A review by livimack
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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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