A review by beforeviolets
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm always shocked at how cinematic Taylor Jenkins Reid makes her work. Honestly, if the film adaptation is looking for a director, call me up, because I have so many ideas and can already picture the shots of so many scenes.

Job application aside, I did really enjoy this work. The way that Reid explores love and self-limiting beliefs and just family in general was so complex and raw. Allowing us as an audience to experience so many different times and places and perspectives provided us such a helpful wide scope of understanding. The build up of the story as a whole was so well done that even though the end of the story is revealed in the introduction, I still completely forgot how we were going to end up because of how captivated I was in the present moment of each chapter. But the thing that I loved the most was the incredible way that this book discussed generational trauma. It is such a fragile, nuanced topic and Reid's layered approach, manipulating it to slowly build up over time, allowed for it to be such a profound discovery by audience and character alike.

Though Reid's writing style isn't my preference, I do think it is objectively near-perfect. It's accessible and palatable yet deeply detailed and emotional. I feel there are few people I could recommend this book to who wouldn't like it, if any. Reid's books will become classics one day, I'm sure of it.
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