The River Rising by MK Mancuso

ABOUT THE BOOK

River’s life was always held together by secrets, but it wasn’t until she started dating Jace Bolton, the CEO of Lark Station, that living a life of lies would consume her. 

After recently graduating college with a degree in broadcast journalism and landing an assistant job at Lark Station, River felt one step closer to achieving her dream of becoming a news reporter. However, after a few dates with Jace, she’s discovered that he’s been stalking her for the past few months. Upon confronting him and praying for things to go her way, River is met with a darker reality. Not only has he been stalking her, but he knows her secret. 

Worried she’ll slip out of his grasp, Jace blackmails River into dating him and a contract is proposed. 

Having spent the last few years trying to keep the balance between quietly working as a cam model and the rest of her life separate, River knows her world is about to get a whole lot more challenging.

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REVIEW

The River Rising draws you in immediately. I did a two-day binge read which in the middle of the week is difficult unless it's an audiobook. I made it work because I did not want to put it down. This book is haunting, bittersweet, and led me to contemplate some thought-provoking ideas. Don't expect a light-hearted novel. 

Secrets are never good, they either come out or destroy from within every time. But we all keep them. And we have justifiable reasons for doing so. With the big ones though they can change the essence of who you are, especially if one is kept hostage by them. River gains first-hand knowledge of this, for that matter so does Jace and the other supporting cast. I can't say I would have done much different in most of their cases, but it is a hard lesson to learn when things go wrong.

When convinced a love is meant to be, what do you do to hold onto it? Forcing things is not the answer, even if there is a temporary stay afterward. Little can be done do to stop the inevitable end of a doomed relationship. Under different circumstances maybe River could have fared better in her situation. Sadly too much happens because of her secret, a few secrets actually, for things to wrap up tidy for her.

Obsession, compulsion, anger, depression. How far is too far before you need to worry about someone's mental well-being? When is it we are partially culpable in making someone's emotional triggers worse? Our first instinct is to protect ourselves and make sure no one is physically harmed. We should be more comfortable accepting, asking for, and giving help so bad feelings do not consume and become dangerous. We go to the doctor with a broken bone. It should feel natural to go for a fractured mind. Maybe Jace and River would not have fallen so deep in despair if that were the case, Jace especially. Jace's behavior did not manifest out of thin air someone knew it loomed below the surface. (I'm looking at you, Carter. Maybe give a guy some help huh?) 

All the characters are exceptionally fleshed out, even those we do not spend a ton of time with during the story. River's relationships and her actions were understandable. I could sympathize with Jace and see his point of view. Unfortunately, when I was unable to choose a consistent side in their affair, the ending hit me pretty hard. It would have been easier if I hated Jace from the beginning, but I really didn't. And those emotions are still with me the day after my read. Excellent job.

The editing was a bit off in a few places, but perhaps this is due to the early copy I received. Maybe one more read through would have cleaned up the remaining errors. I was still able to get the just of what was happening when this occurred. I encourage all readers to come to their own conclusions, but I do believe this book is well worth a try.