Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Malibu Renasce

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Malibu Renasce by Taylor Jenkins Reid

97 reviews

babsi_222's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-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

4.25

Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my favourite authors, I think, and I’ve only read two of her books!
So this book is about a family and their history and you really get to see into each of the siblings/ and every family members mind. they’re a family who live near the ocean and I’ve never read a book that’s about surfers, which was really cool.
So there is a famous party where every hollywood star is and like the author said in the Q&A it’s really inspired by the great Gatsby. It was quite interesting, but it just kind of felt like one of those romance movies (Love Actually), because sometimes in between the chapters about the family you have like two pages where there’s a random star who hooks up with someone else or who finds the love of their life at this party, which is just so random, but kind of fun tbh
literally all of the men in this book are red flags!!!

Oh my God the women (June and Nina) get pushed around by them, but there’s some very good character development in the end which is everything I ever wanted while reading! God I hate Mick Riva so much how can you be such a horrible person??

To be honest I’m not sure if I’m going to read ‘Carrie Soto is back’ any time soon because she does not seem like a great person in this book. I’m sure that it’s going to be interesting but I think I just don’t wanna read it right now.
Junes story makes me so mad omg :(((
There’s soooo much drama at the party btw holy shit

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kyliieamberr's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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dannythestreet's review against another edition

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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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wonderlandiful's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense 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

5.0

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aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

4.0

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cutepatzie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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? No

5.0

An amazing story showing that family it's doesn't have to share the same blood more like likely always been for each other and love each other unconditionally. How love can have many different faces, some of them are amazing like taking care of not your child like it was born from you, and becoming parent. Being bad perent wanting to fix that, falling love in with someone, but still cheating that person knowing it will destroy them. Not wanting to put yourself first because of being scared. Or just finding a family that you always want to have. Such an amazing story with so much depth in it. Very much enjoy it.

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hannahbailey's review against another edition

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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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guivx5's review

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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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marieos's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad slow-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

5.0

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angelicaaa's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

Really great book. I absolutely despise the antagonist! The character development of the protagonist is 10/10. Plot twists are executed perfectly. Only reason it’s not five stars is because the ending felt kind of rushed, like the author wasn’t completely sure how the book should come to a conclusion so she just gave a “happy ending” that felt unrealistic.

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