Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I have read two books previously by this author and COMPLETELY FRIGGIN’ LOVED THEM.
The first one was “Daisy Jones and The Six” which was one of the most entertaining audiobooks I have yet to listen to in my almost 41 years of life.
I eagerly anticipated diving into this book and falling in love with it’s story too.
I admit I wasn’t totally blown away with wonder as I was with the other two…this one is definitely not in the same category as those….but I did think it was a pretty damn good book overall.
Here is the official summary:
“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 rising 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.”
The first half of the book I was just kinda “Meh” about…okay story line and interesting enough characters….but I just felt kinda “whatevs” about it all.
Lots of backstory (which I get was totes necessary) and it kinda just took awhile to move along.
But when the second half got going, the pace picked up, deeper examinations of people and events revved up, and I was WAY more intrigued.
This is a story about love and family….how both can be tumultuous and traumatic but also bonding and beautiful…but always ALWAYS completely complicated.
It’s about what human beings think happiness “should” look like and what it actually is…and how hard it is to find the true reality of EXPERIENCING it.
The ugly truths and lasting effects of addiction on both individual and family are dealt with in this story too—very similar to how it was done in Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo as well.
I am personally inclined to think that the author herself has experience with this in real life, possibly with witnessing a loved one experience it. It seems to be a recurring theme with many characters in the stories she writes. The way she describes it all with such rawness, realness, and pain has so much authenticity. I myself am not an addict but have witnessed the painful journey of loved ones who are…and man….she really does encapsulate the horrendous effects it has on so many levels of people.
This story is also about surfing…and the setting of the beaches of California is so large and important to the plot and what makes the characters who they are that it almost is a whole separate character in and of itself.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous are dug into and deeply examined—another recurrent theme in the author’s books that I AM HERE FOR ALL THE WAYYYYYY—and the reader discovers yet again that things are never are quite as alluring and perfect as they appear on the outside. (surprise, surprise)
This was a great book but wasn’t QUITE as fantastic as the others I have read by her.
I’ll definitely still check out more of her work though because I will say she does have a really fantastic literary skill with multi character development. I LOVE how she always intertwines multiple plotlines and writes from so many character’s points of view.
This would be an EXCELLENT beach vacay read….especially if you’re headed to Cali.