BOOK REVIEW; MALIBU RISING by TAYLOR JENKINS REID

 

Synopsis.

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.

My Thoughts 

This has been my second time reading a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Before Malibu Rising I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and though I really enjoyed that book, somehow I liked this one more. I went into this book blindly, (not sure why I thought it would be a nice summer romance). Instead of a romance, what I found was a deeply emotional story about a famous music star Mick Riva and his tumultuous relationship with his four children Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit.

Not wanting to spoil the book too much in this review, I would mention just the general things that I loved about the book. First, I loved the time period, the book starts from around the 1960s up to the eighties, I loved reading about that era and of course Malibu. The story was told from the point of view of Mick's first daughter Nina Riva, and what I loved about Nina is that she represented strength and the reality is for many broken homes is that the eldest child, does in fact sacrifice a lot. Mick Riva represented a man who never dealt with his demons of the past, I really felt sorry for him though cause he never got that closure.

Can I talk about the party??? Wow the cast of characters all beautiful and equally flawed made for excellent reading. I am going to definitely read more of her books. 

NOTE: THIS WAS A BETWEEN THE PAGES BOOK CLUB PICK FOR JULY

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