Review by field_of_books - Malibu Rising

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field_of_books 's review for:

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

How could I possibly do this book justice?

I loved Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones. Loved them. Yet somehow I loved this more.

I fell in love with every character, and there were dozens. Some of them tiny side characters, funnily elbowed into the action. Others are written about extensively and lovingly… you can really tell how deeply TJR thinks about each of her characters.

A sort of dual timeline occurs, one starting in the fifties, giving us background on how the Riva family grew up. The second timeline is of a twenty four hour period, hour by hour, of the famous Riva family party of 1981.

We watch Malibu Rise as the Riva’s are raised, from any old neighbourhood with a view, to the very beginning of its gentrification in the eighties. We watch four young adults mature into these beautifully crafted, deep characters.

All of the main characters like surfing, meaning there’s a lot of surfing talk throughout, and there’s even some tennis talk. As someone who doesn’t like sports and doesn’t particularly enjoy it in books, these were my least favourite parts, but it was easy to scan through them a bit. Despite these being my least favourite parts, it was the only aspect of the book I didn’t enjoy.

Content Warnings