Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Malibu Rising

The plot thickened towards the end. I didn’t realize the timeframe went back 30+ years. The author did a nice job creating relatable moments, considering the fame involved.

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sudatot's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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

4.25

Title: Malibu Rising
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."

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livimack's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I feel like one of the reasons so many people who would like this book find it so hard to like this book is because it is not actually one book, but two very different books that happen to contain the same characters and occur one after another.

If you love Taylor Jenkins Reid for what she does best - her chaotic depictions of ensemble casts that display every multi-faceted element of human interpersonal relationships and experiences - then please just bear with me and view the first half as extensive background material.

I was bored at first. It was written like a romance. But then at some point, I realised I was hooked. The second half was written like the most insanely well-paced drama. Honestly, the fast paced tension build that gets constantly cut up by side scenes and reader-respite was handled with such a deft hand that it was insane.

The only other TJR book that I’ve read at this point is Daisy Jones And The Six, and I can see how that book is far more refined than this, yet somehow I think the second half of Malibu Rising is the best depiction of TJR’s skill I’ve seen yet. Despite the bland yet meaningful ending.

Pacing is weird to describe because everything was very fast paced when we got down to the story but it was very slow to get into that.

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val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

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

2.0

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stuckinatimeloop's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

this was my first time reading a taylor jenkins reid book, and only because i saw that it has good sibling dynamics. even though i loved it i'm not likely to read another tjr book simply because the genre isn't for me.

this book is amazingly written. at one point i even shed some tears. there's not much going on for most of the book but it still was easy to read and somehow felt fast paced. maybe it was the dual timeline.

i do wish there was more chance for me to get attached to the characters though. besides nina we don't really see a lot into their minds.

also, i still don't get why exactly jay was so mad at hud, i mean he was over ashley so what's the big deal?

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withlivjones's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

So many great things in this book. I loved the premise of this Gatsby-like party atop a precarious Malibu cliff. I loved the family dynamics and how each Riva sibling’s personality fit within their close-knit group - they are such well-written characters and their sibling bonds felt so realistic. I loved the rising tension of the fact that you know how the story is going to end from the beginning but you don’t know how it will get there. I was a bit iffy on the third person narration at first but I really think it is perfect for creating the little vignettes within the chaos of the party. I loved the shoutouts to other characters in TJR’s showbiz universe, particularly Carrie Soto (I read her book before this one although I wonder how my perception of that book might have changed had I read this one first). Overall I absolutely devoured this book, and I am pretty desperate for TJR to release another instalment in this universe.

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