really enjoyed Maud Ventura's previous novel, My Husband, and was hoping for another similarly off-kilter protagonist. I also couldn't help but think about another recent read, She's a Lamb!, about another woman completely obsessed with stardom. But this book may have suffered from reading it so close to that one, because where She's A Lamb's Jessamyn was delusional and unhinged, but an absolute DELIGHT to watch, Cleo Louvent, the protagonist of this book was just...boring. She really wasn't deluded, she was ruthless and cruel, but she had a plan to become famous and checked off the boxes as she did what it took to get there. And what it took to get there was, sadly, not that interesting.

Now, I threw in the towel around halfway through when I could not take the dull as dishwasher details of Cleo's life. I did scan through the rest and it does look like the story becomes at least a bit more salacious. It was too late for me, the story had already lost me by that point, but more patient readers might experience more of a payoff. (If you're looking for a really unhinged romp though, go read She's A Lamb!)

3.5 ⭐
I loved the authors other book 'My Husband' so was excited to receive an ARC for this release.

The writing itself was very addictive and I binge read the last half in a few hours. The protagonist is a very complex character. I went through phases of rooting for her and then phases of wishing she'd get her ass handed to her.

A quick and nasty little read about the depths some people are willing to go to for fame and fortune.

Maud Ventura’s Make Me Famous is a compelling exploration of the dark side of celebrity, and the lengths one woman will go to achieve her dreams. The novel centers on Cléo, whose lifelong obsession with fame leads her to become a global superstar. Ventura masterfully portrays Cléo’s ambition, narcissism, and the isolation that comes with a life lived in the spotlight.

The strength of the book lies in its unflinching examination of Cléo’s character. She is not always likable, but she is always fascinating. Ventura’s writing is sharp, witty, and insightful, capturing the complexities of a woman driven by a singular, all-consuming desire. The narrative is propulsive, and the reader is drawn into Cléo's world, even as they may be repelled by her actions. The novel raises thought-provoking questions about the nature of fame, the sacrifices it demands, and its impact on one's sense of self.

While the novel is a page-turner, at times the pacing felt slightly uneven. However, the shocking and satisfying ending more than makes up for any minor flaws. Overall, Make Me Famous is aRecommended for those who enjoy character-driven narratives with a dark edge, and anyone who has ever been curious about the price of fame.

This follows Cleo, a woman who from a young age has dreamed of being famous, as she climbs the rank of celebrity at any cost. Maybe I just don’t enjoy books about famous people anymore because this was BORING. It was so repetitive and uninteresting. Idk what it says about me, but I wanted her to be much more devious! The end is supposed to be a big mic drop plot twist but it was actually really dumb. Go read the authors debut novel ‘My Husband’ instead!

Intense and immersive character study of a rising star!

Cleo is a thirty three year old narcissist who has systematically and ruthlessly pursued fame and fortune. She determined as a small child, raised by boring academic parents, that she would one day become famous. This story begins with her taking an expensive vacation to a tropical island, far away from fans and paparazzi. Much of the story is spent inside Cleo’s mind, following her relentless path to becoming a superstar. But a few months before her much needed vacation, things take a dark turn. And the ending shocked me into fits of giggles. Pretty entertaining!

I read this book in one sitting. It grabbed my attention and did not let go until that surprise ending.

Thank you Netgalley, HarperVia, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 13, 2025

Make Me Famous by Maud Ventura is a book that follows Cleo, a woman who is determined to be famous and her rise to the top. But what happens when she gets there?

I read and really enjoyed My Husband by this author so I was really interested in what she would come out with next. I think this book was good but I didn’t love it as much as My Husband but I do think this one will be a book that a lot of people enjoy (if they like this type of story).

Cleo is such a good character because she is the best at being the worst. She is selfish, self centered, and vain. She as a superiority complex that had me staring at my ereader, eyes wide more than once. She also feels so real. Everyone knows someone like Cleo (and if you don’t, you are probably the Cleo).

My biggest issue with this book is it felt like a lot of telling and not showing. Which fits with this author’s writing style from her previous book so I think it’s just how she likes to write. But the scope of the first book was much smaller so it worked a lot better. This book follows a character’s rise to pop stardom and I just felt like it didn’t show enough.

I did enjoy this and I know the kind of reader I would recommend this to. It just wasn’t the perfect book for me. I’ll still read whatever this author writes because her character work is impeccable.

I haven't read Maud Ventura's previous novel but I am RUNNING to read it after this.

Cléo is such a memorable protagonist because she's an absolutely terrible person. She's a narcissist, she's mean, she's petty, has an insane superiority complex and zero empathy. And yet, I was captivated by her. (And according to Cléo, why wouldn't I be? She's the best, of course I'd be captivated.)

The novel traces Cléo's rise to fame - her humble beginning, her unshakeable belief that she is better than everyone and deserves to be famous - all within the frame narrative of her going on an isolated island retreat. The real draw here is Cléo and her intense desire for fame, and once she gets it, her dissatisfaction with being famous. Watching her plot out every move, calculate her actions, and position herself to her best advantage is honestly impressive. However, Cléo gradually becomes her own worst enemy, and the ending actually made me gasp.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC !

Make Me Famous is a parable about the dangers of seeking happiness outside oneself—of being trapped in a gilded cage, surrounded by gold but consumed by permanent dissatisfaction.

At its core, the lesson is this: happiness can be found—or lost—in any circumstance, depending on how we interpret our lives and define success. (With obvious exceptions, of course.)

At one point, the narrator, Cleo, admits she isn’t inherently a monster—the situation made her one. The story illustrates how money and fame can unravel a person who lacks a strong sense of self, especially when the pursuit of fame overshadows genuine passion or love for one’s craft.

This is Cleo’s reflection on her career, her relationships, and how all of it—especially her relationship with herself—has been unalterably changed by fame.

Because in the end, what does fame matter if you’ve become someone even you don’t recognize?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

DNF at 15%. Like other reviewers, I loved Ventura’s book My Husband. I was totally sucked into the MC’s obsession and flew through the book. While there’s similarity to My Husband here, this one isn’t working for me.

This book is about a young woman who becomes a famous pop star. In the present day she’s on a bizarre vacation, but after establishing that the book becomes the story of her rise.

I think one of the problems for me was the way she was reflecting on her whole past. She summarizes and skips swaths of time. The result is that it’s less urgent and intense than My Husband.

It’s still worth a shot if you enjoyed My Husband or if you can appreciate an unlikable protagonist being awful!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5! Really interesting book with the most unlikeable main character. Her narcist behavior was fun until it was completely out of touch.

This book should be a must read for anyone aspiring to become famous. It's actually a roadmap of how NOT to behave.

I don't think I've ever encountered a more unlikable main character in any book I have ever read. She had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I think she might have even suffered from mental illness. But the ending made all of this worthwhile. One of the best endings EVER!

I really enjoyed reading this book! The way that it was set up and then twist at the end. The FMC was unbearable and I found myself not liking her but that’s why this book was really good. That was the point and it kept me turning each page.

If you're looking for a true glimpse into wild celebrity antics, skip this and dive into a real memoir or even Kanye's tweets. Both offer a much more entertaining and unfiltered look at celebrity chaos

Make Me Famous is a dark comedy that gives us a glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous. You will love watching Chloe climb to the top of the music industry and the lives of the people she steps over to get there. I loved the book and will be recommending it to my Bookclubs. I think it will spark lots of interesting conversation. The translator did a fantastic job bringing this book to life, it feels like it was written by a native English speaker.

Hmmmm… this is a tough one to review. I can’t say that I’ve read a novel like this before. It read very much like an Exposé in an entertainment or tabloid magazine. But written not by a third-party, but by the celebrity themselves. That’s basically the nuts and bolts of this novel. Cléo has only ever wanted to become a celebrity and will not stop until she makes it to the top .Through a lot of perfection, and I mean a ton of perfection, she ends up becoming a famous performer. She’s extremely unlikable, and I cringed every time she would speak to people. That is the extent of the novel, following her rise to fame and inner thoughts on how everybody else is beneath her. The author wrote this so well it certainly felt like we were hearing an autobiographical account of Cléo’s life.

Overall, did I like this book? Not really, but it hooked me in instantly and I finished it in less than 24 hours. I also appreciated the uniqueness of it and how well it was written that I felt I was in Chloe‘s mind, even though I didn’t really want to be! The drawback was nothing really happened.

I will certainly look for other books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review .

Make Me Famous is essentially just the recounting of her life by an extremely narcissistic and one track minded French woman named Cleo who has decided she will become a pop star, no matter the cost, and no matter how shallow it sounds and ends up being. The novel pivots from recounting her life from her perspective so far, but also small excerpts of her current moments on a mysterious lone island vacation. The majority of the novel is spent enlightening us of Cleo’s extremely self-concerning narrative and the cutthroat way she manages to secure a pop star career for herself, which, yes, she does manage to accomplish. Cleo is an absolutely vile selfish person the entire book, as is the norm for Maud’s books it seems, but aside from this obviously purposefully grating and corrupt hollywood narrative, there was not any further points grounding this book in any place of meaning or impact, and the book as a whole felt quite pointless, and a drawn out lead up to a unfulfilling end. It seems like Maud took the formula of her novel My Husband and simply shook up the character attributes and careers; a long monotonous lead up of narcissism and obsession, ending in a twist ending that wasn’t enough of a gotcha moment to make the whole book truly worth reading.

When I heard Maud Ventura was releasing another book, I was immediately excited. Her previous novel, My Husband, left a lasting impression on me when I read it last year—it was so good and genuinely unforgettable. I went into this one fully expecting another wildly unhinged and unreliable narrator, and I was not disappointed.

This book definitely delivered on the crazy main character front. The plot itself meanders a bit—it’s not really about the events or a big twist, but more about being immersed in the character’s obsessive, spiraling thoughts. You keep thinking it’s building to something concrete, like there’s going to be a big reveal or purpose, but really, the whole point is just to live inside this chaotic mind that ultimately goes... nowhere.

And weirdly enough, that kind of worked. The ending left me cackling and oddly satisfied.

In this story we follow an insufferable narcissist that believes she's the best, most beautiful, most talented, most accomplished, most cherished musician to have ever lived in all of history.

What she actually is: Most annoying, most self-inflated, most ridiculous, most awful, most vain, most annoying person to have to ever spend time with.

At the start I was really enjoying this but then for 200 pages I felt like I was stuck in a loop that I desperately wanted to end. I become completely exhausted with her.

I'm not a person that finds Hollywood, celebrities, fame and fortune fascinating at all so this was doomed from the start.

That being said, Ventura is such a talented writer who definitely knows how flesh out obsessive characters. I loved her debut, My Husband, but this subject matter just didn't appeal to me. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for my complimentary copy.

first of all, a huge thanks to netgalley for the arc of this book!! it will be out on may 13th.

let me just say this: this book was SO fun to read. this book is about a famous singer, cleo. it chronicles her rise to fame, riding the high of success, and her trying to maintain her spot at the top of the mountain. of course, it all goes downhill. as she gets some r&r on an island in the middle of the ocean, she reflects on her life thus far.

make me famous is deeply engrossing from start to finish. it's SO hard to put down!! cleo is hugely unlikeable. she’s definitely mean, unfeeling, and maybe a little sociopathic. but you just can't help but read about her. this book is like a combination of you and the seven husbands of evelyn hugo. very fun, darkly funny, and filled with all kinds of music references. i definitely recommend this book!

overall, if you're thinking about picking this book up, do it. you're in for a wild ride that ends in a very insane way!

I went into this book with high expectations after loving Ventura’s My Husband. And at first, I thought this would be another hit. The premise is promising: a character study of Cleo and her ascent to fame, along with the consequences of finally getting what she’s longed—and schemed—for.

But as the story unfolded, it lost its grip on me. Cleo, despite being the center of the novel, is frustratingly dull. Her narcissism is her only defining trait, and even that feels one-note. The supporting cast of celebrities is similarly flat, lacking the complexity or intrigue to make them feel real or memorable. I wonder if this is because all celebrities and their entourages are also dull and dull?

I kept turning the pages hoping for a sharp twist or unexpected payoff like the one in My Husband, but it never came. The ending was lackluster and the "twist" (can it be called that?) was underwhelming. Instead, the story drifted into more of the same: a surface-level narrative that ultimately left me bored, disappointed, and wishing that it would hurry up and end.