Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
Title: Malibu Rising
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical Fiction / FIction
Author Info: She / Her
Setting: Malibu, California
Month Read: June 2021
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2021
Pages: 384
*Books and Brews Book Club June Pick
TRIGGER WARNING-
Sexual Themes / Substance Abuse / Violence / Death / Depression
"She was a woman, after all. Living in a world created by men. And she had long known that assholes protect their own. They are faithful to no one but surprisingly protective of each other."
No Spoiler Summary:
MALIBU RISING is the tale of the Riva kids (yes, THAT Riva) set in gorgeous 1980s Malibu, California. The book, like many of TJR's books also features lots of throwbacks to when Mick and June met decades before, and how there came to be the four Riva kids in the first place.
Everything in Malibu Rising is leading up to the annual Riva party, a gigantic 'who's who' of famous folks, local kids, and friends and lovers of the Riva's. If you can find the address, you're invited... and this year's attendees will leave a mark for sure.
You'll learn all about Nina, Hud, Jay, and Kit (as well as Mick and June) throughout the 384 pages.
Nina, the eldest, the caretaker, the model- recently abandoned by her famous pro-tennis player husband. The sibling who sacrifices everything for her family.
Jay, the handsome pro surfer, hoping the girl he has a crush on will come to the party, and hoping the ex who broke his heart won't.
Hud, photographer and quiet sibling- who gets the shots of Jay on the surf that land on the covers of magazines. Hud, with a HUGE secret that might change the relationship with his brother forever.
Kit, the baby of the family with secrets of her own. Kit, who might be a better surfer than Jay. Kit, who is using the party to find herself, and find her first kiss, whoever that may be.
By the time you get to the start of the party, chaos breaks loose- and you don't know who will come out of the party unscathed, and who will come out of the party destroyed. A fantastic supporting cast, and characters you won't forget- Malibu Rising is a tour de force of a book and will leave you binge reading from start to finish.
Review:
I'm a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I think this book was on par with Daisy Jones & the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I LOVED learning about Mick Riva (infamously one of Evelyn's husbands) and his incredible family. Malibu was a lot sadder than I thought it would be, at times, but was really beautiful and gave you a huge stake in what happens to everyone in the book.
If you like multi-narrative stories, and different timelines, this book is 100% for you. I was a little confused in the beginning with the rotating cast of characters, but you quickly learn who to take stock in, and who are only there to quickly move the story (or party) along. I especially loved all of the weird side-character narratives at the party, and how the narration takes you out of the story to tell you what would happen in alternate timelines. (For example: if X left the backyard and went to the front yard, he would have met the love of his life- but he never left the backyard so he drank until he passed out---- etc etc etc). I thought those were insanely fun.
If you've never read a TJR book, I highly recommend publishing order. I definitely think a LOT of Easter Eggs in Malibu will be lost if you don't at least read Evelyn first. There are a lot of callbacks to that book, specifically, and added a lot of fun.
I loved Malibu Rising and it's definitely the book of the summer, of not one of the most anticipated releases of 2021. Get yourself a copy, and set aside a day or two because if you're like me, you won't want to put it down.
Recommendation:
Family Dramas with Multiple Narratives:
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (YA)
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett
Other Books in this Universe:
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
"She had to choose what, of the things she inherited from the people who came before her, she wanted to bring forward. And what, of the past, she wanted to leave behind."
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