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A review by natyweiss
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4.0
-ARC provided by publisher in exchange for honest review-
This is my favorite TJR book so far (and I loved Daisy Jones).
It's a very touching and heartbreaking story of four siblings living in Malibu. The older sister Nina, is running the family business, a sea food restaurant on the beach. She had to raise her younger siblings when their mother drowned and with their father, a very famous rock star, out of the scene. In the first half of the book the narrative unspools along two timelines: the present time (eighties), with the four siblings already adults organizing a monumental party at Nina's place in the beach, a very popular events that takes place every year, narrated hour by hour and the story of love and struggle of their parents and the Riva siblings childhood, capturing perfectly the different eras. The second half is the party itself and includes a lot of different characters that are just satellites at first and then turn into the protagonist of some really wild scenes when the tension reaches the breaking point.
The novel is such a gripping read! The cast of characters is phenomenal with the four adorable siblings in the center of the scene, displaying their own personalities and an unconditional love for each other. It's quite inevitable to root for them and to admire their resilience.
TJR is a fantastic story teller, that creates the growing tension in a slow buy steady pace, until it reaches that climax that makes all her books highly engaging. Again: wonderful story, complex characters. I am not so sure about the inclusion of minor character's point of view on the second half of the book; some of them felt a little random and even off topic
This is my favorite TJR book so far (and I loved Daisy Jones).
It's a very touching and heartbreaking story of four siblings living in Malibu. The older sister Nina, is running the family business, a sea food restaurant on the beach. She had to raise her younger siblings when their mother drowned and with their father, a very famous rock star, out of the scene. In the first half of the book the narrative unspools along two timelines: the present time (eighties), with the four siblings already adults organizing a monumental party at Nina's place in the beach, a very popular events that takes place every year, narrated hour by hour and the story of love and struggle of their parents and the Riva siblings childhood, capturing perfectly the different eras. The second half is the party itself and includes a lot of different characters that are just satellites at first and then turn into the protagonist of some really wild scenes when the tension reaches the breaking point.
The novel is such a gripping read! The cast of characters is phenomenal with the four adorable siblings in the center of the scene, displaying their own personalities and an unconditional love for each other. It's quite inevitable to root for them and to admire their resilience.
TJR is a fantastic story teller, that creates the growing tension in a slow buy steady pace, until it reaches that climax that makes all her books highly engaging. Again: wonderful story, complex characters. I am not so sure about the inclusion of minor character's point of view on the second half of the book; some of them felt a little random and even off topic