#FashionVictim: A Novel

When I picked up #FashionVictim, I expected The Devil Wears Prada meets American Psycho, when in fact it’s just mean girls, and one of them who is just meaner than the others: Anya. My biggest issue was that I honestly cared for no one: almost every character is profoundly unlikable, and seriously unpleasant. In this type of book, when the main character is a deranged killer, there must be something to make the character compelling, mesmerising, even if completely repulsive: think of Dexter, Hannibal Lecter or Patrick Bateman (American Psycho). I hated Anya, I hated Sarah – in whose aura Anya wanted to bask: Sarah might have the pedigree that Anya wants, but Sarah is exceedingly mean and disparaging towards almost everyone, and most of all Anya, which I found rather peculiar. I could understand Anya wanting to bask in Sarah’s glory, but I couldn’t understand Anya’s behaviour: when you want someone to be your best friend, shouldn’t you try to ingratiate yourself to her even if you despise her, and not antagonise her further? I think even a psychopath would see that; instead, Anya continued to be nasty towards Sarah, which made Sarah belittle Anya even more. I just couldn’t understand Anya’s behaviour, although I saw what she wanted to accomplish; the way she went about it just made no sense, even from a sociopath’s point of view. Anya was basically a deranged, and delusional killer, and unfortunately not a memorable one. While the fashion angle is well described and somewhat interesting, it’s nothing that we hadn’t seen in The Devil Wears Prada, but the characters are severely underdeveloped. #FashionVictim is told in first person, from Anya’s point of view, which could have been exciting, but failed mostly because I felt her personality and actions were inconsistent with how she was presented to us. It’s hard to explain: she didn’t come across as a compelling psychopath, but just as a boring, homicidal, and very mean girl. I honestly didn’t care what happened to her, and even whom she killed next, and this is not how I should feel when reading this type of story. Even the violence and most murders were, for the most part, lacklustre. Anya was careless, did stupid things, which led to some small plot holes and inconsistencies; I kept wondering why there were bloody shoes, but barely any bloody clothes to dispose of. What surprised me the most is that I finished the book, although I never felt involved in the story; I merely watched things unfold placidly. The writing is excellent, crisp and modern; the story unfolds at a brisk pace; the dialogues are great, but the snark and sarcasm were lost in the nastiness the characters were constantly spewing. Towards the end, I thought there might be some light at the end of the tunnel, but it was not to be; I felt some details might have been changed as an afterthought. I now unfortunately understand where that unsatisfactory ending came from: #FashionVictim is to be made into a TV series. The premise was great, but sadly the execution was not. I give 2 ½ stars

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.