Scan barcode
milenasbooknook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Abortion
ellis_elisha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, and Pregnancy
claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
babsi_222'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
4.25
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!!!
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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, and Outing
nikmalikov'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
4.25
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit
ellelockley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Minor: Gun violence
meganpardue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Vomit, and Death of parent
xbernadette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexism, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
cutepatzie'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Police brutality, Car accident, and Gaslighting
Minor: Chronic illness, Vomit, and Antisemitism
hannahbailey's review against another edition
- 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
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!
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