Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

348 reviews

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

rosered_reading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Nina <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

braelynm_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was really good and really well written. I loved the story and the characters. I feel like the ending was a little anticlimactic, I thought something more was going to happen, but it was overall a good read. It was easy to get through and had a nice flow. 

“Family is found...whether it be blood or circumstance or choice, what binds us does not matter. All that matters is that we are bound.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Car accident

Lots of making out and sexual content.

haleysversion's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

dannythestreet's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, and Classism

sparklefarm's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I would like to request several more novels about the Riva siblings, please. This was an excellent book to dive into (har har) - just the perfect balance of true character development with delicious cotton candy fluff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Car accident

katywhyte's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved Daisy Jones and really liked Evelyn Hugo so I had quite high expectations for this, which it didn't quite live up to. It was still very fun though. Fictional famous people and dual timelines tend to work for me. I was very invested in the story from the beginning and I really enjoyed seeing glimpses into even the minor characters' lives. However I was expecting more of an explosive ending or final twist of some kind, so I was left wanting a bit more. I'm not sure if I'll read Carrie Soto just because I don't know if I'll be able to care about tennis, but I was a bit intrigued by the few glimpses of her in this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Car accident

zara89's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

hannahbailey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

TW: alcoholism, abandonment, death (of parent), drug use, cheating, addiction, sexual harassment, divorce, violence, fire, injury, sexism, parentified child, childhood trauma

Oh to be a Riva! On the surface, the four Riva siblings seem to have it all: fame, fortune and each other. But by the end of the night, everything's changed. This is what drew me in, that the whole book was set over the course of one night. The character analysis started off well and I enjoyed the switch between flashbacks and present day as we learned more and more about the Rivas.

I was expecting 80s beach-babe Malibu vibes, but I wasn't expecting this book to approach and handle some heavier topics like death, grief, divorce, betrayal, alcoholism and family issues. Although it is a TJR book, so actually that's on me for not thinking this would pack an emotional punch. I thought these topics were handled well, and the characters struggles felt realistic. I was able to empathise with them despite their sickening level of wealth (rich kids 😔🥲).

The first part was setting up for something massive—secrets revealed and people exposed. I was excited to watch it all unravel over the course of a night. However, what followed was an underwhelming and understated second half. New characters were introduced too frequently to fully care (which I admit is truthful of large parties) and so much more could've been done when a certain character arrived. I was left disappointed and sad. The ending was emotional but not in a cathartic way–although I guess life is often like that. These characters deserved better endings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail