Kismet

Reviews / Votes

Praise for Kismet

"Much like the White Lotus in Thailand, Sedona, Ariz., has a reputation for spirituality that attracts all manner of gurus, yogis, and so-called wellness aficionados. Their pretensions are witheringly lampooned in this comic thriller about Ronnie, a Pakistani American who tags along to the desert enclave with her friend turned life coach, Marley. It isn't long before the dark side of paradise reveals itself, in the form of a dead body-the first of many that soon turn up in various states of dismemberment. Akhtar has a keen eye for the hypocrisy of the namaste-espousing elite, and no vampire facial, jar of manuka honey, or hot yoga session is spared from her mordantly funny wit." -The New York Times

"An amusing takedown of influencer culture." -Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will be curious to see what this talented author does next." -Publishers Weekly

"Akhtar turns her sharp wit on the wellness community and its dark secrets in a thriller equal parts vicious and funny." -USA Today

"Akhtar brings to her second novel...a gimlet-eyed view of Sedona, Ariz.'s wellness pretensions and a wicked way with one-liners...the surprises Akhtar has in store upend assumptions about trauma, healing, and the motivations of those who helicopter into lands they claim to hold sacred." -Los Angeles Times

"New age empowerment goes awry quickly as psychic slips into psycho in Kismet, Amina Akhtar's second novel, a Hitchcockian horror thriller set in the red canyons of Sedona, Arizona." -Mystery Scene Magazine

"Twisty, sardonic." -Oprah Daily

"The alluring world of wellness gets a fatal awakening in Amina Akhtar's darkly humorous thriller Kismet." -Popsugar

"Addictive." -The Big Thrill

"An impressive blend of mystery, thriller and dark humor that will draw you in almost instantly and not let go until all is revealed in the final pages." -Bookreporter

"[Kismet] skewers the wellness industry of Sedona (Amina Akhtar is now based in Arizona) and also includes a light supernatural touch that's perfectly integrated into the thriller arc as a whole." -CrimeReads

"Amina Akhtar weaves a wickedly smart tale." -Desi News

"With Kismet, Amina Akhtar invites us into the foxhole with Ronnie Khan, a New Yorker stationed in Sedona, just in time for Wellness World War. I loved this book-the claustrophobia of wide 'open' exclusive spaces. Amina teleports us to the passive-aggressive front lines in this dry landscape where caftans and corpses are equally foreboding. You want Ronnie to make a run for it, but she's a real hero-she wants to make a go for it. Lucky for us, she stays. Kismet is wicked and smart, a fly-on-the-wall humdinger where a light social gathering spikes your blood pressure. Amina deftly intertwines the earthly with the otherworldly. Read it now so you can be the one telling your friends about Kismet." -Caroline Kepnes, New York Times bestselling author of You

"Amina Akhtar had me at ravens! Then she kept me turning the pages with her colorful cast of characters, keen insights, and layered, engaging heroine. Kismet is darkly funny, sharply observant, and full of surprises. Don't miss this utterly original and wildly entertaining thriller." -Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Last Girl Ghosted

"The twists just keep coming in Kismet, Amina Akhtar's dark and delicious thriller. I can't imagine a better companion around these nail-biting curves than the novel's protagonist, Ronnie Khan, who is wide eyed yet smarter than she lets on, naive yet world weary. In a nutshell: she's the perfect heroine. I'd follow her anywhere." -Jess Lourey, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things

"Dead bodies are turning up in Sedona's upscale wellness community? Sign me up! I loved everything about Kismet, Amina Akhtar's sharply observant, funny thriller. Gleeful and gripping, Akhtar has knocked it out of the park with this wickedly entertaining, twisty novel." -Jennifer Hillier, bestselling author of Little Secrets

"A chilling tale that lures in the reader with a seductive blend of friendship and tranquility, then transforms it into something evil and deliciously twisted." -A. R. Torre, New York Times bestselling author of Every Last Secret

"Kismet is funny, sharp, twisty, and spot on. Whether she's dealing with toxic relationships or everyday racism, Ronnie Khan is a character that you can't help but root for. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun reading a novel. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to be talking about those ravens." -Kellye Garrett, Agatha, Anthony, and Lefty Award-winning author of Like a Sister

"Wickedly smart and outrageously entertaining, Kismet grabs hold and doesn't let go until a final twist that will have even the savviest readers gasping. Just like the clever, scene-stealing ravens, Akhtar skewers those who deserve it with her trademark wit while also layering in emotional nuance as compelling as the captivating mystery. At once atmospheric, chilling, and thought-provoking, Kismet will surely be this summer's must-read thriller." -Brianna Labuskes, bestselling author of A Familiar Sight

"Gaspingly original. Kismet is brilliant and twisty-a knockout page-turner about guilt, revenge, and the toxicity of family and friendships. The oh-so-talented Amina Akhtar unleashes her keen eye and mordant wit-and exquisite understanding of human emotions-to reveal the dark side of the wellness industry and the terrifying reality behind the glam exteriors. Wow! This gripping, heartbreaking, and constantly surprising thriller is not to be missed!" -Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

"Amina Akhtar yet again brings her wickedly wicked style to this twisty thriller about a woman who's finally taken charge of her life-only to find dead bodies piling up around her in the wellness community where she's starting over. Kismet is a page-turner populated by eerie ravens and people who aren't what they seem in a perfectly unsettling desert setting." -Gigi Pandian, USA Today bestselling author of Under Lock & Skeleton Key

"Kismet is the twistiest, most delicious take on wellness and self-care gone wrong. With a cast of unforgettable characters, a point of view you'll never guess, and an ending that leaves you breathless, you'll be busting down doors to join me as co-president of the Amina Akhtar fan club!" -Yasmin Angoe, author of Her Name Is Knight

"Kismet is a gleeful (and at times literal) skewering of influencer culture and clout chasing, as well as a deeply relevant look at how easily and often the white wellness world intersects with racism and cultural appropriation-and how blind we can be to that and to the stain it leaves on the world around us. A bold and insightful whodunnit that ensures you'll never look at ravens the same way again." -Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, bestselling authors of The Royal We and The Heir Affair

"Kismet is an unforgettable read, with a fantastic setting and backdrop-sharp, haunting, and loaded with Amina Akhtar's hypnotic, visceral voice. Chilling, surprising, and loaded with biting commentary on the Sedona wellness community, this novel lingered with me for days after I finished it. Kismet is mesmerizing-a writer at the peak of her powers." -Alex Segura, acclaimed author of Secret Identity, Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and Blackout

"Unsettling from the very first page, Kismet takes its readers on a wild ride set in Sedona's wellness community, featuring a serial killer, crystals, and kick-ass ravens. It's strange and smart and spellbinding, with sharp social commentary and huge surprises. Another eerie gem from Amina Akhtar." -Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot

"A mystery thriller just the way I like them-full of secrets and karma. Amina Akhtar creeps us out and keeps us guessing all the way!" -Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones and Ararat

"Kismet is as atmospheric as it is dark and twisted. An unsettling read with wholly original protagonists, this is one thrilling story I won't be forgetting soon." -Hannah Mary McKinnon, international bestselling author of Never Coming Home

"A remarkably original, terrifying read that seized me from the first line. Kismet is an astonishing, expertly structured thriller. Akhtar's signature creepy tone, suffused with dread and laced with wicked humor, is riveting. Her characters make you blur the lines of morality and justice. With brilliantly shifting points of view, a touch of magic, and a jaw-dropping ending, this is a stand-out suspense." -Samantha M. Bailey, international bestselling author of Woman on the Edge and Watch Out for Her

"A desert setting, crystals to ward off evil, cunning ravens, and murder. Amina Akhtar has whipped up a creepy mystery that will have you second-guessing what you know about the wellness industry, not to mention what to think the next time you see ravens!" -Wanda Morris, Lefty-nominated author of All Her Little Secrets

"One of the most original, chilling, and startlingly honest thrillers I've ever read, Amina Akhtar plunges readers into an altogether fresh flavor of hell in Kismet. Balancing nail-biting terror with razor-sharp wit, Akhtar interrogates the feral side of the human heart with a rare fearlessness that is certain to make Kismet one of the year's hottest titles and an absolute must-read. Period." -P. J. Vernon, acclaimed author of Bath Haus

Praise for Amina Akhtar

"#FashionVictim is sick and vicious and funny and voicey...I 'totes' loved this one." -Caroline Kepnes, New York Times bestselling author

"For those craving a new fashionably vicious read, this book is darkly satisfying." -Martha Stewart Living

"A diabolical page-turner...impossible to put down." -Forbes

"Darkly funny." -Fashionista

"As awesome as it sounds...welcome to the cruel world of fashion where women's looks, weight, and youth are the only things to value." -Book Riot

"Hilariously funny as well as profoundly unsettling...will keep readers hooked and laughing, if a bit uncomfortably, from page one until the shocking ending." -Kirkus Reviews

"Full of suspense, social satire, and deliciously dark humor, #FashionVictim gives 'killer wardrobe' a whole new meaning. I couldn't put it down." -Alison Gaylin, USA Today bestselling author of If I Die Tonight

"#FashionVictim is sharp, stylish, and gleefully sinister; you'll never read Vogue the same way again." -Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, founders of Go Fug Yourself and authors of the national bestseller The Royal We

"#FashionVictim gives new meaning to the phrase 'dressed to kill'...instead of the devil wearing Prada, she's wearing her victim's blood in a perfect shade of Essie red." -Aliza Licht, EVP marketing and communications and the author of Leave Your Mark

"Every page of #FashionVictim pops with a dark and dishy verve. Fierce in every sense of the word." -Jessica Tom, author of Food Whore

"#FashionVictim is a book to not only buy, keep, and read, but to inhale from page one. The sense of menace in the prologue will hook readers from the get-go, and Akhtar's sharp-as-a-tack writing will carry you along this entertaining read to a stunning end, um, ending." -New York Journal of Books

"Gleefully bloodthirsty...this dark novel has the energy of Heathers gone twentysomething." -Publishers Weekly

"The characters reminded me a great deal of the dark movie Heathers...a whole lot of sick fun. All I can hope is that the author was not speaking from reality...and that another book will be written very, very soon." -Suspense Magazine

"The story's dark humor is one of its best attributes, and while the reader may wonder if Anya will get caught, there's no doubt that whatever happens, she'll be dressed to kill." -Mystery Scene Magazine