A review by tackysapphic
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

challenging tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

picked this up despite my disdain for tjr, but it was alright. I’m glad she verged away from the weird like interview format, I hated that part of her other works. The whole time I was just waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop, just like “oh god now. No? Oh? Now…THERES MORE??? oh my god someone’s gonna get hurt” like her choice to use the time stamps (like 3:00 am) at the beginning of chapters was really clever and definitely added to that feeling of dread. I think that was definitely really well done. I was more engaged with this book than her other ones I’ve read, I will say this. Nina and her siblings are FAR more likeable than Daisy Jones or Evelyn Hugo. I won’t be picking up Carrie Soto is Back bc her character does not interest me at all, but Malibu Rising definitely exceeded my (truthfully, low) expectations. Worth the read imo.