Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

SYNOPSIS

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.

Synopsis from Goodreads

---

PERSONAL REVIEW

Daisy Jones and the Six continues to be one of my favourite novels because of the storytelling, the characters, and the concept itself. Reid it built such an incredible story that I honestly thought it was biographical and I was googling the band (cue my heartbreak that they are completely fictional). So when I heard the hype about Malibu Rising, I was both slightly nervous (will it live up to my expectations?) and really excited (amazing another book from Reid!). Luckily, I also fell in love with this book and was so happy to have read it.

Love the Time Jumps
Reid is a excellent writer of pacing and I loved how we jumped back and forth through time in Malibu. It was such a great way to see how the Riva family begins and what they’ve been through. By not keeping the story linear, Reid adds depth and a layer of mystery as we try to figure out what happened to bring the Riva siblings to this point in their lives. It also drives home the relationship each sibling has with each other and the roles they are forced to play in the family. I got a lot of Daisy Jones vibes in the way Mick’s story played out - he could have been Billy if Billy didn’t leave the band when he did. I really enjoy how Reid is able to write this story in a way that gives us so many years and characters to follow and fall in love (or hate) with.

Good Choice with the POVs
I really loved the different POVs and think this is was made the book a stand out for me. I loved getting to know each of the siblings and it made me want each of them to find their happiness that much more. Nina and Kit definitely compete for my favourite sibling, but ultimately giving each of them a voice was a great move by Reid. It’s similar to how she wrote Daisy Jones and one of the reasons I loved that book - these multifaceted stories are always so much more appealing then reading about only one characters life unfold.
​
Ending Was Too Drawn Out
The book has way too many endings and it really drags down the pacing. While it’s cute to learn what’s happening with all these random characters we’ve met over the course of the party, the reality is we don’t know about any of them enough to care. Personally, I think it should’ve ended with Mick walking away. Then if there was a separate epilogue chapters to tell us what happened to the Riva siblings, I would’ve been happier. Instead, I found that all the little snippets about characters we'd only met for a page or two changed the tone and direction of the story at a strange moment.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! We had a lot of fun talking about it my book club (which I always think is a sign of a well-written novel) and I was excited to learn that there was a companion novel about Carrie Soto so that we could get more from her perspective. While a very different book and premise than Daisy Jones, Malibu Rising was an enjoyable read and one I'll definitely read again. 

---

FINAL RATING: 4.5/5