what in the what!!! unreliable narrators are the best! and cuckoo in the best and most anxiety-inducing way. the protagonist in this story about a singer’s rise to fame is narcissistic and truly unhinged and made for the best narrator. come for the crazy, stay for the jaw-dropping ending!!!

(Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

Cleo is the only daughter of academic parents and she aspires to be famous. Period. Whatever it takes. Cleo is French-American, and for fame, she wants to sing. She actually can sing. She actually does write her own music. She's dabbled in it since childhood and shows real talent. But no one seems to believe she's got what it takes.

Cleo makes it, as she knew she would. She becomes an star, wins awards, and travels all over the world. But it takes work to stay at the top. And Cleo is willing to do whatever it takes. Whatever. It. Takes.

At first, this was a 3 star read for me. While I can give this author all of the credit for writing an incredibly unlikeable FMC, it was hard to read an entire book about this self centered person. She puts on a good face to the outside world. But her "team" often gets to glimpse the real Cleo and the private Cleo is just not a nice person. At all. She is so full of herself and her inner dialogue is hard to read.

I also wasn't sure where in the heck this was going. Cleo travels, she vacations, everything is a paid photo op, and she does it and rakes in more and more money. She complains. She dates a guy, John, she has pursued previously, but once she has him, all she can do is complain.

As she rides out the success of her second album, she wants something different. A friend of hers lets her in a secret. There is an island, very exclusive and raw. Very expensive. She suggests Cleo go stay there for inspiration for Cleo's third album. The only caveat, you are no contact. None. There is no way to reach the mainland at all, you are not even told where you are in the world, and the island "amenities" are primitive. And you are all alone. A wooden cabana with a bed. Dried food for the three week time frame. No running water.

The end of this book took it to that 4th star. WOW. Definitely a slow burn through the mind of a self centered woman, but the end was worth it. Because I didn't like Cleo, and neither will you. And where the book goes... well, you will have to read it.

I started this back in May, pre-publication and Ms. Ventura did almost too good a job at writing this horrible woman. I always have to pause and also give credit for her ability to write such an incredibly unlikeable character.

I really liked this one I just wanted it to be crazier. What I loved about Ventura’s first book was how unhinged the protagonist is and I wanted more of that from Cleo. Her narcissism borders on crazy but I wanted her to spiral more. I also wanted more spiraling on the island and less about her rise to fame. Nonetheless, incredibly entertaining and sharply written. Could imagine this one as a movie

This was a delight. I absolutely loved her first book The Husbands. I was ecstatic when i got this ARC.
A girl obsessed with being famous lost her identity in this book. She lost who she was and she forgot what was important.

The middle of this book seemed to repeat itself a lot and just carry on. The ending was superb!

I still enjoyed her writing and I will still read her books.

Guys, this book was so good. It follows Cleo and her descent into becoming famous and I loved it. The writing was beautiful and honestly almost everything was beautiful. There are some things that the main character does that I don’t agree with, but that’s not why I read. I really related to some things Cleo does and I loved her character a lot. I love the way the story is told and I loved the references and the notes from the translator. I don’t usually read those, but I did this time and I loved it. It’s a book that’s niche and if you get it, you get it and I definitely got it. I need to read my husband.

Oh man, I really wanted to love this one. I'm obsessed with her other book, My Husband. This one just didn't quite give me the same feelings. I didn't connect or relate with the main character completely. It was still a good read, but didn't dethrone MH.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

So I loved My Husband and was super excited for Ventura's next work. I think this book fell flat for me because I found it kinda boring. Maybe I like Ventura's short stories better because it seemed to drag on. However, I love her writing and will read whatever she puts out next!

This was fun and juicy, totally pulled me in. It follows the ups and downs of chasing fame, showing all the drama, and sometimes cringe moments that come with it. The main character feels real, with flaws and big dreams, and I couldn’t help rooting for them even when they made questionable choices. The mix of humor and awkward situations made me laugh more than I expected it to!

I loved this book, such an interesting departure from Maud Ventura's last book but still maintained her signature dry tone. Will always read books by Maud, I love her writing voice and the complex emotional webs she weaves. Not my favorite book of her's but still quite excellent.

I had to DNF Make Me Famous—it just didn’t click. I found the writing flat and the main character more irritating than compelling. It lacked the sharpness or emotional depth I was hoping for, especially after how much I loved My Husband. Disappointing overall.

Being famous has a lot of perks such as money, fine living and adoration. It also brings feelings of being better than everybody else, a lack of concern for others, and being so wrapped up in one's own needs and wants,, that others become stepping stones to that fame and notoriety. As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." It also brings its own caveat of the changes to come as people become enablers. The admiration of fame and fortune makes people lose their focus.
Where do you go to decompress, get away from it all, and be true to yourself? Can simplicity feel lavish too? A private island, no need to stray far should give a person a reset and a time to reflect. Silence and security equal inner peace. Not always.
In her quest for fame, Cleo is not an admirable character. She is self-impressed, selfish, immoral, and uses people.she is compulsively readable .
I did not predict the ending of this novel, and it surprised me by being so........perfect.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Maud, je veux vous remërcier pour ce livre intéressant et crëatif. Je voudrais lire pour vous encore. Bien fait.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for providing me with an eARC of Make Me Famous in exchange for my honest review!

Humans who embark on obsessive and egotistical quests of artistic perfection and fame comprise some of the most enthralling protagonists that I can follow, and this holds up well now that I'm done with Make Me Famous. Cléo Louvent is such a terribly loathsome person who doesn't give a crap about anyone else while she's chasing after her ambition. She's just that selfishly determined on her own goals, with everything and everyone else representing tools for her to deploy as she sees fit. It's interesting to read these sorts of books that plunge us deep into the POV of such detestable individuals, because they really test us in regard to how long we're able to endure their awfulness and how much we can connect with them on some mortal level. In Cléo's case, as much as I hate her, I also can't help but feel some pity for her. After all, this is someone who's incredibly lonely, which she's explicitly aware of, and it's all because she has actively chosen to sacrifice her humanity and her relationships with other people in order to become a world-renowned singer. This is the type of person who I wish could give and receive love, who I want to see veer off onto a different and much healthier path, but that's definitely not the tale we get here. No, no, this tale is much more cynical and sharp, gaining a deliciously psychological edge from Maud Ventura's writing and from the translation that Gretchen Schmid has given it. And hooboy, once we reach that final chapter... Well, I'll just say that it's quite a suitable way to conclude this character study.

Overall, I'm rating Make Me Famous four out of five stars, and I'd recommend checking it out. Now I'm curious as to how Ventura handled her debut novel, My Husband.

Maud Ventura is SO GOOD at writing unlikeable characters that make you laugh and shake your head and think "this person sucks" and you just can't stop reading and, even still, finding yourself disliking more the people who wrong them. I hope she writes a million more stories with this character trope.

This was a fun read with no real purpose. It felt like it was leading somewhere but never really evolved into something for me

Make Me Famous is truly unforgettable. Maud Ventura's prose is thought-provoking and compulsively readable.

(Actual: 3.25⭐) You know, I guess I really just do fall under the niche of liking character-driven stories where the characters in question aren't exactly the most likable.... and that's okay! I both love mess and can appreciate/acknowledge the fact that, in real life, humans are flawed! We f*ck up; no one is perfect. That doesn't mean our actions are always excusable, but I do think that going into stories such as MAKE ME FAMOUS with that in mind can really help in how you perceive this book, which primarily focuses on fame and the consequences that result from it. Overall, I thought this book was okay. While the premise was intriguing, it definitely falls on the slower side in terms of pacing and drags more often than it should; that said, I'm glad I stuck with it to the end because the back half/final moments were what really made this book stand out for me. I'd recommend this book if you enjoy translated lit; if you like character-driven stories; and/or if you are intrigued by what we see every day in celebrity culture and want to learn/immerse yourself more into that world via a fictional lens!

Absolutely love this writer
After reading my husband I was hooked
This was a fun one page turning
Masterpiece , characters well loved and some not at the same time !

I loved Maud Ventura's previous book "My Husband," and just knew I would be in for a wild ride with "Make Me Famous." This novel follows the life of Cleo who knew at a very young age that she would be famous. She did absolutely everything she could to make it to the top. She stepped on many people on her way to the top and felt absolutely nothing while doing so. This book is a train wreck (in the best way). I felt so icky reading it and truly loathed Cleo, but also admired her grit and refusal to give up on her dreams. She is a self proclaimed narcissist, and definitely used others to her advantage. I love women behaving badly books and really did enjoy this. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for this eARC.

Cléo, a famous singer, is taking her first vacation in years on a remote island in the South Pacific. The isolation gives her a chance to reflect on her rise to stardom and, more interestingly, how six months ago, everything in her life started falling apart…

Maud Ventura’s previous book MY HUSBAND was a masterclass in obsession and an unhinged narrator calculating her next move, so I expected similar things in this one. And the narration is great! A semi-sociopathic narcissist narrating her calculated ascent to megastardom and correlating descent into tyranny? Enthralling. Cléo is unlikable, yet in some respects reasonable, so following her logic to get to unhinged conclusions is fascinating. I love a character-driven journey in a crazy person’s psyche. Sign me up.

But two things drove me crazy while reading this. First of all, I hate a pop culture reference that feels like it will get dated quickly (this was my biggest issue with YELLOWFACE), and the repeated references to current celebrities like Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift did not help that. In a fictional world, I sort of expect a fictional celebrity circle, like I thought was done in JULIE CHAN IS DEAD. Repeated namedrops took me a bit out of the fiction. Second, I saw the ending coming immediately. Ridiculous amounts of foreshadowing, honestly, which I wonder is a translation issue?

Regardless, I had a good time reading it! I think most people who like a glitzy, dark-side-of-Hollywood setting or an unlikeable narrator will enjoy this.

Similar reads: DID YOU HEAR ABOUT KITTY KARR? by Crystal Smith Paul, THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4/5 stars

Thank you HarperVia for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley and Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.

TL;DR:

intriguing and suspenseful novel about a young woman’s rise to fame, though the ending is somewhat predictable

read this if you are:
- complex protagonists
- interested in the music industry and/or media fame in general
- like flashbacks and alternative timelines
- need a thriller novel element
- okay with a slow build-up

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Overall, a wonderful book that highlights the extremes that come with fame. I would recommend this book for those who want to gain insight into the dynamics of the music industry in the 21st century.

The book is split into three parts: Faith, Ascension, and Glory. “Glory” was by far the most compelling, as it detailed the excesses and horrors of global fame. I found it difficult to get through the first part of the book as the recollection of the main character’s rise to fame was significantly less interesting than her behavior and actions once she was well-known. I found that the novel was too long for what it needed to accomplish and that the first two parts could have been more concise.

The ending was fantastic; however, it was slightly predictable for me due to some details included by the author earlier in the book.

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The lingering presence of her being on a deserted island currently in between the flashbacks was such a smart choice and kept me hooked in finding out how her flashbacks ended as well as her present situation. I did find the ending predictable due to the details of two of the characters associated with the protagonist being friends.