811)

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Thriller
View all
The Boyfriend
The Last One at the Wedding
Sleep Tight
First Lie Wins
House of Glass
Middle of the Night
Listen for the Lie
A Talent for Murder
Someone in the Attic
One Perfect Couple
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Darling Girls
Kill for Me, Kill for You
Bad Tourists
Murder Road
Daughter of Mine
The Fury
Only if You’re Lucky
The Other Mothers
When I’m Dead
The Soulmate
What Lies in the Woods
She Started It
The Only One Left
Dark Corners
Blacktop Wasteland
All the Dangerous Things
The Only Survivors
The Broken Girls
The Family Game
The Push
We Were Never Here
Things We Do in the Dark
The Golden Couple
The Collective
The Stranger Upstairs
Gone Tonight
Too Good to Be True
The Last Word
You Are Not Alone
Rock Paper Scissors
Not a Happy Family
A Flicker in the Dark
The Last Flight
Reckless Girls
The House Across the Lake
The Wife Upstairs
The Last Thing He Told Me
The Maidens
Everything We Didn't Say
Invisible Girl
The Paris Apartment
You're Invited
The Last Party
Dark Places
Pieces of Her
The Wife Between Us
Sharp Objects
None of This Is True
The Silent Patient
The Winter Sister
The Other Woman
Necessary People
The Family Upstairs
The Night Swim
Girl A
The Hunting Wives
Just Another Missing Person
First Born
The Lies I Tell
Breathless