Book Review

Review: The Rise by Shari Low + Ross King

When we bury our secrets, they always come back to haunt us…

Their rise was meteoric.
Only a few years before, they had been three friends from Glasgow, just trying to survive tough lives of danger and dysfunction.
But on one Hollywood night in 1993, they were on the world’s biggest stage, accepting their Oscar in front of the watching world.
That night was the beginning of their careers. But it was also the end of their friendship.

Over the next twenty years, Mirren McLean would become one of the most powerful writers in the movie industry.
Zander Leith would break box-office records as cinema’s most in-demand action hero.
And Davie Johnson would rake in millions as producer of some of the biggest shows on TV.

For two decades they didn’t speak, driven apart by a horrific secret.
Until now…
Their past is coming back to bite them, and they have to decide whether to run, hide, or fight.
Because when you rise to the top, there’s always someone who wants to see you fall.


This book reads like one of those old nighttime soaps, full high drama and even higher stakes. It gives us all of the glitz and glamor of Hollywood but also proves it’s a facade

Covering a much more mundane and troubling reality. The main characters are three friends from Glasgow who were inseparable as teens, helping each other through poverty and rough homes. They meant the world to one another back then, but something came between them. They accept an Oscar together then walk out of each other’s lives permanently. But why?

There are so many twists and turns, some you’ll see coming but others will blindside you. Their story is emotional and tough at times but the characters pulled me in from the beginning so I constantly wanted to see what would happen next. I liked them all but they all made me angry as well because the characters are very real. This is a tough review because it’s a complex plot with a lot of action so there’s a lot that I want to say but I keep deleting what I write so as not to be a spoiler. This isn’t a romance so not my usual fare but I really enjoyed it. And though there was no typical HEA like I’m used to, they got a version of it that fits perfectly for the story, which was the cherry on top for me. I received an ARC from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

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