Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Malibu Renasce by Taylor Jenkins Reid

186 reviews

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

slshules's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, and I loved the writing. The first half of this book is rather slow, but it builds up relationships and the ‘why’ characters are who they are. That first half allows the second half of the book to FLY by. I read the last half of this book in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. As for the writing, I was very impressed by the good use of omniscient point of view. You got to see every angle of the story, making it have so many more dimensions. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Drug use

guivx5's review

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I find interesting that every Jenkins book I've read so far differs quite a bit in their formats. "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" bases itself in an interview recording scenario; "Daisy Jones & The Six" is centered around an actual interview transcript. "Malibu Rising", on the other hand, is centered around what happens when the cameras are turned off. 

The book is divided in two very defined parts, a very bold move. It was, together with her cutting-edge writing style, risky: if the story was not well supported, it would fall upon itself. But it didn't, because it is a hell of a story. Maybe missing some bits here and there, but very consistent. The consistency between her books is a prime indicator of the care and passion put in these stories. You can feel, with every line, Jenkin's efforts to honor these characters. 

About the inconsistencies, they're truly not the biggest deal. Not even that big of a deal.

I personally feel she should've developed more on all siblings other than Nina. Of course, Nina is the center, but Jay's disease plot felt a bit... flat, the treatment it got in the storyline didn't match it's importance. And the same goes for Kit's sexuality (that got a mere two pages worth of development) and Hud's relationship with Ashley (This is the one lacking the most. Jay's beef with Hud for their relationship is so <i>dull</i>, so unexplained. Jenkins has a very straightforward writing style: she tells you what is going on, what that means and how the characters involved feel. If she simply addressed the sexist and idiotic nature of this conflict, it would be enough. But she chose to use it as a narrative point for forgiveness). But, after all, this is a story about an absent father, so I feel like she could've also left these side plots out of the story.

The book's two parts are very different, with the first one focusing on the past and the second one truly devoting itself to express the wild nature of an out-of-control party. Again, risky. But I like it.

Although I felt like a couple of side stories in the second half of the book were kinda useless.

In the end, the story handles well pretty much every aspect it proposes to elaborate on: parenting, abandonment, sexist men and their never-ending urge to fuck everything up... The list goes on, for the nuances Jenkins shows in her stories are many. I surely didn't expect it would be such a good reading experience, and I'm proud to announce that Taylor Jenkins still is one of my favorite authors of all time!

The most heartbreaking thing for Jenkins's fans after reading "Malibu Rising" is realizing that Mick Riva appeared in almost every recent book of hers. He was everywhere, but never where he was needed: with his children.

...

I swear to God, this woman puts crack between the lines of her books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Car accident, and Gun violence

jillkaarlela's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.75

Something I did really like about this book is how centered it is in family, love, and acceptance. I loved some of the character arcs, especially of the Riva children. There was so much struggle and growth. I also loved how many dramatic twists and turns there were, which I can say I honestly didn’t expect any of them. 

I don’t think this book was bad by any means, it was extremely well constructed. Taylor Jenkins Reid does a fantastic job of creating a whole new social world with celebrities and extensive casts of characters that connect her historical fiction books. However, my hate for Mick Riva tainted this book for me. It was extremely fast paced and interesting as it followed the lives of the Riva family and celebrities of that time. But, I can’t stand Mick Riva, and this book is full of extremely complex flawed characters that I did not like, but I think that was the point: to show these extremely flawed characters and their growth. I am also a huge mood reader, and I don’t think this is my favorite genre. If you like the dramatic historical fiction, you would love this. 

I would be aware of the content warnings, because this does center around a celebrity party in Malibu in the 1980s, so there was lots of drinking, smoking, and drug use. 

Age rating: 14+, closed door, but references to it. 

A surprisingly deep quote I liked from this book is: “Too much self-sufficiency is sort of mean so the people who love you, Kit thought, you robbed them of how good it feels to give of their sense of value.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Child death

Minor: Sexual content

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

men are terrible lol.
i most enjoyed the plots concerning the core four siblings and, later, their plus-one. you'd think they be the majority of the plot, but there are a lot of subplots that have little-to-no bearing on the main storyline, and i understand wanting to make this gigantic party with all these interesting people feel more alive, but after a while i stopped caring and just wanted to skip to the Rivas. it was overall pretty good though
book cover discussion: the British one is so much better than that of the United States, like the pretty sunset/fire (👀) colors, the serif font. unfortunately it doesn't carry over perfectly to the square aspect ratio for the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Body shaming, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Vomit, Car accident, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Police brutality

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug use, Sexual harassment, and Drug abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Pregnancy

mackennary1's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

kayabennett's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

surprise, surprise, i’m giving another taylor jenkins reid book five stars. i know, i’m so predictable. daisy jones and the six was the first book that i picked up written by taylor and i’m now in love with every book i own of hers.
firstly, i absolutely love how the events of the book all is wrapped up in one day (with the exception of the flashbacks). i like medium/fast paced books so this definitely was the one for me. i actually started reading malibu rising because the secret history was being too slow for me and i needed to read something else before i fell into a book slump.
for the characters, i am so in love with each and everyone of them (except mick, fuck you. you know what you did.) i am especially in love with june and the way she was talked about by her children made me tear up about every single time. yes, she had flaws and she knew that but they were because of mick’s actions and i hate him for that. nina-baby, you deserve the world and more (also, fuck you brandon). the way she was so selfless to care for her siblings after her mother’s death and even before it makes nina so lovable. nina had been put through so much (as so did all the other siblings) and i hope she’s living her best life in portugal.
i also want to mention that tjr’s books all being in the same universe is literally my favorite thing ever. seeing mentions of people from daisy homes and the six and evelyn hugo lights up my face. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Gun violence, Infertility, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Cursing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, and Violence

kalzeb's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Drug use

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Vomit

abbrillopezz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Abortion, Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment