Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book Info & Summary

Release Date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format Read: eBook

# of Pages: 369

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.

I was so incredibly nervous I wouldn't like this book, that it wouldn't live up to my ardent love for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (which i've read six times) or Daisy Jones and the Six (read four times), but I should have known not to waste my time worrying.

I LOVED IT.

I read the first 75% in a few hours and only made myself stop at 1 a.m. because I knew I would stay up however long it took to finish it and I didn't want my time with the Riva siblings to be over yet. Siblings Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit Riva are classic TJR characters - lovable, messy, complicated and at times infuriating. What I love so much about Malibu Rising is that the lives of the side characters are as richly detailed as our protagonists. You get such a firm feeling of sonder and like the book could branch off at any moment to be about one of these people instead. While that could seem random, the side character's stories are very closely entwined with the Rivas and often have profound effects on the plot.

“How were you supposed to change- in ways both big and small- when your family was always there to remind you of exactly the person you apparently signed an ironclad contract to be?”

1950s - 1980s Malibu makes for a fascinating backdrop, especially as the area changes through the decades from a relatively poor and sleepy tourist destination to the home of the upper echelons of rich society, none richer or more interesting than the Rivas.

Surfer and model Nina Riva is as tightly wound as her professional surfer brother Jay is wild, as inflexible as her brother Hud is "go-with-the-flow" and as celebrated as her sister Kit is overlooked. While they often made decisions that made me want to shake them, I grew very attached to the siblings throughout the story and was especially drawn to people-pleaser Nina and take-no-shit Kit. I connected so closely to the characters and the questions and issues they struggle with in their relationship with their father, famous singer Mick Riva. The fears - am I like him, how much of me is still him even if I never see him, why would he leave me, am I not good enough to be loved - were so personal to me and I felt so seen trying to work through this along with the Rivas.

I could go on and on about how much I love this book. The writing is lyrical and at times laugh-out-loud funny, and the tone builds and builds like a wave cresting to crash, a party turning into a rager or a spark bursting into an uncontrollable fire. I fully recommend this amazing read!