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The Shot
How much would you sacrifice for another shot at the perfect life?
Producer Mara Bolt is the queen of reality TV. Ambitious to the point of ruthlessness, Mara will do anything for ratings. When she meets Kristy Shaw, Mara is certain she's found the star of her newest series, The Shot.
Kristy is languishing in her small hometown and a dead-end job, pining for her first love, Max Irving. The Shot offers her a Total Body Transformation - extreme plastic surgery to render her unrecognisable - as a way to recapture Max's affections under a new identity. But there's a if she doesn't secure his heart in thirty days, she must have her surgeries reversed, and go back to her previous life.
As the cameras start rolling, Mara and Kristy both feel there is something happening behind the scenes - something that threatens to reveal old wounds and create new secrets. If they are going to keep the show on track, they must repress the truths and desires that lie just beneath the surface.
The Shot is a rollercoaster read about our obsession with beauty, the trappings of success, and the desperate, outrageous lengths we will go to for love and ambition. It asks the where is the line between entertainment and exploitation?
Praise for The Shot
'The Shot speaks to that secret, burning urge we have to be pulled apart and put back together as something better. Naima Brown gifts us a runaway-train plot and characters that feel real, even as they try to deny every part of themselves. Clear your you won't be able to put this book down.' Hayley Scrivenor, bestselling author of Dirt Town
'Riveting, intense and, let's face it, downright disturbing, The Shot explores morality through the lens of reality television. On the surface fast-paced and entertaining, this book is the proverbial duck, paddling deeper to explore the more complex waters of privacy, ethics and the human cost of what we call entertainment. This one is going to get a lot of attention, and rightfully so.' Sally Hepworth, bestselling author of The Soulmate
Producer Mara Bolt is the queen of reality TV. Ambitious to the point of ruthlessness, Mara will do anything for ratings. When she meets Kristy Shaw, Mara is certain she's found the star of her newest series, The Shot.
Kristy is languishing in her small hometown and a dead-end job, pining for her first love, Max Irving. The Shot offers her a Total Body Transformation - extreme plastic surgery to render her unrecognisable - as a way to recapture Max's affections under a new identity. But there's a if she doesn't secure his heart in thirty days, she must have her surgeries reversed, and go back to her previous life.
As the cameras start rolling, Mara and Kristy both feel there is something happening behind the scenes - something that threatens to reveal old wounds and create new secrets. If they are going to keep the show on track, they must repress the truths and desires that lie just beneath the surface.
The Shot is a rollercoaster read about our obsession with beauty, the trappings of success, and the desperate, outrageous lengths we will go to for love and ambition. It asks the where is the line between entertainment and exploitation?
Praise for The Shot
'The Shot speaks to that secret, burning urge we have to be pulled apart and put back together as something better. Naima Brown gifts us a runaway-train plot and characters that feel real, even as they try to deny every part of themselves. Clear your you won't be able to put this book down.' Hayley Scrivenor, bestselling author of Dirt Town
'Riveting, intense and, let's face it, downright disturbing, The Shot explores morality through the lens of reality television. On the surface fast-paced and entertaining, this book is the proverbial duck, paddling deeper to explore the more complex waters of privacy, ethics and the human cost of what we call entertainment. This one is going to get a lot of attention, and rightfully so.' Sally Hepworth, bestselling author of The Soulmate
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Published May 30, 2023
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May 26, 2023Read 14-16 Jan finished it at 12.10 am.
I just read the second half until I finished. I couldn’t put it down. It was a very uneasy read and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I really didn’t like storyline but was so cleverly written I couldn’t stop reading it. Was quite a weird feeling.
I nearly did not read it as I knew from the blurb that the story line was not really my cup of tea.
I found the story line frightening. The lengths someone will go to get an ex to fall in love with them again. Horrific. And for it ALL to be recorded for reality TV. Mind blowing to me.
There was a very unexpected chain of events which completely changed the direction of the story and again was quite clever.
I just read the second half until I finished. I couldn’t put it down. It was a very uneasy read and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I really didn’t like storyline but was so cleverly written I couldn’t stop reading it. Was quite a weird feeling.
I nearly did not read it as I knew from the blurb that the story line was not really my cup of tea.
I found the story line frightening. The lengths someone will go to get an ex to fall in love with them again. Horrific. And for it ALL to be recorded for reality TV. Mind blowing to me.
There was a very unexpected chain of events which completely changed the direction of the story and again was quite clever.
July 2, 2023
I’m still not sure how I feel about this book. At times it read like a pantomime script with key characters so nasty you wanted to hiss at them. Logic definitely needed to be parked at the door with suspended disbelief firmly in gear. However the over-the-top story line and it’s satire of modern society, reality TV genres and class divides kept me intrigued enough to push on. Ultimately it’s dark humour and plot twists were satisfying, if still slightly irritating for their exaggeration and hyper-realism.
July 3, 2023
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
The Shot is a contemporary fiction meditation on reality television, personal sacrifice and identity written by debut novelist Naima Brown. Examining themes of ethics, honesty, integrity, confidentiality and personal damage, The Shot is a topical tale provides the reader with an insight into the dark side of reality television.
An explosive story about the entertainment world, The Shot is a fresh new release from first time novelist Naima Brown. Introducing a radical figure in the reality television circuit named Mara Bolt, we witness the extreme behaviour of a producer who is hell bent on securing television notoriety. When Mara encounters a lost young woman named Kirsty, she is confident that Kristy will be her next big-name celebrity. Kirsty is offered a spot on an experimental reality television show called The Shot. Kirsty must endure rounds of plastic surgery to transform her into a new person named Imogen Byrne. With her new identity, Kirsty must secure the heart and lasting affection of her first love Max in a time frame of just thirty days. If Kirsty does not complete this mission successfully, she will need to return to her old life and have her surgeries reversed. Once filming begins on the show there is a deep feeling amongst both woman that something much bigger than them is going on behind the cameras. But Mara must ensure that everything is kept under wraps and any secrets that will threaten the success of the show are contained. Will Mara’s show be a success or a flop?
Naima Brown is familiar with the often crazy and unpredictable world of reality television thanks to a role she previously had in the Australian reality TV circuit. This direct experience has informed the production of Brown’s first novel The Shot. An ultramodern story that looks at the fickle world of reality television entertainment, The Shot is a perceptive and tuned in read.
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The entertainment world always provides quite fertile ground for storytellers. The Shot is a novel inspired by the influence of reality television and the lengths contestants of these productions will go to for their chance at fame. It also looks at the producers and creators of this show, who are willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve rating success. The Shot is told via three parts and is a jointly narrated tale. The first perspective we are privy to is Mara, an ambitious reality television executive. Mara provides the reader a good insight into this quite high pressured form of employment. While the other main standpoint of Naima Brown’s debut belongs to Kristy Shaw, a woman who is pining for her first love Max. Out of the two, I think Kristy was the one I cared a little more about and I even rooted for her as the cameras started to roll. Mara was very tricky to like and I couldn’t seem to warm to her, but Brown’s depiction of both women was credible.
The Shot raises some interesting conundrums around identity, love, affection, trauma, the past, longing, self-belief, desire, perfection, betrayal, extortion and profiteering. I appreciated the focus on these present-day conflicts in The Shot, especially the main glance at self-image and perceived happiness. However, I think that as I am not a fan of reality television, I struggled to sustain continued interest in this one, it seemed just a bit too zany and out of my comfort zone reading wise especially in the latter stages of the story. I’m sure those who love to binge on reality television programs will enjoy The Shot.
*Thanks extended to Pan Macmillan for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
The Shot is a contemporary fiction meditation on reality television, personal sacrifice and identity written by debut novelist Naima Brown. Examining themes of ethics, honesty, integrity, confidentiality and personal damage, The Shot is a topical tale provides the reader with an insight into the dark side of reality television.
An explosive story about the entertainment world, The Shot is a fresh new release from first time novelist Naima Brown. Introducing a radical figure in the reality television circuit named Mara Bolt, we witness the extreme behaviour of a producer who is hell bent on securing television notoriety. When Mara encounters a lost young woman named Kirsty, she is confident that Kristy will be her next big-name celebrity. Kirsty is offered a spot on an experimental reality television show called The Shot. Kirsty must endure rounds of plastic surgery to transform her into a new person named Imogen Byrne. With her new identity, Kirsty must secure the heart and lasting affection of her first love Max in a time frame of just thirty days. If Kirsty does not complete this mission successfully, she will need to return to her old life and have her surgeries reversed. Once filming begins on the show there is a deep feeling amongst both woman that something much bigger than them is going on behind the cameras. But Mara must ensure that everything is kept under wraps and any secrets that will threaten the success of the show are contained. Will Mara’s show be a success or a flop?
Naima Brown is familiar with the often crazy and unpredictable world of reality television thanks to a role she previously had in the Australian reality TV circuit. This direct experience has informed the production of Brown’s first novel The Shot. An ultramodern story that looks at the fickle world of reality television entertainment, The Shot is a perceptive and tuned in read.
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REPORT THIS AD
The entertainment world always provides quite fertile ground for storytellers. The Shot is a novel inspired by the influence of reality television and the lengths contestants of these productions will go to for their chance at fame. It also looks at the producers and creators of this show, who are willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve rating success. The Shot is told via three parts and is a jointly narrated tale. The first perspective we are privy to is Mara, an ambitious reality television executive. Mara provides the reader a good insight into this quite high pressured form of employment. While the other main standpoint of Naima Brown’s debut belongs to Kristy Shaw, a woman who is pining for her first love Max. Out of the two, I think Kristy was the one I cared a little more about and I even rooted for her as the cameras started to roll. Mara was very tricky to like and I couldn’t seem to warm to her, but Brown’s depiction of both women was credible.
The Shot raises some interesting conundrums around identity, love, affection, trauma, the past, longing, self-belief, desire, perfection, betrayal, extortion and profiteering. I appreciated the focus on these present-day conflicts in The Shot, especially the main glance at self-image and perceived happiness. However, I think that as I am not a fan of reality television, I struggled to sustain continued interest in this one, it seemed just a bit too zany and out of my comfort zone reading wise especially in the latter stages of the story. I’m sure those who love to binge on reality television programs will enjoy The Shot.
*Thanks extended to Pan Macmillan for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
August 13, 2023
4.5 stars
Yikes! 😱
Listened to the audio via BorrowBox
Published by Bolinda/Macmillan Australia
Narrated by Sophie Loughran
Duration: 14 hrs, 48 min. 1.25x Speed
Yikes! 😱
Listened to the audio via BorrowBox
Published by Bolinda/Macmillan Australia
Narrated by Sophie Loughran
Duration: 14 hrs, 48 min. 1.25x Speed
June 6, 2023
Thank you Pan Macmillan for sending us a copy to read and review.
Reality TV is a television program that documents unscripted real life situations usually with real life people, sometimes graphic and often emotional.
The newest reality tv sensation has just been pitched.
The Shot will follow one woman’s journey as she goes through a full body transformation and try and win back the heart of her ex in one month if she doesn’t the transformation will be reversed.
Ruthless producer Mara Bolt will do anything for ratings gold.
She is hoping The Shot will be a huge success, her next genius idea.
But first she must find the perfect candidate.
Kirsty Shaw is desperate to win back the love of her ex, Max.
She is approached to star in The Shot.
Full body plastic surgery to the point of being unrecognisable.
What could possibly go wrong……
A look at behind the scenes into the dark side of a real world show.
The things that producers will do to get the perfect scene, no matter what it takes.
It’s very addictive, clever and absolutely over the top but in a good way.
Very character driven and as the story progresses the cast become more outrageous just to be successful and famous.
A well written plotted tale that comes across highly entertaining.
For fans of extreme reality tv or just want a good read.
Reality TV is a television program that documents unscripted real life situations usually with real life people, sometimes graphic and often emotional.
The newest reality tv sensation has just been pitched.
The Shot will follow one woman’s journey as she goes through a full body transformation and try and win back the heart of her ex in one month if she doesn’t the transformation will be reversed.
Ruthless producer Mara Bolt will do anything for ratings gold.
She is hoping The Shot will be a huge success, her next genius idea.
But first she must find the perfect candidate.
Kirsty Shaw is desperate to win back the love of her ex, Max.
She is approached to star in The Shot.
Full body plastic surgery to the point of being unrecognisable.
What could possibly go wrong……
A look at behind the scenes into the dark side of a real world show.
The things that producers will do to get the perfect scene, no matter what it takes.
It’s very addictive, clever and absolutely over the top but in a good way.
Very character driven and as the story progresses the cast become more outrageous just to be successful and famous.
A well written plotted tale that comes across highly entertaining.
For fans of extreme reality tv or just want a good read.
September 27, 2024
Loved this book! It was The Little Mermaid meets Botched meets Black Mirror meets The Bachelor and I was definitely here for it. It was both a fun read and a terrifying glimpse into the behind the scenes of the reality tv industry.
August 29, 2026
Naima’s books are so easy to immerse yourself in and are thoroughly enjoyable. Next please.
August 7, 2024
3.75?? Holy shit...yikes! This was a highly dramatised, cynical and unrealistic read. I hate to admit but it was entertaining, just very far-fetched. How the heck does someone recover from a total body transformation surgery in just a few weeks, and with hundreds of scars that somehow aren't alarming to an intimate lover?? Honestly, Max didn't even seem worth it - for Kristy to handover her entire body and autonomy just to win back the love of her MEDIOCRE ex. The main interest for me was in Mara. I could sense she was hiding FAR more deceit and psychological trauma than was initially revealed. This had a ridiculous plot, but did cleverly intertwine the extreme lengths of seeking beauty, popularity and control. The pacing felt off to me throughout the entire book. And that ending...surreal!!! The only three words I can use to sum this up: "What. The. Fuckl?!"
June 5, 2023
🤩 This surprised me, and surprised in a good way. I don’t watch a lot of TV but when I do, give me some tacky reality shows. Like books, they offer an escape and a glimpse into other peoples lives. A varying mixture of funny, sad and sometimes tragic.
The Shot showcases what sacrifices are made for the sake of ratings. The humans both behind and in front of the camera. Full of drama, emotion and some twists I did not see coming. A wonderful, clever and written debut that’s highly entertaining weather you enjoy reality TV or not.
Many thanks to @macmillan and @lou for organising this fab buddy read and sending a complimentary copy for review ❤️ - Out Now.
The Shot showcases what sacrifices are made for the sake of ratings. The humans both behind and in front of the camera. Full of drama, emotion and some twists I did not see coming. A wonderful, clever and written debut that’s highly entertaining weather you enjoy reality TV or not.
Many thanks to @macmillan and @lou for organising this fab buddy read and sending a complimentary copy for review ❤️ - Out Now.
November 21, 2023
An audiobook. I am not a fan of reality tv but this extreme show idea appealed to me as one of the most horrendous but also plausible tv makers ideas. The preying upon vulnerable people is awful but equally the show creator is ‘honest’ when she ‘pitches’ the idea. I sincerely hope that such a heinous concept never becomes a real program but given the huge popularity of cruel reality programs I fear it could. I am not sure what ending I wanted - not the fairytale one but I was a little disappointed.
October 27, 2023
Interesting book, the suspension of disbelief required to believe the premise of the story was too much of a stretch for me. I enjoyed how the author explored the dangers of being a reality tv contestant but having just had a small surgery myself I just couldn’t believe that anyone could recover from a total body makeover in a few weeks. So I didn’t really enjoy the book because I found the story too unbelievable.
March 1, 2024
Well I hated this book at first and I couldn't stand the trailer trash voice but in the end it grew on me and I guess I can say I enjoyed the ending.
February 6, 2026
This was pretty crazy, but great! Like an even more unhinged version of the "UnReal" tv show. Loved it!
March 22, 2026
Mara really ought to stop cancelling her psych appointments because she’s categorically unwell.
Such an interesting and unique story, albeit uncomfortable to read at times. Unfortunately the ending fell a little bit flat for me, it felt somewhat satirical which didn’t suit the rest of the book.
Such an interesting and unique story, albeit uncomfortable to read at times. Unfortunately the ending fell a little bit flat for me, it felt somewhat satirical which didn’t suit the rest of the book.
December 21, 2023
Addictive and disturbing, THE SHOT explores the lengths people will go to in pursuit of their desires - whether it be success, fame or for a second chance at love.
Told through the POVs of equally intriguing and flawed characters Kristy Shaw, a new adult yearning for her first love and Mara Bolt an ambitious and manipulative tv producer. The backdrop of reality tv show production provides an interesting lens with which to explore compelling themes such as power, privilege, privacy, identity, ethics, perfection, family and love.
Do you need to be a fan of #realityTV to enjoy #TheShot? I don't believe so.
THE SHOT is a cleverly plotted, character-driven #psychologicalthriller that is unsettling at times with the perfect amount of humour juxtaposed against dark themes.
I can see why THE SHOT was nominated for the @booktopiabooks #FABaward Many thanks @macmillanaus for this copy for review.
Can't wait to see what Naima Brown comes out with next. Have you read THE SHOT or added it to your TBR?
Told through the POVs of equally intriguing and flawed characters Kristy Shaw, a new adult yearning for her first love and Mara Bolt an ambitious and manipulative tv producer. The backdrop of reality tv show production provides an interesting lens with which to explore compelling themes such as power, privilege, privacy, identity, ethics, perfection, family and love.
Do you need to be a fan of #realityTV to enjoy #TheShot? I don't believe so.
THE SHOT is a cleverly plotted, character-driven #psychologicalthriller that is unsettling at times with the perfect amount of humour juxtaposed against dark themes.
I can see why THE SHOT was nominated for the @booktopiabooks #FABaward Many thanks @macmillanaus for this copy for review.
Can't wait to see what Naima Brown comes out with next. Have you read THE SHOT or added it to your TBR?
January 10, 2026
Reading The Shot felt like revisiting the discomfort I now associate with growing up watching Extreme Makeover. At the time, it was framed as aspirational entertainment, but looking back, it’s hard not to wonder what that level of scrutiny, intervention and supposed improvement did to the people involved long after the cameras stopped rolling. What happens when someone is taught that their body, personality and worth are problems to be fixed in order to be lovable?
This book quietly, devastatingly explores that question.
From early on, the novel establishes a sense of unease that never fully lifts. The protagonist is young, impressionable and gradually coerced into reshaping herself- not through overt force, but through a system that reframes compliance as opportunity and harm as growth. What makes this so confronting is how subtle it is. The manipulation doesn’t feel dramatic; it feels procedural, normalised and therefore harder to name.
The antagonist figure is deeply predatory, echoing characters like Quinn King from UnREAL and embodies the reality TV producer who understands exactly how to weaponise insecurity. The book captures how power operates not through chaos, but through control, fatigue and the careful erosion of autonomy- all in service of creating something palatable for mass consumption.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its refusal to offer easy catharsis. Rather than delivering a neat narrative of empowerment, The Shot lingers on the psychological aftermath of exploitation. It highlights how being constantly watched reshapes a person from the inside out, how self-surveillance can persist even after the external gaze is gone, and how harm doesn’t need to be loud or visible to be life-altering.
The book also implicates the reader. It forces a reckoning with our role as audiences, how easily we accept narratives of transformation, how readily we consume suffering when it’s packaged as entertainment. As someone who enjoys reality TV, this was an uncomfortable but necessary confrontation. The novel doesn’t moralise, but it does refuse to let us look away.
The Shot is unsettling, bleak in its honesty and deeply effective. It exposes how systems built on beauty, desire and spectacle don’t just fail their participants- they quietly remake them, often leaving damage that can’t be neatly resolved once the cameras stop rolling.
This book quietly, devastatingly explores that question.
From early on, the novel establishes a sense of unease that never fully lifts. The protagonist is young, impressionable and gradually coerced into reshaping herself- not through overt force, but through a system that reframes compliance as opportunity and harm as growth. What makes this so confronting is how subtle it is. The manipulation doesn’t feel dramatic; it feels procedural, normalised and therefore harder to name.
The antagonist figure is deeply predatory, echoing characters like Quinn King from UnREAL and embodies the reality TV producer who understands exactly how to weaponise insecurity. The book captures how power operates not through chaos, but through control, fatigue and the careful erosion of autonomy- all in service of creating something palatable for mass consumption.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its refusal to offer easy catharsis. Rather than delivering a neat narrative of empowerment, The Shot lingers on the psychological aftermath of exploitation. It highlights how being constantly watched reshapes a person from the inside out, how self-surveillance can persist even after the external gaze is gone, and how harm doesn’t need to be loud or visible to be life-altering.
The book also implicates the reader. It forces a reckoning with our role as audiences, how easily we accept narratives of transformation, how readily we consume suffering when it’s packaged as entertainment. As someone who enjoys reality TV, this was an uncomfortable but necessary confrontation. The novel doesn’t moralise, but it does refuse to let us look away.
The Shot is unsettling, bleak in its honesty and deeply effective. It exposes how systems built on beauty, desire and spectacle don’t just fail their participants- they quietly remake them, often leaving damage that can’t be neatly resolved once the cameras stop rolling.
July 17, 2024
The Shot has an arresting premise--Florida trailer park resident Kristy Shaw, 21, signs up for a reality TV show. She'll be given a new name, a new job, a Manhattan apartment, a surgical Total Body TransformationTM, and 30 days to win the heart of her ex-boyfriend. If she fails, her new life will be taken away and all her surgeries will be reversed.
On the one hand, reality TV satire couldn't be less timely. Ben Elton's been on this beat since Dead Famous, his 2001 novel about a murder in the Big Brother house. Series 7: The Contenders, a wild precursor to The Hunger Games, hit cinemas that same year. In a cultural landscape dominated by Tiktok influencers, even the most exploitative of reality shows have a quaint, nostalgic charm.
On the other hand, The Shot isn't really about reality TV. It uses its Little-Mermaid-esque premise to explore class in America. The producer of the show (the sea witch, if you will) has an almost identical background to Kristy--they're both white women from the same small town, where they were both badly let down by their parents. But unlike Kristy, Mara grew up with money, and as a result, she has a different (but no less damaging) set of psychological wounds. Both women slowly creep towards madness--Mara is obsessed with controlling Kristy's interior and exterior worlds, while Kristy is Jekyll, Hyde and Frankenstein's monster all rolled into one.
I hate the bland, thrillery title--the book should clearly be called Cut--but the writing is terrific. Many books these days feel like they were written to become TV shows, but even though The Shot is about a TV show, the stylish prose and almost-unreliable-narration make it gloriously unfilmable. I've been reading it not just when I'm bored, but also when I really should be doing other things, and I was terrified the ending wouldn't do the rest justice (a feeling I only get when a book is really, really good). I still have no idea if it's comedy or tragedy--though the surgeon's line, "Kristy, you deserve a more feminine vagina," may offer a clue.
On the one hand, reality TV satire couldn't be less timely. Ben Elton's been on this beat since Dead Famous, his 2001 novel about a murder in the Big Brother house. Series 7: The Contenders, a wild precursor to The Hunger Games, hit cinemas that same year. In a cultural landscape dominated by Tiktok influencers, even the most exploitative of reality shows have a quaint, nostalgic charm.
On the other hand, The Shot isn't really about reality TV. It uses its Little-Mermaid-esque premise to explore class in America. The producer of the show (the sea witch, if you will) has an almost identical background to Kristy--they're both white women from the same small town, where they were both badly let down by their parents. But unlike Kristy, Mara grew up with money, and as a result, she has a different (but no less damaging) set of psychological wounds. Both women slowly creep towards madness--Mara is obsessed with controlling Kristy's interior and exterior worlds, while Kristy is Jekyll, Hyde and Frankenstein's monster all rolled into one.
I hate the bland, thrillery title--the book should clearly be called Cut--but the writing is terrific. Many books these days feel like they were written to become TV shows, but even though The Shot is about a TV show, the stylish prose and almost-unreliable-narration make it gloriously unfilmable. I've been reading it not just when I'm bored, but also when I really should be doing other things, and I was terrified the ending wouldn't do the rest justice (a feeling I only get when a book is really, really good). I still have no idea if it's comedy or tragedy--though the surgeon's line, "Kristy, you deserve a more feminine vagina," may offer a clue.
June 12, 2023
✍️ Mara Bolt is the owner of a well known reality TV company and for her next segment titled "The Shot", she's looking for a contestant who will undergo a body transformation to have another shot at winning back their ex.
In comes Kristy Shaw who will be the contestant to participate and become unrecognisable in order to win back Max.
This was a STUNNING Debut which started off Ambiguously and ended up being quite Anomalous and Dismaying. I ADORED it. Completely Enthralling. I couldn't put it down.
There was a magnitude of things that I relished about the story:
*Attention to Detail
* Mesmerising Storytelling
* Unique Narrative
* Entertaining storyline
* Vivid narrative.
The writing style and plot was brilliantly Compulsive and Addictive and filled with humour, emotion and immersion that was so well executed that I was instantly hooked. I was taken on a turbulent and wild journey to the world of reality TV, Self-Image, Compulsion.
There were moments where I felt a deal of emotions and alarm for Kristy and her role in the show as I was reading in apprehension and waiting to see what was going to happen next. There was so much twists and turns that kept me in suspense.
A fabulously clever, glamorous and entertaining story. Highly recommend!
In comes Kristy Shaw who will be the contestant to participate and become unrecognisable in order to win back Max.
This was a STUNNING Debut which started off Ambiguously and ended up being quite Anomalous and Dismaying. I ADORED it. Completely Enthralling. I couldn't put it down.
There was a magnitude of things that I relished about the story:
*Attention to Detail
* Mesmerising Storytelling
* Unique Narrative
* Entertaining storyline
* Vivid narrative.
The writing style and plot was brilliantly Compulsive and Addictive and filled with humour, emotion and immersion that was so well executed that I was instantly hooked. I was taken on a turbulent and wild journey to the world of reality TV, Self-Image, Compulsion.
There were moments where I felt a deal of emotions and alarm for Kristy and her role in the show as I was reading in apprehension and waiting to see what was going to happen next. There was so much twists and turns that kept me in suspense.
A fabulously clever, glamorous and entertaining story. Highly recommend!
June 26, 2023
How much would you sacrifice for another shot at the perfect life?
The Queen of reality TV Mara Bolt is back again with a brand new reality TV Show – The Shot. She has sent her team out scouting for the new person to be “The Shot”. While Mara has travelled back home to assist her Mum with an upcoming surgery. Mara bumps in to Kristy Shaw. She is everything Mara is looking for and more. Kristy is still living in her hometown with her parents and still loving her ex-boyfriend Max. The Shot offers Kristy a total body transformation to render her unrecognisable to everyone. The catch? Kristy needs to win Max back within thirty days but if she fails all her surgeries will be reversed (the ones that can be) and go back to her previous life.
If you are a fan of reality TV shows this book is for you. An absolute wild ride. The Shot is cleverly written, easy to devour with long chapters. The Shot keeps you turning the pages one after the other late in to the night wanting to know how this story will end for Kristy and Max.
I was lucky enough to get a gifted uncorrected proof of this book thanks to @lou_b_reads and Pan Macmillan.
The Queen of reality TV Mara Bolt is back again with a brand new reality TV Show – The Shot. She has sent her team out scouting for the new person to be “The Shot”. While Mara has travelled back home to assist her Mum with an upcoming surgery. Mara bumps in to Kristy Shaw. She is everything Mara is looking for and more. Kristy is still living in her hometown with her parents and still loving her ex-boyfriend Max. The Shot offers Kristy a total body transformation to render her unrecognisable to everyone. The catch? Kristy needs to win Max back within thirty days but if she fails all her surgeries will be reversed (the ones that can be) and go back to her previous life.
If you are a fan of reality TV shows this book is for you. An absolute wild ride. The Shot is cleverly written, easy to devour with long chapters. The Shot keeps you turning the pages one after the other late in to the night wanting to know how this story will end for Kristy and Max.
I was lucky enough to get a gifted uncorrected proof of this book thanks to @lou_b_reads and Pan Macmillan.
July 9, 2023
“The Shot” makes a not-very-veiled comment upon out obsessions with beauty and its link to success by asking us to consider what we might be willing to sacrifice for another shot at the perfect life. Ruthless reality TV producer Mara Bolt will do anything for ratings. We see this when she meets Kirsty Shaw and determines that she is to be the star of her newest series, The Shot, which is a bit of a The Swan type situation. As initial sections alternate between the stories of Mara and Kristy it is unclear with whom we should be empathising. Mara is quite unlikeable in her abuse of power and unacceptable behaviour, a mean bitch not just in the work sense but also for the sake of its, such as around service people. Kirsty, meanwhile lacks self-determination, languishing away in her small hometown and a dead-end job, pining for her first love, Max until The Shot offers her extreme plastic surgery to make her unrecognisable as a way to recapture Max's affections under a new identity. Given that Krisy has just 30 days to win Max ‘back’, things move quickly and, ultimately, to some expected places. This makes it engaging enough but too unrealistic to be as revolutionary as it might want.
June 11, 2023
What would you do to win back that lost love?
🎥I am absolutely sure I would not go to the lengths that Kristy Shaw went to in this brilliant book!
🎬Kristy can't get over Max. Even though she was from the other side of town to him, he still wanted to be with her.
Then he broke up with her and went to college.
🎬Kristy has struggled to get over it, and when she meets Mara Bolt, who lays on the wow factor and all but lures Kristy into having a radical total body transformation all for the sake of reality tv and a chance to win Max back, she is won over by the opportunity.
📽But what neither of them saw happening was the effect it would have on Kristy and her mind.
📽Mara also did not foresee the emotions Kristy would bring out in herself.
📽This was such a ride and a truly fascinating look into radical reality tv, and the lengths people will go to to become a better version of themselves.
📽If you love a good reality show, body makeovers, hidden cameras, and then super well hidden cameras capturing even the most mundane or private things, then I guarantee this book will be one for you!
🎥I am absolutely sure I would not go to the lengths that Kristy Shaw went to in this brilliant book!
🎬Kristy can't get over Max. Even though she was from the other side of town to him, he still wanted to be with her.
Then he broke up with her and went to college.
🎬Kristy has struggled to get over it, and when she meets Mara Bolt, who lays on the wow factor and all but lures Kristy into having a radical total body transformation all for the sake of reality tv and a chance to win Max back, she is won over by the opportunity.
📽But what neither of them saw happening was the effect it would have on Kristy and her mind.
📽Mara also did not foresee the emotions Kristy would bring out in herself.
📽This was such a ride and a truly fascinating look into radical reality tv, and the lengths people will go to to become a better version of themselves.
📽If you love a good reality show, body makeovers, hidden cameras, and then super well hidden cameras capturing even the most mundane or private things, then I guarantee this book will be one for you!
February 22, 2024
I really want to like the book, but it’s just unnecessarily long and repeating the same thing over and over again - how Kristy and Max met, how he broke up with her and how this 21-year-old park girl is so obsessed with a guy whom she’s been with for such as short time and still upset about the breakup for 3 years. Come on! It’s just unconvincing.
The book is unnecessarily long, and there are nonesense like using half a page to describe the facial expressions of everyone in the doctor's clinic when there are 2 ambulances flown by?! How is this piece of detail helping with the development of the plot?
There is really no need to prolong a book for the sake of prolonging it. Editors are not doing their job.
I have given it a few chances but I really cannot continue reading it. I just don’t know when it will become more engaging and exciting.
Did not finish reading.
The book is unnecessarily long, and there are nonesense like using half a page to describe the facial expressions of everyone in the doctor's clinic when there are 2 ambulances flown by?! How is this piece of detail helping with the development of the plot?
There is really no need to prolong a book for the sake of prolonging it. Editors are not doing their job.
I have given it a few chances but I really cannot continue reading it. I just don’t know when it will become more engaging and exciting.
Did not finish reading.
June 20, 2023
🤩 This surprised me, and surprised in a good way. I don’t watch a lot of TV but when I do, give me some tacky reality shows. Like books, they offer an escape and a glimpse into other peoples lives. A varying mixture of funny, sad and sometimes tragic.
The Shot showcases what sacrifices are made for the sake of ratings. The humans both behind and in front of the camera. Full of drama, emotion and some twists I did not see coming. A wonderful, clever and written debut that’s highly entertaining weather you enjoy reality TV or not.
Many thanks to @macmillan and @lou for organising this fab buddy read and sending a complimentary copy for review ❤️ - Out Now.
The Shot showcases what sacrifices are made for the sake of ratings. The humans both behind and in front of the camera. Full of drama, emotion and some twists I did not see coming. A wonderful, clever and written debut that’s highly entertaining weather you enjoy reality TV or not.
Many thanks to @macmillan and @lou for organising this fab buddy read and sending a complimentary copy for review ❤️ - Out Now.
September 29, 2023
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was great and held my attention. I am glad I listened to the audiobook as I was able to finish in 2 days. That being said, this wasn’t really my cup of tea. I kept holding out because of the other reviews I read here that said they really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop reading it & that they were hooked. ‘The Shot’ reality tv part doesn’t really come into play until you’re halfway through the book. I kept wondering when that was going to start and why it was taking so long to get there. The ending was something I was completely shocked by and didn’t see coming. It was enjoyable just not my favorite.
August 19, 2023
I picked up the Shot because I was curious about it’s most widely shared explanation as being “a book for people who love reality tv”. I think that is far too simple an explanation for this book. It made me deeply uncomfortable for its commentary on identity - it was simply set with a reality TV background. It’s not believable but that’s the point, and I’m hesitant to use that as a criticism. The reason it received a four star rather than a five was it’s ending. As I said, it’s not believable but more than that, it was rushed and too neatly tied up. Interesting read overall.
October 6, 2023
At times unsettling, but a brilliantly plotted and well written novel showcasing original and contemporary topics. The darkness of the theme is made the more palatable by some seriously funny interludes – Denise’s habit of spelling out four letter words and how she and Kristy were going to go out and get Eff You Cee Teed, and the disastrous finale of Mara’s drunken dinner with Brixton stand out. It’s a long time since I enjoyed a book so much.
April 22, 2026
the plot was just so hard to buy into (a girl still in love with her ex signs up for a reality show where they give her a plastic surgery makeover and she tries to get him to fall in love with her.. if she can't then they reverse all the surgeries).
I was more interested in the character who plays the producer, but even she felt very sanitized and not as cut-throat as I wanted (think the producer from UnReal)
I was more interested in the character who plays the producer, but even she felt very sanitized and not as cut-throat as I wanted (think the producer from UnReal)
October 16, 2023
A realilty TV based story, not quite like any that I've read or watched, much more sinister. Embracing the most inherent issues with reality TV: integrity, honesty, ethics, mental stability, basic human rights...
A clever read, exceptionally messed up.
This read marks my reading goal of 50 books for this year, YAY!
A clever read, exceptionally messed up.
This read marks my reading goal of 50 books for this year, YAY!
June 9, 2024
Disturbingly crazy but greatly entertaining, I enjoyed ‘The Shot’. I think we all know that there is very little ‘real’ within the games of reality tv. This book takes that idea and twists it into something even more bizarre than what we’ve already been exposed to on our small screens. It’s shocking and psychologically unsettling, but it’s good.
3 stars.
3 stars.
August 18, 2023
Wanted to like this more, but for me, it was just okay.. I listened to the audio version which I’m glad I did as I was able to finish quite quickly.
Not heaps to add, it really was just okay for me.
Not heaps to add, it really was just okay for me.
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