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imtryingtoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
i'd say the flaws weren't the main focus of the book but their problems and (past) mistakes definitely were
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, Drug use, Alcoholism, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, and Cursing
leligavi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
kcarney86's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
sarah_boo_hoo's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Abandonment
hmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
And I really enjoyed it! It felt like every scene was important to the story - nothing dragged on, the whole novel really kept to pace. I think there was potential for this not to be true with how many different perspectives were incorporated. Most importantly, I felt connected to all the perspective characters, even the minor ones (Not saying I felt for them all, to be clear lol). TJR has always been really good at writing complex, flawed, real people characters.
The one-day structure of the story was also well-executed. I appreciated that, even though we're told about how the 24 hours ends right at the start, the foreshadowing throughout isn't overbearing and there's room for other storylines to breathe and play out. Plus, while a number of predictable events happen, I was relieved to not come out of this reading feeling like I had been fed a cookie-cutter/play-on-real-life novel.
[April 9, 2022 update: I can't get these characters out of my head so I think that merits updating the rating to 4.75]
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
Moderate: Police brutality, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexism
Minor tags are predominantly just "mentions of"moonbin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Addiction
Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Infertility
hannahstvns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Drug use
alainasanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, and Alcoholism
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
ninahuynh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Infidelity, Violence, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, and Police brutality
mel_sh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
but i had a lot of fun reading this! of the three taylor jenkins reid books that ive read, this one definitely impact me the least but was undoubtedly the most fun reading experience. i read this at a much faster pace than i normally do because i was just so excited to see how things would wrap up. i felt very strongly for the riva kids and i think my main qualm with this book was the way other people's perspectives began being shared by the end. i forgot about most of them almost immediately and i felt like it made the ending a bit messy. i would have rathered skipping their parts and focusing more on the conclusion of the story and the actual fire since despite the fact that it's part of the synopsis, it felt very rushed. all in all, i adore tjr's stroy-telling. i think she has a gift for crafting stories and characters that you're immediately attached to and this was no different. my next book of her's is going to be "daisy jones and the six" and i might bump malibu rising to a 4 star depending on how much i enjoy that.
edit: oh i also wanted to mention Julia Whelan! she narrates a lot of books and a few of them are tjr books and she's so good and definitely enhanced my reading experience!
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Car accident, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Vomit