Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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 super model; 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. 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.
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Every time someone tells me to read one of Jenkins Reid’s books I scoff and put it at the very bottom of my TBR and then I get around to reading it and it’s amazing. I really need to stop being my own worst enemy when it comes to over-hyped books. Don’t get me wrong, I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but when Malibu Rising came out it just seemed way too overrated for summer, but I was very wrong. It had that same old fame/nostalgia vibe as Evelyn and even some cameos of characters from said novel (Mick Riva being one of the seven husbands of Miss Evelyn). It’s a book that makes you laugh and cry and basically feel every emotion that her poor characters go through. It had more of a storytelling feel to it than previous books, the flashback chapters especially were like something being told as a bedtime story to a child and it gave a hazy dreamlike quality to those “moments” in the Riva’s lives that shaped who they are in the present timeline. It was a fast moving plot that’s for sure! Once I hit Part II I could not stop reading!!! My friend picked this for book club and I think it was a fabulous choice.
I really enjoyed the alternating timeline and pacing of this book. It takes place over the span of 24 hours with the first half of the book also interspersed with flashback chapters throughout the 1950s-70s showing how the Riva family has evolved into the famous and slightly dramatic characters we know at the party in the “present-day” timeline in 1980s Malibu. June and Mick’s story was so riveting, it’s probably what I enjoyed most about the book. Told in a past tense, storybook format it’s almost like you’re hearing a parent tell her children the story of their origins. Then once we get to part II it’s one hour per chapter in the life of a party that is quickly spiralling out of control, from midnight to 7am and the action just builds like a snowball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger until it just explodes at the bottom after crashing into a wall. It was intense (oh, and also very tense, my anxiety at a party that large had me assuming the worst scenarios in EVERY possible moment).
I also loved the characters. As we all know by now, character driven plots are my weakness. If the character is good and the story is shit, that’s ok, I’ll still enjoy it. The Riva family was such a dynamic force. I was expecting dramatic hateful siblings and selfish lead characters (part of the reason I put off reading it for so long, I hate family drama) but I actually really enjoyed every character, even the ones that were a bit more horrible than the rest. The siblings had such a strong bond and it was so heartwarming to see their interactions with each other and the united front that they formed against the world. Mick was an enigma, I could not for the life of me figure that guy out and he surprised me at every turn and June was like a representation of every woman’s hope and pain and love. I could not get enough of the Riva family and I sure hope we get a cameo from some of them in future books by this author. Honestly the only thing that I didn’t like was how, at times, a lot of the secondary characters felt a bit one dimensional with overdramatic roles (much like a soap opera character) and very little depth. The main characters knock it out of the park, the side characters could use a little work.
All in all it was a really great read, I had a good time with it. It’s perfect for wrapping up the end of summer and it’s fast paced so that makes it an easy read. So go out, buy it, or lend it from the library, and binge read it. You won’t regret it. 4 stars.