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celery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Excrement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
kelly_e'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
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: May 27, 2021
T H R E E • W O R D S
Addictive • Evocative • Entertaining
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Malibu: August 1983. It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over--especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud--because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he's been inseparable since birth. Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can't stop thinking about promised she'll be there. And Kit has a couple secrets of her own--including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family's generations will all come rising to the surface.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I deliberately chose to take Malibu Rising on my recent trip to Los Angeles and I couldn't have picked a better time to pick it up. Being in the California sun, with the gentle ocean breeze, and being close to some of the places talked about throughout the book really offered something extra to my reading experience.
The dysfunctional family dynamics of the Riva siblings felt believable, their relationships seemed genuine, and their flawed character development was fantastic. Nina was my favourite character - her arc is the one I gravitated towards most. Her selfless nature felt entirely relatable and my heart just went out to her.
Even though the entirety of this book takes places over the span on 24 hours, the bulk of it takes place in Malibu during the 1980s. While the party timeline could feel a bit distracting, I understand it was necessary and feel as though TJR has crafted them together perfectly. The main issue I had was with the amount of characters I needed to keep track of at the party. I didn't really care, and wanted more depth about the Rivas. The setting itself added an element of glitz and glamour, and the TJR describes the area with ease.
Overall, Malibu Rising is another enjoyable story, mixing historical fiction with family drama, that I would highly recommend. The audio narration by Julia Whalen is fabulous. And what I love so much about TJR's stories is how each one is so unique. While this one wasn't my absolute favourite, I still cannot wait to keep exploring her backlist and seeing what she writes next.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone looking for beachy summertime vibes
• TJR devotees
• historical fiction readers looking for something different
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Our family histories are simply stories. They are myths we create about the people who came before us, in order to make sense of ourselves."
"She had to choose what, of the things she inherited from the people who came before her, she wanted to bring forward. And what, of the past, she wanted to leave behind."
"She knew that she could not sustain her life fueled only by the memories of those she once loved. Loss would not propel her forward. She had to go out and live. She had to find new people."
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Car accident, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Abortion, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Cursing, Blood, Infidelity, and Suicide
soshereads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Classism, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Abandonment, Sexism, Medical content, and Car accident
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abortion, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Body shaming
lilith_hmr's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
reb_vo's review
- 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
This book is about who we choose to love and who we don’t
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
dannythestreet'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood, Classism, Sexual content, Stalking, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Abortion
iulia619'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? It's complicated
3.75
Minor: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, and Infidelity
eglizmas's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Gun violence, Car accident, and Vomit
kitheminges'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Death, and Infidelity
Moderate: Body shaming and Classism
Minor: Racism
daisyandherbooks'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
(Slight spoilers - kind of not really)
I had really high expectations for this book due to the hype on here, and thank GOODNESS it didn’t dissapoint 👏
I started this when I got into bed last night and couldn’t stop reading until two am! I finished it this morning and so I devoured it. This follows two timelines, the course of one day in 1983, the day of the Riva’s siblings party of the year and also the 1950-80s with the story of how their parents met and how their family came to be. This story was so cool flitting between two storylines as you had to piece every thing together. As the book went on, the early timeline dissolved into the present timeline beautifully and all the ends caught up to each other and fitted like a perfect puzzle. The family goes through so much in their lives and the tale is told of how them and their mother were abandoned by their (not very good) father, global rockstar Mick Riva. His rise to fame during his Childrens childhoods, how he affected those around him by not being there, and by being unfaithful to multiple wives. We hear from the siblings points of view, when they deal with different problems as children - stressing about school and growing up with not a lot of money - and their problems as adults such as careers and relationships. The story was heartbreaking yet beautiful, I think it’s best to go into the story not knowing a lot about the plot, as each plot point shocked me and it is definitely now one of my favourite books.
🚨Trigger warnings for this book: Alcoholism, drowning, death, divorce, infidelity, drug use, child abandonment. 🚨
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Sexism