#Fashionvictim

Akhtar’s gleefully bloodthirsty debut sends up the mean girls of the New York fashion industry. Anya St. Clair, whose buzzing, intrusive thoughts lead to violent urges toward anyone who disrespects her, has grown from troubled child to unacceptably chubby style editor at fashion magazine La Vie. Obsessed with becoming the BFF of her perfect, blonde coworker, Sarah Taft, Anya is willing to use everything at her disposal—mood boards, spy software, planted evidence, or elimination of the competition—to suck up to Sarah or bring the woman down, whichever works. When Anya and Sarah become rivals for a promotion, Anya starts making increasingly unrealistic choices. Akhtar’s decision to bring in a detective as a romantic interest only highlights the implausibility of Anya being on the loose. This dark novel has the energy of Heathers gone 20-something and corporate, but its creatively staged revenge murders aren’t enough to carry a story marred by shallow stereotypes and an inability to sell its protagonist as simultaneously psychopathic and relatable. Agent: Deborah Schneider, ICM. (Sept.)