I'm going to be honest, I was super excited to read this book but I wasn't exactly expecting a lot from it. The Famoux is the story of Emilee, a girl living in a future where global warming has destroyed most of the world. Spending most of her time being bullied by her schoolmates or yelled at by her family, Emilee is shocked when one day she is scooped off the street and offered the chance to join her favourite teenage celebrities, The Famoux. Leaving her own life behind, she moves in with them and becomes a part of their world. Only then does she learn that one of them has been murdered by a secret organisation, and it seems very likely they will kill again.
The start of this book is fairly rough. If you're a teenager you'll undoubtedly love it, but there are quite a lot of 'YA dystopian' tropes here. The people and the cities all have twee names like 'Chapter Stones' and 'Delicatum'. It gives major Selection vibes (which admittedly I love). But push past the first few chapters and suddenly you get to a story which is surprisingly very genuinely good.
The blurb is a little misleading I feel. The Famoux are reality stars but their celebrity group functions a lot more like a hype house without the TikTok. Every one of them has their own talent, and they spend most of the time doing activities together and building publicity. If you're expecting a story based around being on a reality TV show, this isn't it. However, the main strength of The Famoux is its intriguing plot and characters. The Famoux are all pitted against each other in a popularity contest for their lives, and this results in some very enjoyable character interactions and dynamics. I got sucked into this world and, better yet, I couldn't predict where the plot was going or who would do what next.
Overall, this book is a ton of fun. If you don't mind the occasional YA trope indulgence, there's a real gem of a story to be found here. As soon as I finished it, I was desperate to read the sequel and return to this world. I really hope it gets published as this book definitely deserves some love and attention.
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