Gosh! That twist at the end. And then the twist on the last page!!!! Went from three to four stars just like that!

PLEASE MAKE THIS A SERIES. This was really good! I think the shift from Rose-alone to Rose-meets Simon is a tad bit jarring..perhaps it happens a little bit too late? I just didn't see it coming and for w ile there I was like wait I liked it better when this wasn't a rom-com??? But they grew on me as a couple so by the end I was fine with it, and it was a way to show a different side of Rose. I also thought the opening didn't quite hit, but I liked it way more once I got a few pages into it.

This book is crazy!! Definitely didn't see the twists coming. I really enjoyed this story about Rose who is a reporter and is obsessed with Poppy Hastings. She is attempting to tie Poppy to some high profile disappearances and deaths. During her investigation she runs into Scott who is an FBI agent. She gets called crazy a lot as she is thoroughly convinced that Poppy is behind all this. This was a wild rollercoaster of a book.

Ok, this book has what might be the greatest opening sentence ever! Immediately the writing/banter is perfection and I am in this story! This book is like the series Inventing Anna, but make it more thriller, and throw in some spice! It was a delight to read! The writing made me want to keep reading this book and ignore any other responsibilities! At first, I expected this to be just a fun read about a con-artist exploiting people.. I was wrong 😂 it goes darker and has some crazy twists, especially the end!! I was truly shocked, I sat for a second, then went back and reread the ending. I wasn’t sure if I was angry or impressed! Overall I really enjoyed reading this book! I liked where the author went with it and think a lot of readers will be talking about this one!

I love the writing style of this book, but unfortunately, this type of humor doesn’t appeal to me. I’m sure others will enjoy it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I must give kudos to the people marketing this book, they had me and the fun cover I have no doubt people will also fall prey to the enticement of both.

What started as a campy satire, I loved the story and direction but then in the second half it lost me, the sex was excessive and unnecessary to move the plot, the ending was beyond far fetched and lazy. This is was a romance thriller and not a literary satire so please don’t be fooled.

Thank you to the publisher for the digital arc all
Opinions are my own.

There is something about this book that made me feel like I was watching a Gossip Girl episode. I get the secret society spin on Ana Delvey and the romance plot with the secret agent/“jumanji”member or whatever it’s called was predictable and kind of boring. I don’t know, I have very mixed feelings about this book.

When I was about 50% of the way through this, I thought it had a promising premise. I liked the addition of the FBI agent/journalist investigation, but the story itself didn’t pull me in enough. I ended up predicting one of the biggest plot twists. I would’ve liked to see the two leads discuss the case in a little more detail. At times, that aspect took a back seat. While I liked that this was an examination on celebrity and stories of people we’ve seen in the news like Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes, the tonal shifts between being a thriller/mystery or a romance/comedy were unexpected and not what I was looking for in a book. I would’ve like to see more of the case and the dangers of what they were dealing with. The ending was full of sudden twists and a lot of things that I questioned. I am curious if there will be a sequel after that unexpected character disappearance. If you like something that is a bit comedic and ripped from the headlines, you may like it, but it wasn’t for me.

"What are we, the stars of a shitty A24 film with no plot?"

It kills me to give this book a flat two stars after all the love I had for Hariri-Kia's debut novel. However, I believe that this book is the sophomore slump of trying to be everything to everyone. Coming off in a style of a confessional or a prep for a tell all, Hariri-Kia's main character of Rose comes off as contrived and a really terrible person. The failing point of Rose, in my point of view is that she has nothing for the average reader to connect with. She hates everyone except for her two work friends, cannot be bothered to learn her roommates name and swings wildly between and inflated sense of self and no sense of self.
With Hariri-Kia using terms like 'menty-b' while simultaneously articulating the attraction Rose feels for Simon as 'an invisible current', 'The Most Famous Girl in the World' cannot find its footing. Unfortunately, it reads like Anna Delvey fan fiction with a homicidal secret society thrown in the mix.

At the end of the day, the failing of Hariri-Kia's sophomore novel is the same issue that Rose is facing; trying to be all things to all people and falling flat in her attempt.

I think I just had my expectations wrong. I normally don’t mind an un likable narrator (hell Yellowface was a favorite for me this year) but the author didn’t hit the tone right for satire here. Or maybe they did and I just wasn’t in the right headspace.

Without the romance and epilogue I would have probably rated this higher. Usually I love a wild ending but this one felt really forced. If there’s a sequel I may still tune in. And the sex scenes just aren’t my style, personally.

I loved Rose, her friend group, and her nasty sense of humor. Her addiction was mentioned a lot but kind of just accepted? I didn’t like that.

Also her relationship with her family was fixed over one singular phone call? Idk. It was fun and campy but still a little too ridiculous at times.

Synopsis: Journalist Rose Aslani wrote an investigative article about “socialite” grifter Poppy Hastings, inadvertently making her an overnight icon with a crowd of followers. After Hastings is released from prison, Aslani has to deal with the aftermath of it all in a way she never predicted possible.

What I liked: I didn’t know where the story would go next! Not very predictable, tbh, which I enjoyed. A real page-turner. I also like satirical takes on celebrity/influencer culture.

What I disliked: Not a dislike, but I wanted more about how Aslani is a first-generation Middle Eastern American. The Most Famous Girl in the World weaves multiple genres — romance, thriller, satire/humor — that I don’t think worked well altogether. I would’ve loved a more dramatic/serious tone with more emphasis on Aslani’s background/life and less about her body waxing habits.

This book is for you if… followed the Anna Delvey gossip from the last few years — but with a murder-mystery twist.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced reader copy of #TheMostFamousGirlInTheWorld.

🦇 The Most Famous Girl in the World Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD Are you a true crime fan? OR What conspiracy interests you the most? ❓

🦇 It's been two years since Rose—a first-generation Middle Eastern American, functional trainwreck, and reporter for online journal The Shred—wrote the investigative article that exposed Poppy as a socialite grifter. Normally, one of her articles going viral would be cause for celebration, but the highly publicized trial that followed turned Poppy into the internet's favorite celebrity. And Rose has been reeling from the aftermath ever since. Although Poppy served her time for defrauding some of the richest, most powerful men in the world, Rose knows this is only the tip of the iceberg for Poppy's crimes. She just can't prove it yet…At least not without the help of a devilishly handsome FBI agent gone rogue.

💜 The Most Famous Girl in the World is loudly and proudly satire. The novel is entirely self-aware, which is quite a feat to write while straddling the line where the fourth wall used to stand. There are so many interesting, complex themes explored in this book that it will no doubt become an interesting read for book club circles. For example, why does society hyper-fixate on certain people? Why do we practically worship actors and musicians? There's a moment during Poppy's confession that's quite interesting. Rose's article paints Poppy as callous, cruel, deceptive--a villain--and Poppy is glad for it. She says society puts too much emphasis on being perfect, that people prefer 'bad' people because she's a mirror, reflecting the worst versions of themselves. "If I can get away with murder and still be beloved, there's hope for them yet." Social media glamorizes people. We see a pocket of their world, perfectly cropped, and see roses instead of the thorns beyond the frame. The Most Gamous Girl in the World is a fun, exhilarating ride, but its exploration of fame, mass hysteria, identity, and conspiracy can't be ignored.

💜 I love that Rose is a messy protagonist. As a Middle Eastern American, I've been shoved into boxes and plastered with labels. She recognizes she's hit rock bottom and relies on self-deprecating humor to survive it. Is she a little exhausting at times? Yes, absolutely. Does that make her all the more real as a protagonist? Definitely. However, I do wish we'd seen more depth to her character beyond the mess. No person is one thing. We focus on Rose's substance abuse and obsession with Poppy, her pessimism and disdain for the world around her, but none of the positives that make her equally human.

💙 I have a love-hate relationship with the story's satire, which leaves it riddled with purposeful cliches. The campy-ness ("I've always had villain monologues in fiction. They feel too convenient. Unrealistic.") feels like the fourth wall is constantly getting broken down and resurrected again. And Poppy's confession is exactly that: over the top and unrealistic. All of the pieces are so obvious (Rose getting tipped off twice would mean it was someone at the publication [ie, Cat] or someone close to her [ie, Antanova]). It's possible to write this as a satire without it being so predictable at every turn. The whole "pranks" thing (aka "lies") made the characters seem juvenile, rather than adding levity to their world.

💙 As a Middle Eastern American journalist, I wanted to connect to Rose so much more than I did. The self-reflection about being a child of immigrants could have built Rose's character, made her question her sense of belonging (reflecting the ease in which Poppy assimilates into the world of one-percenters). Instead, it's randomly inserted into the story, added in as an afterthought. There's a brief mention of Rose's articles about her upbringing--feeling like an outsider, an observer straddling the line between two words. Giving us snippets between chapters from those articles would have humanized Rose more. Instead, we dive RIGHT into the drunk, drugged-up, self-destructive version of Rose, which makes her unlikeable and unreliable as a narrator. Rose and Poppy share that mentality of nonbelonging--it should have been a focal theme for the story all along.

🦇 Recommended for fans of true crime and satire.

✨ The Vibes ✨
💋 Satire/Witty
💋 Anna Delvey/Inventing Anna Vibes
💋 Journalist/FBI Agent
💋 Drug & Alcohol Use
💋 Child of Immigrants/Inherited Trauma
💋 Murder & Conspiracies
💋 Smut

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #TheMostFamousGirlintheWorld

💬 Quotes
❝ Reality really can write itself better than any great American novel. ❞
❝ That article I’d written about Poppy set me on fire. I was forged but also burned in the process. ❞
❝ It was strange and disorienting growing up with a foot in each world. My sourdough-skinned peers could tell I wasn’t actually a blue-blooded American. My skin was brown, and my arms were hairy, and my parents talked funny when they came to pick me up in their Kia Rio. The other Iranian kids didn’t quite recognize me as their own, either. I was too westernized to understand their jokes, to fully feel the weight of their dysphoria. Since I couldn’t be an active participant in either world, I grew into a silent observer. And I began to write everything down. ❞
❝ I keep them at arm’s length, never letting them get to know the real me. And in turn, they embrace the fake me. ❞

Fantastic premise. I was sold as soon as I read the description. I love the commentary on who we make famous and how we "condemn" and "cancel" people but it gives them more and more power. I also love journalism/publishing stories as someone with that background. However, I really thought the romance was entirely unnecessary and cringe. And it really took me out of the story. The twist was... questionable and over the top. Also took me out of the story. But that ending! Wow! I'm staying tuned for more!

I think it’s going to take a very specific subset of readers to enjoy this book. If you don’t like a suspend-all-reality setting with an unhinged FMC, this isn’t for you. I also think if you’re not expecting the romance subplot, it’s an unpleasant surprise. That said, I’ll read anything loosely based on Anna Delvey, so obviously I picked this up. The beginning was good, then at about 25% it became a little more meh… lots of people peeved at the epilogue but I was most annoyed at a major cliffhanger ending with no resolution.

DNF
INCREDIBLE premise with horrible execution. I’m so disappointed this was bad because the idea is so fun. Horrific dialogue, plot is meandering. It’s funny but so reliant on contemporary internet culture that it’ll be unreadable in a decade because no one will understand the references being made

This was a fun read, if a bit predictable. It had Inventing Anna vibes.

Journalist Rose has become consumed with Poppy Hastings and her potentially criminal activity. What lengths will Rose go to in order to find the truth?

Thank you to Iman Harris-Kia, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks landmark for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book will appeal to Young Adult (not Teen) readers who enjoy campy crime stories and steamy romance. The salty language would make it difficult to recommend for a segment of readers.

This book was extremely underwhelming and just so jumbled. I enjoyed her first book and rated it 4 stars but this one didn’t live up to the first. The questions at the end of the book say it’s satirical but I don’t feel like it reads that way? It reads like a bad Netflix movie.

The beginning gives Anna Delvey vibes and quickly launches into someone who is going off of the rails. There’s drug use and alcohol abuse that felt just thrown in there and the main character is so unlikeable. I had very little interest in the love story.

The pacing felt off and rushed and the twists were frustrating.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book!

The Most Famous Girl in the World was definitely a campy and a little bit of a crazy read! It was very fast paced considering I flew through the book in two sittings! I had a lot of fun being within Rose’s perspective and I often found myself laughing at her slightly unhinged (in a good way) inner monologue. I thought the plot was so fun and topical. However I do feel that towards the end the novel things started to come out of left field. I almost wish there was a different explanation for Poppy’s motivations. I also wish there was less of a focus on the romantic elements of this book. Now I did like Simon but I felt the more romantic scenes between him and Rose took away from some of the suspense of the plot. I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a fun and fast paced novel about fame, obsession, and conspiracies!