Reviews tagging 'Death'

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

256 reviews

lilith_hmr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

As much as I loved TJR books, this one didn't particularly hit me as hard as 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It was a good read, but not a great one. There were a lot of tear-jerking and thought-provoking parts of the book that made me love it and it delved into serious life issues and choices. 
It was slow-paced compared to other books of TJR. The second half focused a bit on characters that weren't relevant to the story and so that was a bit of a turn-off. The ending was incomplete and I would like to have a sequel to it. There's so much that was left unfinished. However, the most remarkable thing about the book was the time switch in the first half. It was absolutely intriguing and written so amazingly well. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Deadnaming, Cursing, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Alcoholism

milenasbooknook's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This was so much better than I expected!

I loved the relationships between the Riva siblings! I loved how they looked out for each other (and how they cared for Casey :’)

Nina Riva!!! Ever since we got to see her as a five year old, I was in love. She was definitely not perfect and made some difficult and questionable decisions, but it was so interesting to see why she did the things she did and how she provided for her family. She devoted her life to caring for her siblings, and she set boundaries that needed to be set.

The characters all grew so much! Their pasts made huge impacts on their lives, but there was so much character development and generational cycles were broken 👏🏻

The sexual content did get annoying, but it wasn’t graphic enough for me to stop the book. I just wish it was more brief/implied

Overall, this book surpassed my expectations and I can see myself rereading this one in the future

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit, Blood, and Abortion

reb_vo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Family drama of the social elite, following the families life stories with their highest and lowest points. 
This book is about who we choose to love and who we don’t 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Grief, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Sexism

ellis_elisha's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Suicide, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Vomit

lauren97224's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Addiction

Minor: Sexual harassment

meaghanslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Book doesn’t have the same spunk of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other books. It’s pretty good but just not great. I do appreciate the Easter eggs that are not too early or books. It makes me feel like I am a part of a secret circle. I thought the book was clever yet at the same time little predictable. I was clever because of the fact that it took over span of 24 hours. They booked out with some harsh themes from alcoholism to cheating to what it means to be a good person. It definitely made me think but by the end of the book I was ready for it to be over  where is the authors other books 
I didn’t want them to end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Cursing, Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, and Classism

Minor: Abortion, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

madelinemay1's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

neevabeeva510's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Car accident, and Emotional abuse

creativelifeofliz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

The first half of this book was pretty terrible and I actually thought about DNFing it several times. It got better for the second half, as long as you accept that there aren't any actually likeable characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Classism, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Car accident, Bullying, Body shaming, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

destined_333's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Infertility, and Alcoholism