Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Reviewed by Michelle

 

Malibu Rising | Taylor Jenkins Reid | Ballantine Books | Pub: 6/1/21

“If I exist on this Earth, someone loves you.”

As many of you know, I read Daisy Jones & The Six as my first read of 2021 and then I became a huge Taylor Jenkins Reid (TJR) fan. I immediately ordered The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, added the rest of TJR’s backlist to my AmazonWishlist (my birthday is March 19^th just saying), and then I logged into Netgalley for the first time in months and requested TJR’s upcoming book Malibu Rising. I also preordered the UK edition of Malibu Rising before reading the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) because that is how much faith I had in this book.

Now this was an ARC so there were still errors and it is not what the final version will be exactly like but that’s okay, it was still a masterpiece.

Malibu Rising takes place in Malibu, California and the book is just ONE DAY of time. There are bits and pieces of the past sprinkled in and I would say the balance of this one day plus the past was great. Not too much or too little of either. In the past you learn about the Riva siblings’ mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, the family restaurant and just their life growing up. In the present it’s the day of the big Riva End of Summer party where things are going to get WILD.

There were a lot of characters in this book so, get your post it notes ready or however you handle notes while you read. I didn’t jot anything down but sometimes I wish I had.

To read about each sibling present day and then to see the events of the past that led up to this day, these moments, I mean I don’t think I can even really put it into words.

Since I read it on my Kindle App, I highlighted SO MANY passages that were great quotes or just lines that made me feel certain feels or that were relatable. And I really think this book is relatable. Maybe not the fame and fortune, we know not everyone has those but, all of us have a family of sorts and that’s what this book is about: Family. No matter what we have a family. A family that cares about you, a family you care about, a family who doesn’t care, a family you don’t care about. There is still some level of family, even family you choose for yourself.

I know this may not seem like much of a review BUT the book doesn’t come out until June 1^st, so I didn’t want to spoil anything for anyone, not even a slight spoil.

If you love TJR, preorder this book. If you have never read any TJR, read this book. She just develops her characters so beautifully and tells such a beautiful story every time she writes. This one hit me in my feels and made me cry and I will recommend it to everyone for the rest of my life.

Synopsis (Credit: Goodreads)

Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August 1983. It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over--especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud--because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he's been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can't stop thinking about promised she'll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own--including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family's generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.