Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Malibu Rising

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."

Content Warnings