Malibu Rising by. Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Malibu Rising

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Format: eBook (borrowed)

Pages: 369

Publication Date: 6/1/21

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Categories: Family, Adult Contemporary, 24 Hours

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 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. 

This was the book of the summer it seems and so I finally got my hands on it through the online library. I can’t say it was what I expected but let’s get into the things I did like.

I loved the story of June and Mick Riva of how they met and how it all fell apart. It gave us a foundation for what these four Riva kids had to deal with growing up with a single mother and a father who barely paid attention to them.

I love Nina, the caretaker. She had to be the parent when both of her parents couldn’t be there for them and that was heartbreaking. But I love her strength. I also thought the other siblings were great – you could feel their different personalities.

I enjoyed the time period this was written! We have the 1950’s when June and Mick meet and then fast forward to the 1980’s which is nostalgia for me of course. I loved getting a glimpse of what Malibu was like before the celebrities came in. The author did a great job for describing the town, beaches and the people.

Content Warnings: parental neglect, alcoholism, drug use, sexual harassment

I wasn’t a fan of every character sharing their perspective. We come across strangers at Nina’s big party telling us their little perspective. I didn’t care! I only cared about the siblings and okay, maybe if the stranger had a close connection with them it made sense to see the connection, but half of them were no one I cared about. I felt like I could have skipped a lot of it. Give me more of the Rivas, less of the party people doing coke because did they really matter? lol – nope.

This story takes place in 24 hours and the party is the climax of the book but I felt it was anti-climatic because of the other voices chiming in. I liked the memories much better about the kids growing up. It would have been nice to see them have more present day interaction but I think the memories was a good foundation of knowing about their relationship.

Mick Riva…I think Nina handled raising her siblings like the queen that she is. Even when he shows up finally it didn’t feel meaningful at all, he just saunters in and expects his kids to fall for him again but I think we already knew they weren’t going to cave because he’s barely there in their memories as is…so why would it matter when he comes back in at the end? There was nothing about that moment that felt climactic except Nina finally breaking down. Other than that their connection to Mick was dead a long time ago.

I think the hype around this book made my expectations a bit too high.

Why you should read it:

• set in the 80’s and a look into Malibu before the celebrities made homes there
• a story about family
• Nina is relatable – she’s the older sibling who takes care of everyone

Why you might not want to read it:

• a lot of character perspectives from the party wasn’t needed
• anticlimactic

My Thoughts:

I had high expectations and they were not met. But despite that I did enjoy getting to know the Riva family. I felt for June Riva and her heartbreak and Nina being a child and stepping in as a parent to her siblings. They survived without their dead beat father, which was awesome to see. Overall an okay read and maybe not the book I should have started with first from this author.

📚 ~ Yolanda