I really enjoy Maud Venturas writing style and literary voice! When I first encountered My Husband- I read it in about one sitting because of the pace of the story and I feel similarly to make me famous. A definite page turner! I also hate to admit I do judge books by their covers and in a world where every book cover looks the same- I LOVE Venturas. I want posters of them all!

At age four, Cléo Louvent tells her father that she wants to be as famous as Céline Dion. The only child of Franco-American academics, she is determined to become a celebrated pop singer against all odds. Despite her father’s warning to be careful of what she wishes for, Cléo ruthlessly climbs the ladder to musical success. As the novel opens, she is 32 and a global superstar. (Think Taylor Swift.) Cléo is also exhausted from fighting to stay on “top of the pyramid,” and is taking her first real vacation (costing her a half-million dollars) alone on a remote South Pacific island away from prying eyes, cell phones, the paparazzi, and her team’s incessant requests. In her solitude, she reflects on the journey that brought her here. French author Ventura’s first novel, My Husband, depicts a wife’s unhealthy obsession with her spouse. Her second portrays the making of a fame monster. The narcissistic and sociopathic Cléo is an awful person, an unreliable narrator extraordinaire, but she is also fascinating and darkly funny in her observations of celebrity culture. (“You have to reach a certain level of fame before you are allowed to be rude.”) Her eventual comeuppance is chilling but oh-so-satisfying. An intense and compelling psychological study on the costs of fame and ambition.

What an ending! I loved My Husband but I think I love this book even more. Maud has a way of making her characters so incredibly unlikable but you’re still siding with them at the end. I really enjoyed her showing Cleo getting everything she wants but the dirty underbelly of fame and how you no longer belong to yourself. This was gripping from beginning to end and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future

This is an incredible book - delicious, fun, and twisty. It is tantalizing to be inside the mind of the main character - Cleo. I have enjoyed reading about unwell women and this is one of them.

I'm so glad Maud has written another novel. I enjoy her writing style. Make Me Famous features glamourous settings and a character study of a very interesting female main character. I was lost in the pages in a good way. Meaning, I couldn't put the book down. The story is insightful, and it was like taking space in the character's head. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

First of all, I love this cover and hope that Maud's team keeps them coming. After being delighted by "My Husband" I was excited to see what unhinged female Maud tackled next and I was so excited to see it would be a famous singer. Cleo was such an infuriating interesting character and full of absolute shit (complementary). I did lose interest about half way through and it felt like more work than I wanted to spend on the story.

Cleo has wanted fame for a long time. Now that she has it, she can’t stop striving and scheming if she wants to stop on people’s minds. All that fame chasing leaves her a bit exhausted so Cleo books a three-week holiday to a remote island so she can recharge in peace and compose a new album. As Cleo recuperates, she reflect on her success.

It was entertaining (and a little frightening!) to follow Cleo’s inner monologue and reminiscences. The conclusion was a surprise and I loved it!

Thank you to HarperVia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

3

Setting: USA / France
Rep: queer protagonist

Cléo sure is one hell of an unlikeable character, which makes this a difficult read - it's a bit of a slog, wading through 350 pages of her being an absolute bitch to everyone around her. I liked the ending - yes it's abrupt but it feels deserved.

Make Me Famous begins with superstar musician Cleo Louvent absolutely exhausted by fame. Consequently, she proceeds on an ultra exclusive vacation to a secluded island where she will be absolutely alone for three weeks. As she progresses through her journey, she looks back at her past, describing her ascension to megastar and outlining her mistakes.

Throughout the book Cleo becomes a petulant, vindictive narcissist, her character easy to despise. Having worked around famous actors, I found much of the references to fame to ring true, but I think some of some of the scenes are excessive. This book should have been shorter and it would have still made its point. Not a book I enjoyed at all and I felt the ending came out of nowhere. I’m rating Make Me Famous two stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Sadly I could not finish reading, what I read of it was great HOWEVER when I requested the book to read and review there were no trigger warnings for SH.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Unhinged women is my favorite genre and Maud Ventura hits it right on the mark EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This is probably the most interesting view on fame and celebrity that I have read in a book in a long time. I can't get enough of Maud Ventura's writing, I become so involved and so absorbed into the story. I'm always sad when it ends, Definitely will be recommending this book for months to come.

I’m obsessed with everything Maud Ventura writes. She is truly a master at the “unhinged women” subgenre that has taken social media by storm, and this book is no different.

Make Me Famous is a novel that shows that just because you get everything you’ve ever dreamed of, it doesn’t necessarily mean happily ever after. Cléo, the fame-hungry musician at the center of this story, is a raging narcissist, but her rise and fall is very entertaining to read.

Like Ventura’s first novel, the epilogue packs quite the punch. Definitely had me shocked at the ending. Overall the book was a very juicy, powerful reading experience.

4 stars.

In this, the sophomore effort from the author of the hit MY HUSBANDS (which I didn’t read), which was translated from the French by Gretchen Schmid, Cleo Louvent (nee Johnson) is the daughter of a French academic and an American Egyptologist and an overachiever raised in Paris. All she has ever wanted is to be famous and she has worked toward that end from a young age. After floundering for awhile she finally made it, becoming a global sensation as a singer/songwriter, but for Cleo it was fame for the sake of fame. How do you stay on top?

The perspective is from Cleo at age 33, on a three week solo vacation available only to the ultra rich, but very spartan, just a hut, supplies, a satellite phone in case of emergencies and herself. Other than that she is totally disconnected from the world so she can work on her fourth album and she’s also looking back over her life, especially the last six months, where it all seemed to start going wrong.

I enjoyed this. The ending was a bit abrupt and a bit of a surprise to me, interesting. I am wondering if, in some small ways, Cleo’s life mirrored a bit of Maud’s when Maude was suddenly lauded last year for her debut novel (not exactly a stadium of fans, but I’ll bet things are different for her now.)

I was beyond excited to read an early ARC of this upcoming new book by Maud Ventura. The story is about Cléo, one of the biggest stars in the world, and splits into two narratives: one being her rise to stardom, a rise that only she could see coming and the other taking place in the present, with Cléo on an isolated vacation with a lot of time to think about her life. The character is such an unlikable one that I commend the author for being able to do such an amazing job of writing in the first person perspective.
Cléo is the definition of an unlikable character and unreliable narrator but I enjoyed her portrayal. The book has a lot to say about fame and ambition and what it takes to make it in a cuthroat business, but my favorite part of the book was following the voice of Cléo. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for providing me with this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

(4.5 rated up) I absolutely ate up Maud Ventura’s “My Husband” & was extremely excited to read her next novel. Ventura sure can write a hell of an ending. This story follows Cléo, one of the biggest stars in the world, and splits into two narratives - one being her rise to stardom, a rise that only she could see coming and the other taking place in the present, with Cléo on an isolated vacation with a lot of time to think about her life. The author writes so, so well within the first-person perspective. Cléo is pretty awful - selfish and ruthless, but I really enjoyed being inside her head - unlikable, unreliable narrator at it’s finest (in my opinion). The book has a lot to say about fame and ambition and what it takes to make it in a cuthroat business, but my favorite part of the book was following the voice of Cléo.

This was a really good book! I liked the themes of obsession, dysfunction, fame, being in the spotlight, and love. It was a good read, I had a good pacing, and the characters were all really good. I did enjoy reading this book and it was a quick read for me because I wanted to get to the end

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Maud Ventura’s Make Me Famous (available in English 5/13/25) is a captivating, raw exploration of fame, self-destruction, and the price of artistic integrity. Following the success of her debut novel, Ventura proves once again that she has a remarkable ability to dive deep into the complexities of her characters, and Make Me Famous is no exception.

The novel alternates between two timelines: the present, where Cléo, a brash, narcissistic pop star, isolates herself on a desert island for three weeks to write her fourth album, and flashbacks to her rise to fame. Cléo is the daughter of two academics, but her singular ambition has always been to become famous. She is simultaneously hard-working, sociopathic, and fiercely dedicated to her craft, even if it means sacrificing her personal life and her authenticity in the process.

Cléo is an unlikable protagonist—cynical, self-absorbed, and unapologetically ruthless—but Ventura makes her fascinating. I found myself rooting for her despite her flaws, often agreeing with her brutally honest commentary. The novel reads like a documentary of a starlet’s journey, enhanced by Cléo’s internal monologue, where her self-awareness about her objectification as a celebrity both fuels and complicates her drive. Her pursuit of fame becomes not just about success, but about defining her identity in a world that demands she sell herself to stay relevant. This tension is further explored in the way the entertainment industry turns women into branded commodities, and Cléo’s insistence on maintaining artistic integrity while being a product for public consumption adds layers of complexity to her character. In her eyes, her fame sustains the people around her, and she wields that power without hesitation.

Just as My Husband, Make Me Famous has a very unexpected and abrupt ending. As this is an ARC, I’m left with a sense of unfinished business, and I cannot wait for this to release to the public so I can discuss my theories with others!

Make Me Famous is a fascinating dive into the psyche of a celebrity, and Ventura’s keen observations on the commodification of art and identity are both timely and thought-provoking. If you enjoyed her debut or are intrigued by complex, morally gray characters, this book is definitely worth the read.

Merci beaucoup NetGalley and HarperVia for the advance copy!

At first, I thought that because I had read “My Husband”, I knew how this was going to end. Then halfway through I realized I was wrong about how it was going to end, but I knew that my new guess was right. Because I’d read “My Husband”,

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC! This was an amazing novel. Very well written, engaging, charismatic, and entertaining. The storyline flowed well and successfully kept my interest. My only issue as the ending, which I felt needed more of a conclusion. I highly recommend this novel and I definitely will be reading more from this author.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!