Malibu Rising

Have you ever read a book that you wished, almost from the start, you'd never started and that you regretted reading at all, much less to the end? A bad taste in your mouth? Yep, that's how I felt about this book. I did not like any of the characters as human beings, and (a bit of a spoiler alert) none of them grew much over the course of almost four hundred pages. None of the characters seemed to have a moral center, and I can see all of them ten years from now still acting in much the same ways, focused on their own selves and deeply lost, clueless about how they got to this point.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Love but with notes

4.5 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book but still with notes

5.0 - Love it so much I want to highlight the book and notes are very positive

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As much as I don’t shy away from Celebrity Gossip, which should have made this right up my alley, I am not raving about this book. It’s a good book, don’t get me wrong. But it just wasn’t for me.

Why it wasn't for me?

For some reason, I felt no connection to the main characters. They were boring to me with the exception of their douche dad. We were given their sob story, which made me feel sorry for them, but I just could not get invested in them.

Maybe it’s because there was no clear goal in the story. To me, this was like having a friend who just wanted to rant but you thought they were asking for advice. So, for most of the time they’re talking, you’re wondering what exactly were they asking you to do. That’s basically how I felt when I was reading this.

Why did I give it this rating?

Well, as I said, this was still a good book.

1. The pacing was good.

2. The characters, though flawed, were not annoyingly contradictory which was something I’ve seen in the past books I’ve read (cough - Of Jade and Dragons - cough).

3. The party in the story really captured the 80’s vibe. The cocaine being offered around in serving trays was exactly what you’d picture you’d see in those kinds of shindigs.

Other notes

These aren’t bad for the story but if the story/characters were real, I’d be concerned.

1. As a person who struggled to buy their own place, reading the house burn down, messed me up. I know this fiction and plot wise, the house burning down was very symbolic of leaving your past behind, but it was so upsetting to me.

2. There were so many beautiful women in Malibu but Hud could only fall in love with his brother’s ex? Really? Did he not have eyes? Was he just that lazy in finding a partner?

3. Jay was, in some ways, becoming like his dad. His interest in women were fleeting. He didn’t even like his ex, Ashley (the woman Hud fell in love with) that much. He was just hurt she broke up with him. Then he’s pursuing this woman, Lara, who he didn’t really think was that attractive. He seemed to be pursuing her because she wasn’t throwing herself at him and was, therefore, a challenge.

4. Their mom, June, was selfish and a hypocrite. She had too much pride to go after their dad for child support but named the diner after him to make money from his name. She should have swallowed her pride and went after Mick. The child support would have spared the children hardship and Nina wouldn’t have had to drop out of school.

Maybe an Unpopular Opinion

Casey was an unnecessary addition to the story. There was no real purpose to her that I could see. She wasn’t even needed to give Nina an incognito car to the airport. Nina could have just taken any of the other cars left parked at their house since so many party guests got arrested.

The way, Taylor Jenkins read writes, feels like I'm watching the “top” movie of the summer.

Genuinely when I read her books, it feels like I'm watching a good ass movie for 19 hours in my brain . Malibu rising is the third book I've read of Taylor Jenkins read and I liked it! Definitely not more than Carrie Soto is back or the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but way more than one true loves.

I like the characters it was kind of dumb and they were all kind of annoying with the surfing and stuff, but I still found them relatively endearing in the story. Interesting enough.

I did really like the contrast between the past storylines I enjoyed that immensely, and just like the coastal vibes .

3.5

The author is really good at writing about people and their relationships with others in a believable way. The ending was also very cathartic.


The part where it fell down a bit was that the entire book is leading up to a house party and wildfire in Malibu and foreshadowing something "bad" happening but it turned out to be a fairly positive ending.

so so fun! I loved the alternating timelines and all the drama and the way we jumped to see what each character was up to. although the end kind of fell flat for me, it felt like it was building up to this huge ending (and, don't get me wrong, I loved the ending) it just wasn't the big explosion I was hoping for. still enjoyed every second of it, though!

This one wasn't as fun as [b:Daisy Jones & The Six 40597810 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580255154l/40597810.SY75.jpg 61127102], it rather felt like the equivalent of a Darren Star show from the 90ies. And still, obviously there's something seductive in reading about the young and beautiful.

Malibu Rising is brilliant. Taylor Jenkins Reid has written another wonderful book. Set in Malibu in 1983 we follow the four Riva siblings as they all seem to be at a crossroads in their young lives on the eve of their annual exclusive party. The story also goes back in time to when their parents June and Mick met, and their whirlwind romance and his rise to stardom. The character development is all spot on and the dialogue is incredible as the party gets going so the book gets better and better.

What a beautiful read, perfect for summer days. All that talk about the ocean made me want to hop on a train and go to the beach, even though I'm not as brave as Nina and her siblings and I never adventure into deep water ‘cause I can't swim.

Malibu Rising follows the story of Nina Riva and her siblings: Jay, Hud and Kit. Nina is a famous surfer whose photo is on every boy's walls, she owns her family's restaurant Riva's Seafood on the Californian coast. She and her two brothers and sister come from a disfunctional family, and this books tells us the story of their lives growing up with a missing father and an alcoholic mother. I absolutely loved the format of this book: 24 hours of a day, the day of the famous Riva party, told in parallel with the story of June and Mick Riva, Nina's parents.

We can see the similarities between Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit and their parents and how hard they try not to be like them. But what I learned from this book is: we ARE NOT our parents.

This is a really heartwarming and beautiful story, Nina was definitely my favourite character and I loved seeing her grow, I cried and laughed with her. I felt like a part of the Riva family, like I was sitting right there on a Malibu beach, listening to their stories. This is the type of book that makes you feel so involved, that when you stop reading you're hit by the fact that you're sitting home in your bed, not on a beach or at a party with tons of stars.

OH OH AND if you've read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo THERE'S A REALLY NICE REFERENCE TO A CHARACTER FROM IT (Celia St. James). I almost cried when I saw that. Nice one, Taylor.

4,5 ⭑
Eine weiteres geniales Buch von TJR.
Ich liebe die Familiendynamik und auch die zwei Zeitzonen die zusammenkommen.
Nina ist ein so toller Charakter und eine so unglaublich starke Frau ❤︎ Die anderen Geschwister fand ich auch toll und die gesamte Entwicklung von allen
Jedes Buch ist etwas komplett anderes und doch immer wieder gut 4/4 waren toll
3 sind noch auf dem SUB

Es un 3.5 (7)

Bueno, ya pasó un tiempo desde que terminé este libro, pero eso me ayudó a reflexionar más sobre él y sentirlo.
He de decir que estoy un poquito decepcionada, no porque el libro sea malo o aburrido, simplemente no entiendo por qué no me hacía sentir esas ganas incontrolables de seguir leyendo cada segundo que tuviera libre.
La forma de narrar de Taylor y sus personajes femeninos son lo que más me gustan de ella, y en este libro pude volver a encontrarme con ellas. Amé mucho a Nina y a June, me encantó poder ver por todo lo que tuvieron que pasar y su forma de seguir adelante, siempre por su familia, pero es verdad que en algún momento se perdieron a si mismas, y él como Nina volvió a encontrarse me gustó mucho.
Si bien esos dos personajes me gustaron, estoy muy triste porque los demás personajes, en especial Jay, Hud y Kit, no los sentí de la misma manera. También me gustan, y su relación de hermanos ha sido lo mejor del libro, pero me duele mucho que no se les haya dado más importancia como a Nina. Lo entiendo, ya que ella era la mayor y por lo tanto creo que toda la tensión iba centrada en ella, pero me hubiera gustado que también nos contaran más sobre cada hermano.
Mientras iba leyendo el libro siempre pensaba que le daría tres estrellas, pero ese final si que hizo que se mereciera un poco más. Esos cambios de trama con la posible hermana me dejaban intrigada, y algunas de las historias extras con los demás personajes de la fiesta algunos me gustaban, pero otros se me hacían aburridos e irrelevantes.
Ahora si, por lo que lloré en mi pupitre de la escuela fue por la discusión al final con todos los hermanos y Mick Riva.
La forma en la que todos enfrentaron sus propios problemas con Mick, él como le dijeron todo lo que sentían sin filtros, sin guardarse nada y cómo Mick los iba recibiendo, y al final cómo todos vieron que Mick estaba realmente arrepentido de lo que les había hecho, aceptándolo pero al mismo tiempo sin perdonarlo del todo, dejarlo ir pero sin olvidarlo.
Leer a Mick decir que nunca se merecieron eso, que ellos se merecían todo el mundo, fue un abrazo al corazón para mi pequeña yo.