I loved Fashion Victim so knew I had to request this one! It was just as creepy-weird as I'd hoped! Ronnie moves with "best friend" Marley to AZ as Marley has heard of this wellness clinic that's supposed to be world-famous. But people are being murdered and no one knows how or why; even in the "killer's" chapters, the character is unknown. Tension increases as Marley has many ideas and is anxious to get as many followers as she can since she is an internet glutton. Ronnie is increasingly concerned as she falls out of favor with Marley and many of her new friends, but she's a smart woman and attempts to "belong" even when she doesn't agree. Fast-paced and fun, this novel will have you looking at the world differently (and I will never be able to look at a raven the same way either)!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC

An atmospheric, twisty thriller with an atmospheric setting, intriguing characters, and some really excellent commentary on racism and cultural appropriation; though there were some bits that didn't work for me. 3/5 overall, and if you're into thrillers, I do think I'd recommend!

Pros: excellent setting which was very atmospheric (both the "micro-setting" of the insular Arizona "wellness" community, and the larger setting of the desert itself), mostly good and interesting characters, some fun and unexpected twists. (I guessed 1/2 of the "final twists," but the other was a well-done surprise!) Really, really good commentary on racial dynamics, and especially the racism and cultural appropriation in largely-white "woo" spiritual communities, such as the one in Sedona, depicted here.

Cons: there were a few plot beats that didn't quite work for me, some of the side characters felt a little flat, and the ongoing interjections of the ravens felt a little unnecessary and didn't hold my attention. I actually almost think this would have been better with a little *less* murder.

All in all: a good read, and I'm glad I spent some time on it! Once I got into it, I definitely had a hard time putting it down. Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-ARC!

Wow. Stunning. A book that will keep you guessing what is going on. A page turner and fast paced edge of your seat type of read.

The writing in this read very juvenile and the story itself was at times boring and at other times sleep inducing.
I could get behind the weirdness of this novel, such as the raven perspective chapter, however I needed more from the writing for that.
I received this book from an auto download on netgalley so for that I thank and appreciate the publisher but this was not it for me.

Thank you NET GALLEY for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t. This book is ridiculous. I made it 35% and I have to DNF. The writing is terrible, the fact every other pov is ravens… yes… the animal is driving me up the wall. The insane amount of liberal talk (i HATE politics in books , even if I agree) and the race bashing are garbage.
It’s just super lame and boring! Nothing about this book was enjoyable, every character was very one dimensional.

If you can embrace all the psychopaths in this book, you can have a lot of fun. An entertaining look at "manifesting" your life at the expense of others. I loved the ravens, a Greek chorus of nature. Darkly funny and unsettling, a very satisfying read.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for the digital review copy of KISMET!

I didn't realize there were going to be speculative elements, but once I got oriented, I couldn't put it down. I appreciated the critique of the wellness industry and the mystery, but the most compelling passages were about Ronnie's past and her relationship with her aunt.

I could not get further than a couple of chapters into this book. It felt too dark and weird. Additionally, her depiction of Pakistani culture has too much generalization and is problematic.

Quirky but fun book that is outside of my normal reading genre preferences. I was entertained, and wanted to keep reading to see how things played out, and "who did it". My initial draw to the book was the setting in Sedona, AZ. I love the desert SW, and don't find many books set there. It was an interesting mystery set in Sedona and the community of healers, crystals, and such. I didn't relate to any of the characters, but was curious to watch things play out. I also enjoyed the ravens who play a part in the story, and even have chapters devoted to their thoughts. All in all it was an easy read that had humor and a good mystery at its core.

The cover really draws you in and then after reading the synopsis I knew I had to read this book! I loved the great writing style and the plot was so different than what I am used to reading. The ending was so unexpected and it felt like it came out of left field. While I enjoyed this book, it didn’t have the wow factor like some books did. If you are into wellness and aura readings this book would be a great addition to your TBR pile.

***** Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer, Amina Akhtar, and NetGalley for the gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

Rating this 3.5 stars but rounding up to 4 stars on goodreads.

Ronnie Khan is starting to have second thoughts about her newfound independence. While she’s one hundred percent glad to be out from under the thumb of her abusive aunt back in Queens, New York, she’s beginning to doubt whether picking up stakes and moving to the wellness hotspot of Sedona, Arizona was really the best idea for her.

If she’s being honest with herself, the only reason she’s here is her friendship with empowerment life coach Marley Dewhurst. Marley was the first person to really take an interest in and believe in her. When Ronnie told Marley that she wanted an entirely fresh start away from New York City, Marley offered to take her along to Sedona, where Marley is hoping to expand her career far from the eye of her own wealthy socialite mother.

In Sedona, Marley is in her element. The town is heavily dependent on tourist business, and caters to new age wellness practitioners of all stripes. Ronnie is just glad for a change of scene, but Marley soon starts to fret that she isn’t gaining the toehold she desires among the local wellness mavens. That all changes after Marley and Ronnie stumble over a corpse while hiking one morning. After it becomes clear that the dead man was the victim of foul play, Marley begins to go on camera urging Sedona residents to stay vigilant against criminals and outsiders, organizing patrols that somehow manage to thrust her into the limelight as a fierce earth-mother-protector, never mind that she’s basically just moved to the area herself.

Ronnie, being Pakistani American, is less than enthused with the underlying xenophobic component of her white best friend’s message. But there’s no denying that there’s a killer out there, one who seemingly communes with nature and acts on its orders to kill the humans polluting their desert town:

QUOTE
“Because the ravens,” [the killer] replied. The birds. They’d started all of this. They were the ones who came to her in her dreams, telling her how to heal herself, the land. How to make things better. They’d wanted [her victim] to die for his crimes. She’d had no choice, really. You couldn’t say no to nature like that. It would find a way to kill him if she didn’t. So she’d promised the birds she’d do it. She’d take on their quest, such as it was. In return, they’d help her. Guide her.
END QUOTE

As the body count goes up and Marley whips her growing band of followers into a frenzy, Ronnie is trapped between her desire to support her best friend and her growing fear for her own safety. All Ronnie ever wanted was a small, quiet existence with a job and a home of her own, with a small circle of good friends for company. But with a murderer on the loose and the ugly sides of almost everyone she knows coming to the forefront, Ronnie will have to decide how much of her new life she’s willing to risk, if not give up outright, in order to find the peace of mind, body and soul she’s been seeking for so long. If a killer doesn’t get to her first, that is.

This hilariously goth and brutally honest look at the wellness industry had me feeling extremely seen, especially in the parts where Ronnie collided head on with the racism of the oblivious and well-meaning. One scene that had me cringing in absolute sympathy with Ronnie – because I’ve endured several forms of this kind of treatment myself – was when local doyenne Lorraine was aghast to learn that Ronnie was neither Indian nor Hindu as she assumed but was actually, horror of horrors, Muslim. Marley congratulates Ronnie later for handling the encounter well, but Ronnie knows exactly what that means:

QUOTE
“Handled it well” was code for not making a scene. You always knew you handled it well when someone white applauded you. Ronnie wanted to scream at Lorraine, call her racist. But being uncivil was worse than calling someone racist. “Here to help!” Ronnie chirped. She didn’t like that woman. She was sure Lorraine was perfectly nice, but she didn’t want anything to do with her. She didn’t like the way she’d looked at Ronnie. As if she’d eat her up if she could.
END QUOTE

Amina Akhtar pulls no punches in this terrifically murderous satire of a brown woman struggling to maintain her sanity in a world of the purportedly enlightened. I actually gasped out loud before laughing, aghast, at another scene where a woman hands Ronnie a card for a battered women’s shelter – a kind enough gesture – before saying something deeply racist. The scene is played for laughs but the searing pain of recognition I felt was deadly serious. The upside, of course, is how reassuring it is to know that this kind of feeling is shared by other people, and that those of us who suffer such microaggressions aren’t just being sensitive or crazy, as far too many of us have been told.

As rock solid as its social acuity is the thriller aspect of this novel. While one of the biggest twists was fairly well telegraphed, the others managed to catch me completely off-guard. I also enjoyed the way that the mild supernatural component of this book was handled, with viewpoint chapters from the ravens who consider themselves the guardians of Sedona. This is the kind of book that will make readers think more deeply about their interactions with the world around them, and perhaps reevaluate whether they’re doing more good than harm in their pursuit of inner peace.

This has been the best book I read in a long time. I was riveted from the first pages. This book is sharp, dark, disturbing, but also funny. Ronnie has a very distinct voice and perspective, and her portions of the story read as very genuine and authentic. All the characters are at once very exaggerated and realistic— you feel like you’ve seen them all in some aspects of your life, even if it’s in a YouTube video. While there are a number of twists, and maybe you can predict one or two, you won’t get them all. I can’t recommend this book enough, and I can’t wait for it to be out so others can get their hands on it.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the author personally through Instagram in exchange for an honest review, thank you to the publisher for access to the title. I absolutely loved #FashionVictim, the author's first book. The tone of Kismet at times reminds me of her 1st book, but the setting and plot are very different. It does boil down to whether as a reader, you are not too sensitive about particular issues, as well as morals.

Ronnie Khan had a terrible, abusive childhood under her aunt's thumb when her parents were killed in a drunk driving accident when she was 6. Her aunt Shameen made her move to the basement of her family's Forest Hills, Queens home and basically be her servant. She wasn't allowed to have friends, finish college or have her own life. So she decides to go with her mentor / life coach Marley to Sedona, Arizona.

Ronnie has only known Marley, a blonde trust fund girl for several weeks when she decides to go with her. Marley wants to be a healer. There should be some red flags that go off. Because Ronnie didn't have a loving family or any friends, Marley started taking advantage of her naivete and meekness. Even though she was taking empowerment lessons. Sedona is it's own character and the author describes it very well. Despite never having been to Arizona, I could picture a city full of eccentric nature types who believe in things like psychics, tarot, crystals, healers and such. Except when people's bodies start appearing, the fear takes over. Marley decides to form a neighborhood watch of sorts which turns out very dangerous...retired conservative folks w license to carry and guns, racist older white people, who fetishize, demonize Ronnie, and incorrectly assume she's Indian, not Pakistani.

Then there are the ravens, and the twins who give Ronnie a job at their crystal shop. There were some mysteries that I figured out but I still enjoyed the book. There are some unlikeable characters, but the human is killing some of them to make for a harmonious community. If you're a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, and you like "goth" fiction- mystery this one is for you.

TW for racism and somewhat graphic murders.

4/5☆ August 1, 2022 *** this book is also an Amazon First Reads option***

Note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am a reader of crime fiction, and read it with that lens. I didn’t realize until after I had read the entire book that it is, in the author’s words, “the goth book of [her] dreams.” I don’t have much relationship to goth culture or expectations, and that might sway my experience of this book.

Ronnie escapes the abuse and cruelty she faced as a child, moving with Marley to the spiritual seeker’s haven of Sedona, Arizona. Only, Sedona isn’t much of a haven, with the Sedona Slasher killing off healers in the community. In addition to Ronnie’s point of view, we also experience events through the “Sedona Slasher” and a conspiracy of ravens. While Ronnie seeks her inner light, the Slasher and the ravens want to cleanse the town of negative energy.

The story is at turns witty and ironic, while a bit too slow to develop. Ronnie’s personal struggles kept me on her side most of the way through the story. Marley exploits Ronnie and others for her own gain, even as she herself is exploited. Something is up with Ronnie’s new friends, though she finds strength as she works in their shop and experiences freedoms in their embrace.

I wanted Ronnie’s success, wanted her to have more agency for herself—not in the sense that she naturally didn’t have agency because of her abuse, but in finding and stopping the Sedona Slasher. Maybe that’s why ultimately I struggled to connect with her as much as I did with other characters. Even with the ravens, I liked them best when they were acting on their own behalf rather than as an extension or driver of other characters.

The ending caught me by surprise—not an altogether unpleasant sensation, but it would have been better if believed the twists and results more (I even went back to see how it was all possible). Between this and my hopes for the characters, the book lost me in the end.

3.5 stars (rounded to 4) given for wit and an interesting premise
stars dropped for slow pacing and repetition in the writing and a lack of main-character agency in driving the ending

"But it had been a couple of weeks since her honey-covered body had been found."

Kismet, by Amina Akhtar, wasn't exactly what I expected, which was a police procedural. Totally my fault. Still, I found myself reading compulsively about naive and abused Ronnie Khan and her new age adventures in Sedona. Narcissists abound in Arizona, apparently, as do ravens. I liked the ravens much better. The twist at the end I didn't see coming, AT ALL.

Grotesquely fun, and funny! Recommend.

P.S. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

I have no idea why this is coming up that I read the audiobook and the book, but I had an advanced reader from Thomas & Mercer/Netgalley.

The protagonist is Ronnie Khan, who's moved from NYC to Sedona, AZ, for a fresh start. She's moved with her friend, Marley Dewhurst, a wellness guru also looking for a new home. An inheritance from her parents keeps Ronnie afloat, and Marley's got a trust fund, so they're not looking for income. Marley's looking for fame as an influencer, and Ronnie is just trying to figure out what she wants to do next. Ronnie's parents died when she was young, and she's still recovering from a lifetime of abuse by her aunt. When Ronnie and Marley find a severed head in the desert, it's clear that a murderer is on the loose. New characters come into the picture, such as Ronnie's new friends Star and Brit, along with Marley's obnoxious friend, Caroline. As more people drop dead, it's impossible for the authorities--and Ronnie--to put the pieces together. Meanwhile, Ronnie begins bonding with an unkindness of ravens, who also get a point of view in the story. And she's also been dreaming of the murders before they happen...

I have followed Amina on Twitter for a while (and her amazing dog Bean). So of course I was dying to get my hands on this book. It's a fast and engaging read, bringing up topics of race, Internet influencing, and of course, the new age/wellness aspect. Ronnie's dreams make the reader question what is actually real and what's a farce. The ending is shocking--I guessed part of it, but the rest of it was a huge surprise. Also, the ending is drawn out, so you're waiting on tenterhooks for everything to resolve. Amina writes in clear, readable prose, which pushes the book on an even faster track. I encourage everyone to get their hands on this sly and subversive thriller!

Kismet is both darkly funny and randomly disturbing, fairly sure I won't be looking for any spiritual guidance any time soon and if I see a raven I'm definitely feeding it!

I loved the characters in Kismet, even the ones I didn't like very much and our main protagonist, Ronnie, is entertaining and easy to get behind.

In a town full of quirky mystics a killer looms large- things take a nose dive into the bizarre in a beautifully thoughtful way, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this. The setting was superbly drawn and I was sad to leave this behind.

I'm probably safer now though....

Kismet: A Thriller by @Drrramina is a triumph. Ronnie Khan moves from NY to Sedona & becomes immersed in a wellness culture which promotes cultural appropriation, casual racism & murder. Perfect blend of terror & black humor. This needs to be on @netflix https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LVBGQLL/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_TP4DBR4022ZQJCW1AEVM

Loved this thriller about a New Yorker who decamps for Arizona. There she is caught up with a wellness guru. All seems “well” until some other gurus start dying - or we’ll, being murdered. An original well written thriller - loved the setting and the style of this one

First, thank you Amina for the review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, "viciously funny" is the perfect way to describe Kismet! Dead bodies showing up in Sedona's upscale wellness community? I'm instantly sold.

The thing Amina does best is create an atmosphere that is both humorous and thrilling without breaking tension. A big fan of Sedona and the beauty of that area, I love how Amina evokes those red-tinged sunsets with blood and turns an entire industry (the holistic medicine/wellness communities that pop up in places like Sedona) on its head.

All in all, a fantastic read.