The Rise by Shari Low and Ross King was an absorbing read and full of celebrity gossip, scandals, and unlikeable characters (but that's the point of the plot and story). The story goes back and forth between 2013 and 20 years earlier, when the characters (Mirren, Davie, and Zander) are teens in Glasgow. They hold a secret and are desperate to keep it that way.

Interesting references to song titles as chapter headings. Sometimes the references or descriptions of characters were hard to understand.

Overall, a good, fast-paced read and a book I would recommend. I would give this a solid 3.5 stars (rounded to 4) out of 5 stars. The middle got a bit tedious to read and felt a bit slow.

#TheRise #NetGalley @BoldwoodBooks

The Rise by Shari Low and Ross King is the perfect summer novel - reminiscent of a Collins novel - it is packed with interesting characters - each with their own back story but each character is inextricably tied to each other with the threat of a closely guarded secret ready to make itself known.
Marrin, Zander, and Davie are childhood friends who grew up in Glasgow - living a few doors from each other, the teenagers form a close friendship which becomes even closer by the secret that they share.
The three teenagers escape Glasgow on the back of Merrin's novel which is turned into an award winning film - which sees each of their stars shine - Merrin is a film producer. Zander a model and Davie produces award winning tv shows. The trio have fallen out and don't speak even though they move in the same media/celebrity circles.
Joining the story is Sarah, she is a Glaswegian newspaper reporter who is desperate to get to the bottom of their secret - where is Jono Leith (Zanders father who was also a Scottish gangster.)
Each character has their own story and I particulary enjoyed how King has brought his media and celebrity knowledge to Low's writing.
Fast paced, totally absorbing, a recommended read!

I have always enjoyed Shari Low’s books in the past but they have often seemed on the light side of chick lit, this book on the other hand is nothing like her previous writing and it benefits from that. If you enjoyed early Jackie Collins and the grime of the 80s then this book is for you

I used to love Jackie Collin’s books, no one did the exotic glam and thrill of L.A. like her and in my teenage years I would rush to buy her latest bestseller and dream of going to L.A…..this dream became reality in my early 20’s and we went there for a month ( the power of books eh? ) anyway…nothing has come close to her books and so I picked this with interest as it seemed to have all the ingredients to make one of these long gone blockbuster reads….and it held true to what it promised, its alive with vibrancy, salacious gossip, fantasy locations wonderful OTT Characters and a smattering of name dropping of real stars, welcome Louboutin/Chanel/Tom Ford, top hotels and restaurants abound and money is to be spent, liberally, all this plus everything else needed to make this book as good ( for me ) as it was….importantly too there is a really really good lead story ( as well as many sub ones ) re 3 youngsters from Glasgow who have made it ( and are now losing it ) in the City of Angels
I can’t tell you how much I loved every bit of this book other than I wish it was double, treble in length and how good it was to be back in the LA bubble world, it may not suit all, I get that, for me it was awesome

10/10
5 Stars