On the surface this seemed like it would be an amazing read for me personally. Ripped from the headlines scandal with shades of Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes. This was a scathing look at our obsession with beautiful influential people. In particular how social media and media in general are used to sway public opinion. The problem for me? I really, really didn’t like the tone. I can root for many devious and unlikable characters. I love a good villain. I was not a fan of Rose. While I don’t think I was supposed to like her, it prevented me from connecting and enjoying this story.
I somehow missed in the description that this was satirical. That could have been the problem. Satire doesn’t resonate with me.

Overall a big miss for me, but I think many others will enjoy. I didn’t.find the writing style to be funny, but many others do.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This novel revolves around Rose Aslani, a Middle Eastern American journalist navigating life in New York City. When Rose exposes English socialite Poppy Hastings as a scam artist, she expects justice to be served. However, when Poppy is suddenly released early from her jail sentence, Rose becomes determined to ensure she faces the consequences!

I had a complex relationship with Rose’s character. She's stubborn, self-sabotaging, and sometimes immature. Yet, these flaws make her feel incredibly real—like any flawed human being. The novel surprised me with its spicy twists (if you know, you know!).

"The Most Famous Girl in the World" draws inspiration from the true story of Anna Delvey. While satirical, it also dives into themes such as the influence of social media—who gets to be the next sensation—secret societies, addiction, and mental health. Beyond these, it offers a glimpse into the diverse experiences of first-generation Americans.

This a book that truly makes a reader determine what is actually real versus what is perceived to be. As Rose delved into and truly became obsessed with the life of Poppy, did she really understand the trail of bread crumbs she was fed to create a story that ultimately benefits both Poppy and Dunamis. Did Simon really care for her or did he care most importantly what she could lead him to with respect to the marks and how it could advance him? This book really delves into the creation of a persona that on Instagram should be instantaneously famous because of the glamorous life they lead. But in addition to being iridescent in the wildly wealthy circles was only a ghost in real society. In that type of society, is there really an inadvertent bond? The ending was absolutely fascinating that even as she thought herself to be Rose 3.0 with her success of relegating Poppy to be a social nobody coupled by the love of Simon, Fern and Steph whom truly loved and supported her, that her life was turned around. It was only a note with fresh red lipstick and a tattoo that tore that idea to shreds. They may be waiting for her, but is she willing to find them?

I loved this book, until the last page! I was shocked at how it ended and kind of disappointed. However, Iman Hariri-Kia has a unique way of writing that makes you feel like you’re sitting across from a friend telling you the latest gossip. The genre bending of mystery, romance and women’s fiction hits different in the best way possible. If you are looking for a heart racing, cat and mouse mystery, that will also make you laugh this is the book.
Thanks to @netgalley for an advanced copy.
#themostfamousgirlintheworld #arc #netgalley @imanharirikia

3 stars- Let me preface that this would have been 4 stars but perhaps I'm 29 going on 89 but all the f bombs on every page felt juvenile. I curse, who doesn't but it almost felt like overkill? It made the writing feel more YA than Adult Fiction. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable, funny and the last page gave me chills! Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The best word I can think of to describe this book is camp. It's funny, sharp, cutting, and an incredible satire. For anyone that was as captivated by the Anna Delvey story as I was, I think this will be an enjoyable read.

Poppy is a con artist that ran away with people's money, and Rose Aslani is the reporter whose article helped put her in jail. Now that Poppy is getting out, Rose begins to spiral. But she's 100% delusional, like for sure. Or is she? Along the way she sparks up a romance with a hot FBI agent, and together they try to put Poppy where she rightfully belongs - behind bars.

I quickly fell in love with Rose, who is a lovable disaster.

I did find the ending a little unsatisfying, but I personally don't love a cliffhanger. That is personal preference, however.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the digital copy, and for the opportunity to review the book prior to release!

The Most Famous Girl in the World is a hot mess of a book I will 100% recommend to my friends.

Why is it a hot mess (which I mean as a compliment)? It isn’t the plot; while the storyline is a bit convoluted, it is engaging and feels fresh, using ripped-from-the-headlines tactics to garner interest (who doesn’t love a good Anna Delvey reference?). This book is guaranteed to intrigue a wide audience. However, that’s not what makes it special.

What sets this book apart from the many wanting to profit off our favorite Robin Hood of swindlers (or whatever a Robin Hood who gives to himself would be considered) is the insanely flawed protagonist of this novel.

Rose is a complete degenerate who somehow manages to be likable. We should not like her; she is frustrating, selfish, and destructive. She is also funny, self-deprecating, and unapologetically herself. It’s refreshing, even as you want to slap some sense into her. I’ve never felt so conflicted with a character, as she made me laugh, but I also wanted to yell at her most of the time. She’s both lovable and frustrating.

This book is meant to be a satire of multiple genres, and Iman Hariri-Kia pulls it off well. She manages to take the fun conceits of Bret Easton Ellis, like poking fun at high society obsessions, as well as including cameos from earlier novels (in her case, A Hundred Other Girls). Caveat: Hariri-Kia could hate this reference (apologies). However, I grew up with his books (this is something only my therapist needs to read into), and these are things he does extremely well.

Hariri-Kia does a great job of adding a modern twist and humor to her writing. She is clever, somewhat overwhelming (the sex scenes are not what anyone would refer to as “closed-door”), and very entertaining. If Hariri-Kia were to write another installation of Rose’s journey, I would be happy to read along – especially after some of the twists and turns this book took at the end. At the very least, I would like to get some coffee with Rose – she fascinated me as a protagonist.

3.6
What?
Everything was going along swimmingly and then...
You know the expression "jumping the shark"? Well, this is that but with less Happy Days and more random nudity.

This book was a rollercoaster to say the least. It was fast paced, intense and the ending was not at all expected. I loved that this reminded me of the Anna Sorokin/Delvey case. You get a lot in this book. Scammers, con women, journalist, conspiracies, secret societies and obsession.

Before reading the epilogue I wanted to give this book 4 stars. After reading the epilogue I wanted to give it 2 stars. So I settled in the middle at 3 stars.

First and foremost, you have to throw all reality to wind with this book. It was so much fun to read and super sharp, but a lot of it was unrealistic.

Poppy in this book is inspired by Anna Delvey, who posed as a wealthy heiress, but was really a con artist stealing rich people's money.

Rose Aslani, our main character is absolutely obsessed with Poppy after having written the article that exposed her. She's trying to pull herself out of the aftermath of her Poppy induced breakdown when Poppy is released on good behavior.

So down the rabbit hole Rose goes again. She's delusional, except maybe she's not. Though our main character is definitely a little crazy, unhinged and a bit of an addict. She meets a handsome FBI agent and together they try to prove Poppy's crimes.
Bonus points for the unexpected romance, which I did enjoy. This book has a little spice 🌶️

This truly was such a fun, satirical book with twists! Rose, though unhinged, is hilarious and fun. You want to hate her, but you end up rooting for her and her sharp tongue. Also, she's Middle Eastern representation!

However, let's get back to the epilogue. How disappointing. One chapter really ruined the whole book for me. I wish I hadn't read that chapter!

This book ends on a cliff hanger, which I found disheartening as it doesn't say it's going to be a series, but maybe it will be? It certainly doesn't feel like the type of book that would have a sequel, but what do I know.

Definitely pick this up for a wild and fun read, but be aware you might not be totally satisfied by the ending.

Thank you to Net Galley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the ARC. This was a rollercoaster of a read!! Initially I did not like the main character Rose much, but within a few chapters I started to empathized with her and fell in love with her character. This is a really fun fast read that asks a lot of important questions about the world's obsession with con artists.

This was an intense, fast-paced read with a bit of spice! I was not expecting that ending- total jaw dropper!

If you are looking for a campy influential read filled with satire and led by an unstable narrator then The Most Famous Girl in the World is your next read !!

The premises of this book is so fun and creates quite a buzz in the social media world and Rose our somewhat unlikeable narrator journalist who wrote an article that put the infamous con artist criminal Poppy behind bars , but Poppy is being released from prison early and Rose's Obsession to keep her behind bars needs to tread very carefully before she finds herself spiraling out of control, and as if that's not her only problem , she has just made Poppy one the most famous girls in the world !!

I really think this book will appeal to a lot of younger readers and would be a fun buddy read as it also has a Readers Guide at the end of the book for great discussion questions .

There was a lot of laughable moments and a twist at the end I did not see coming, so I thank the author for this fun little trip of craziness and witty satire with a bit of romance !! My only gripe for not loving this book was the amount of F Bombs in this book, there was so many it actually turned me off the story . The storyline is good enough that in my opinion they do not need to be there , it was actually so overwhelming that I could anticipate the next F*** to drop.

I think fans of How to Kill A Guy in 10 ways, Swiped and This Girls a Killer will enjoy this one !!

Thank you Netgalley , Sourcebooks Landmark and Iman Hariri-Kia for this Digital ARC.

Respectfully Another Read by Angie

Thank you so much for letting me read this fast paced book! It was intense from the beginning, and I would have liked it more if there were less sexual references. I like the different characters, but it was a bit difficult to keep up with who was whom. I liked how relatable Poppy seemed - fresh from the headlines. A fun book, but likely not for my audience.

This book is a rollercoaster. You simply don’t know where is it going and even the last two lines are off the wall. I am still feeling from them. There are times where the characters and the plot feel a little YA and then the next section the author delves deep into substance abuse, feelings of isolation, first generation American immigrant cultural identity. The author grapples with so many themes it often felt like a lot of little strings she was trying to braid together but in the end all the crazy subjects and subplots do come together and leave you satisfied and wanting more. Well done. Thank you for the advance copy, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Most Famous Girl in the World by Iman Hariri-Kia is a novel that reads like it could be lifted from today's headlines and the character to Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey, living the socialite life - a complete lie.

Investigative journalist Rose is doing a piece about social media and influencers and she starts looking into influencer Poppy Hastings and exposes her as a fraud, which ends up with Poppy in jail and her career goes crazy, just not in the way she'd hoped. When she finds out Poppy has been released from jail she KNOWS that she's committed other crimes, she just has to prove it.

Full of drama, intrigue, and plain old fun, this book was fun to read. I enjoyed Rose's relationship with Simon and how she herself became a little unhinged (in the best possible way) to bring Poppy down.

It's over the top and the end was a shocker for me. I hope this is just the beginning of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Similar to Anna Delvey's story but with more spicy language. I read this one quickly. It was easy to get into and then I couldn't stop! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Most Famous Girl in the World grabbed my attention because, like so many other people, I was captivated by Anna Delvey. For many fans of scammers (and contemporary satirical fictional), this book is going to be a slam dunk. It wasn't as much for me; the narration was almost too tongue-in-cheek and I couldn't get into the story. However, that's a personal preference and I think there are a ton of readers who will absolutely devour this book. I'm excited for it to find its audience and I'll definitely be watching for the author's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Most Famous Girl in the World was extremely interesting, an on the nose criticism of social media and our current ability to make celebrities and worship, in our own modern way, those who become famous for doing wrong and showing us the worst of themselves - and surviving it. Told from the viewpoint of Rose, a journalist, we see her obsession with Poppy, an Anna Delvey type with murderous tendencies. Of course in Rose’s case what seems like extreme paranoia and self obsession (still all true) turn out to be merited as the book continues and we learn Poppy isn’t just a standalone monster who won the public’s affection but part of a shadowy syndicate.

The plot including Dunamis was a little too far for me as by just focusing on Poppy and Rose (and Rose’s friendships) I think it would have been interesting and insightful as an extreme look of how we raise up the worse of society at times. That said the very last pages were thrilling and wouldn’t have been without the inclusion so maybe it was worth it. This ends with such a cliff hanger that I have to wonder if we are being setup for a continuation to this book, which is intriguing. Recommended for lovers of conspiracies, true crime, and if you have a bit of a sinking feeling with those who seem to get the most attention online these days. I would be remiss not to mention that the writing by the author is excellent.

Rose is a journalist who is obsessed with the con woman of the rich, Poppy Hastings, whose character is reminiscent of Anna Delvey. Rose believes that Poppy Hastings is guilty of much more than just fraud, but also murder. Reluctantly, Rose teams up with FBI agent, Simon, to bring down Poppy for good. Together, they find themselves going down the rabbit hole of conspiracies and secret societies.

This genre was definitely new for me, but I loved it. This book read like it was on Adderall (like how Rose was for a lot of the book lol). It was so funny, yet dark and mysterious with a twist I didn't see coming in the end. The writing was phenomenal and vibrant. It really portrayed Rose's voice so well. Speaking of, Rose is absolutely bonkers and I love her and her friends. They are truly a girl group with unconditional love for each other. Rose and Simon had so much tension and I really liked their "love-hate" relationship. AND THAT ENDING - I can't get over it, and I'm going to have to scour the Reddit threads once this book gets published because I was SHOCKED. I want a sequel!

This was a great commentary on today's society and the power of social media on our day to day lives. This was my first book of Iman Hariri-Kia's, but definitely not the last! I'm officially a fan.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC.