“Make Me Famous” captivated me just as completely as the author’s previous novel, My Husband. From the very first page, I was drawn in, eagerly turning pages and anticipating every twist. I was so eager to get to the epilogue, and it delivered. Immense thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this early. I can’t wait to add the physical copy to my shelf upon its release.

I had heard this compared to Daisy Jones so I was intrigued but it was far from that book and a faulty comparison. I didn’t like the main character at all and I feel like, quite literally, some things in this story got lost in translation. I found it disconnected and I just kind of wanted it to be over by the end. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review

I absolutely loved Make Me Famous and was hooked from the very first page. Maud Ventura’s writing is sharp, intimate, and wickedly insightful. While the main character is undeniably unlikeable—obsessive, manipulative, and often delusional—I couldn’t look away. Ventura pulls readers so deeply into her narrator’s spiraling thoughts that I found myself cringing and laughing at the same time, completely immersed in the experience.

What impressed me most was how skillfully the author created a voice that feels both unsettling and magnetic. Even when I disapproved of the narrator’s actions, I still had to know what would happen next. The pacing is tight, the observations are biting, and the emotional tension builds beautifully throughout. And the ending? I truly didn’t see it coming. It was dark, clever, and immensely satisfying.

This book made me squirm in the best way, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I’d highly recommend it to readers who love psychologically rich stories with a strong narrative voice and a slightly sinister edge.

Fascinating view of fame; I was truly hooked, and found myself thinking about this long after I was done. Maud Ventura is one of my favorite discoveries of the last few years. This was fabulous - just dark and twisted enough.

𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙈𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝘣𝘺 @maudventura_ 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘺 @gl_schmid 💋 𝙿𝚄𝙱 𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝟻/𝟷𝟹

Writing-wise, totally what I wanted & expected from Maud. The more translated lit I read the more I notice nuances in source languages—this is a beautiful example of seamlessly translated French lit. The snide (& HILARIOUS) remarks, teetering on the cusp of its Overton Window, transitions from one mindset to another coming on so subtly it’s jarring (in a good way). Ahh I just love Maud’s writing. Reminiscent of a French Anna Dorn 🤌🏼

The ending though... AGH I’m torn. I’ll leave it at that for spoiler’s sake.

Specific to audio—well no, I first want to applaud Maud for the strength of her writing. Sometimes when a character has this sort of tone, audio enhances the vibes bc you can hear the attitude & pettiness in their voice—MAKE ME FAMOUS didn’t need it. @januarylavoy does a fantastic job, I’m not negating that! As to be expected w her stellar & SO varied backlist (GOOD DIRT, HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE, THE 24TH HOUR). MAKE ME FAMOUS is just one of the few novels that doesn’t need propping up by its audio.

MY HUSBAND (the novel, lol) has a special place in my heart being the first translated lit that truly fooled me enough I was under the impression its source language was English—I kid you not it was on my Translated Fiction shelf for months before I realized 😅

Thank you times a bizillion to @harperviabooks for this stunning final copy & @poppykinglipstick lipstick 💄 I am 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 to have been able to read early (w/o having to fight my son for my kindle the entire time). I cried when I opened this, & crying with red lipstick on felt v strange. But for the record, it did stay put 💋

{PS I do notttt take myself as seriously as this pic—according to my husband—might imply. But how can I get such a 🔥 gift & not give it some time to shine 🤭}

DNF at 13%.

A tortured artist is one thing, but self-harming because she can’t write a good song is just not something I can read about. Even in the first 5% I wasn’t sure if this was for me - it’s overly narcissistic. I love unlikable and complex characters but… not this one.

Just an insufferable protagonist that is overinflated and thinks she is the best musician. I read this authors fist novel which I loved. This just did not resonate with me. I did an immersive read and the narrator did a great job. I will sure give this author another try. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.
3 star

The way I screamed when I saw Maud Ventura had a new book coming out. Her debut novel My Husband quickly made it to my favorites shelf so her latest Make Me Famous was a quick add to my TBR!

Meet your narrator Cléo who shares with the reader an unfiltered inner monologue on her obsession and rise/fall to fame. The reader will find her narcissistic and unlikeable which Maud writes well. The ending was just as much of a jaw dropper as her first was! I enjoy a celeb vibe and this one read like Cléo’s memoir which really worked for me. I did start out reading this on my ereader and then switched to the audio which I thought was really well done narrated by January LaVoy and highly recommend!

Thank you Harper Via and Harper Audio
Releases 5/13

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“It’s one of the best-kept secrets about me: I’m a drudge. Sometimes I wonder if I even have any talent. Nothing has come to me easily. At best, a few rare flashes of inspiration in a sea of labor.”

Make Me Famous by Maud Ventura has all of the elements that I loved from her debut My Husband: an unlikeable, delusional main character, dry humor, and astute observations about the world written with engaging, descriptive prose. If you loved Ventura’s first novel and are interested in themes of fame, self-grandeur, and obsession I would highly recommend picking this one up.

My biggest critiques are that I didn’t love the overwhelming number of pop culture references, and the third part of the story felt rushed compared to the first two. I also would’ve loved a few extra pages at the very end to wrap things up a little better. The ending felt a little too abrupt for my liking.

I don’t know much about the art of translation, but I highly recommend reading the translator’s note at the end! So much effort and thoughtfulness went into translating the story from French to English and I feel like it showed in the final result. The novel is extremely well written and the translation never makes the work feel clunky or confusing — the meanings of sentences and the themes are never lost in the shift between the two languages, which is extremely impressive!

Thank you to HarperVia, Netgalley, and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads on 5/4/25.

Review to be posted to Instagram on release week, and the book will also be posted in my monthly wrap up at the end of May.

Make Me Famous feels like a companion piece to "My Husband." Instead of an obsessive, narcissistic fixation on one's husband, Make Me Famous is about an obsessive, narcissistic fixation on oneself.

Cleo KNOWS that she is the most talented artist in the world -- she just needs everyone else to realize it. Single-minded to a fault, and a true performer, she claws her way to the top. But what of the people she leaves in her wake?

This book isn't for everyone, and will definitely not be appreciated by those who don't enjoy an unpleasant, unlikable narrator. This pushes it a bit far even for me -- and I generally love reading about unlikable women. Cleo is a nightmare, a master manipulator, cruel and full of conviction. She swings violently between self-loathing and an unhinged level of self assuredness.

You have to be willing to read between the lines -- Cleo is a very unreliable narrator. The ending may not be for everyone but landed quite well for me!

I can see this being quite polarizing for readers, so I'll suggest it for fans of "Boy Parts", "My Husband" and "My Year of Rest and Relaxation."

I had to DNF at 37% unfortunately because I kept falling asleep due to completely losing interest in anything the character was doing. I heard the ending is wild so I really wish I could've made it through, especially after Maud Ventura's debut English translated book was on my top 10 of last year, but alas.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVia for the arc:

Feeling very mixed emotions on this one. This feels like it should be right up my alley but as this book came to a close I left feeling like it was missing something. Cléo started as someone who I thought could end up being very interesting to me but ended up falling flat, feeling like a fairly one-dimensional caricature of a person losing themselves to celebrity. Her obsession and narcissism is clear but not presented in a way that felt new or original. It came across as shallow. I did think that reading about her history of self-harm and the way she 'punishes' herself was really interesting and added to her a lot. But it wasn't enough to make up for other parts of the storytelling. This book is a character study of our lead, but unfortunately our lead didn't seem to have the depth I wanted.

Despite this, I couldn't put the book down. It moves so quickly and flows naturally. And the end of the book was really insane. Where we ended up made perfect sense to me based on Cléo's character, but I really wish we got to linger in that moment a little longer. It was over so quickly, right when I thought the most interesting moment of the whole story had happened.

I do still want to visit 'My Husband' and see how I feel about her debut novel. I think that this book would work for others, but maybe it just isn't particularly for me!

“Make Me Famous” is a detailed and through character study of Cleo, a woman who has dreamed of being famous since childhood. She’s relentless in her pursuit of fame, not letting anything or anyone get in between her and her dream. We follow Cleo through her rise to fame as a singer and her experience in the public eye. But the fame and success is never enough for her. Despite having all she’s ever dreamed of, Cleo is dissatisfied and deeply unhappy.

Maud Ventura is such a gifted writer. While I wasn’t fully immersed in Cleo’s story, I was completely enamored with the writing just like I was with “My Husband”. I love this authors approach to telling stories about cold and cutthroat women. We are in their mind, seeing their lives through a very skewed and messed up lense, as the main characters in both of Venturas books have been massively flawed. If you don’t like reading unlikable characters, this author won’t be for you. But if you’re like me and enjoy character driven stories with a sharp, dark twist, I would recommend. This book did feel like it dragged a little and could’ve been a touch shorter, and personally I struggle with modern day/pop culture references in books because it can take me out of the story. Overall this was another solid release from this author and I’m eager to continue reading whatever she puts out in the future.

A fun, unhinged story about a woman who believes she’s destined for fame since she was born, and her journey into that stardom and her dealing with its aftermath. This is a character study on a sociopathic, cold, and ferocious woman’s fight to be famous and adored by the world. All the while, she’s horrible to everyone she works with, is friends with, and dates. The main character has a similar vibe to the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. This felt like a darker, R rated version of the Taylor Jenkins Reid universe with its exploration of celebrity and stardom.

The writing made the main character feel very relatable, because we really delve into the darkness in her mind. This book covers topics of self-harm, grief, and mental health struggles. There is also a subtext of queer, sapphic longing that I enjoyed too.

I was interested to keep reading, and I definitely feel this is a slow burn that gets more twisted, sociopathic, and unhinged as it goes on. I found the beginning a bit slow but did enjoy the last half and I’m glad I finished it. Would recommend this to fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Carrie Soto, and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

3.5⭐️

Thank you to Harpervia, HarperCollins, NetGalley, and the author for an eARC!

As someone who adored “My Husband” by Maud Ventura, I knew I was going to love this book as well! Her female characters are the perfect amounts of narcissistic, unstable, and unpredictable. Her endings always pack a punch that I never see coming, and this did not disappoint! I am so excited to read more of Maud Ventura’s work in the future.

Maud Ventura is back, and this time she's offering us "Make Me Famous" after I devoured her first book, "My Husband." Both books are about an utterly unhinged, narcissistic French woman recounting her story in the first person, and both even have this "mic drop" final scene. You know I'm a sucker for a dramatic finish.

"Make Me Famous" landed at a 3-star for me. Don't get me wrong, Ventura can definitely write these obsessive characters. Cléo, this French/American pop star, is OBSESSED with fame – and herself, of course. The book is pretty much her long monologue from some private island where she's recovering and supposedly writing her next album. And while the whole rise-and-fall-in-the-music-biz thing is there, I just wasn't as captivated by the celebrity world. It sort of felt like a self-indulgent memoir, and to be honest, that's just not really my thing.

January LaVoy narrated the audiobook, and she was, as ever, fantastic. She did such a good job bringing Cléo's over-the-top personality to life that it certainly made the 352-page monologue more tolerable. Despite her fine narration, however, Cléo just wasn't as appealing to me as the unnamed wife in "My Husband". I didn't find her as untrustworthy or as intriguing, so the ending felt almost predictable in spite of the attempted shock value.

Ventura definitely has a knack for bringing these fixated characters to life, and there are some pleasant nods to real-life celebrities sprinkled throughout that I kind of appreciated as a little puzzle. But Cléo at times felt more like a cartoon, and her self-aware narcissism at times felt a little too on-the-nose, taking away from the effect.

If you're more interested in the darker aspects of passionate relationships and the psychology of obsession along those lines, you'll probably like "My Husband" better. If glamour and sleaze of the world of fame and the narcissism that comes with it are more your thing, then "Make Me Famous" might be your cup of tea. Personally, I'll be sure to watch for Ventura's next book, fingers crossed for another plunge into delectably unhinged domesticity.

Once again, Maud Ventura crowns herself the QUEEN of obsession with her new novel, Make Me Famous. We find ourselves in the stream of consciousness spewed by Cléo Louvent, an absolute narcissist girlboss who will stop at nothing in order to gain the fame and adoration that she so rightfully deserves.

What I found fascinating about Make Me Famous, was delving into just how consuming it would be to propel yourself towards fame. Every move that Cléo made was calculated, until you wonder who Cléo really is. Is she real, or is she simply a vessel for fame and notoriety? Does one have to contain some multitude of narcissism or sociopathy in order to seek how superstardom?

Look out for Make Me Famous when it comes out on May 13th, 2025!

Shoutout to Harpervia and Netgalley for giving a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

i honestly found this insufferable- the main character was immature and the prose was terrible. i would not recommend this to most readers.

Ventura is so good at writing characters that you want to get to know while also thinking they are off their rocker.

Cleo is obsessed with fame and actually achieved it. We follow her from her humbler beginnings to her dating of other famous people. The writing is quite sly and you need to read closely to see just how gastly she is! Lots of throw away remarks that really illuminate her personality.

The twist was a lot of fun but the book would have been ok just as a character study of an odious woman.

Thank you to Net-Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I just finished and I really don’t know what to say. I am usually very intrigued by an unlikable female lead and trust me this lead is unlikable, but the gratuitous details of all the trappings of fame became repetitive. I like Ventura’s writing style quite a bit so I was excited to see where the story goes but the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.

Maybe I just need to let the story marinate for a while.