Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

  • Release Date: 2021-06-01
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature
Score: 4
4
From 5,394 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . .

“Irresistible . . . High drama at the beach, starring four sexy, surfing siblings and their deadbeat, famous-crooner dad.”—People

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Time, Marie Claire, PopSugar, Parade, Teen Vogue, Self, She Reads

Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives 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 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.

Reviews

  • Calming, Feel-Good Read

    5
    By mamabjones
    This book was a breath of fresh air. The characters are so easy to love, the storyline is well paced, and the ending is satisfying. Would definitely recommend this book!
  • Good book…besides the ending

    4
    By sylviaandrewss
    Honestly I really liked this book a lot… until the last couple of chapter. The scenes with mick and the fire just felt super rushed and it wasn’t satisfying honestly, wish there was more to the end tbh.
  • Malibu Rising

    5
    By Breckyn Turner
    Not usually a fiction reader but this was phenomenal! Definite page-turner. You won’t be able to put the book down.
  • Mixed Feelings

    3
    By Lxxsmitty
    I kind of feel like this book was all over the place especially at the end. It was going so good then the ending just went completely off the rails, like introducing Casey?? Weird. The fire? Weird.
  • Disappointing

    2
    By Snoopy414
    After reading Daisy and The Six and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I was excited for this read. I’m not quite sure why I’m not really feeling it, I think it might be the numerous people that was hard to get a feel for their character and a lot of what felt like pointless dialogue. The romances were also icky, the only part of the book that I enjoyed was how the parents relationship panned out. Otherwise it was very mid.
  • This book wrecked me.

    5
    By Friend of "TEAM GALE!!!!!!'
    As an eldest daughter as an older sister — this book rocked me to my core. A phenomenal read, it’ll break your heart and give you hope in a full swoop. This book took me back in time and painted Malibu under a new light. The characters are so individualistic yet share a thread of commonality due to trauma — it didn’t feel forced or in authentic. In fact it was the thing that brought me to tears. Definitely a must read!
  • Could have been so much more

    3
    By Apryla
    I’m torn about this book. On the one hand I was into it because I visited Malibu a few years back and really loved it. I guess I was hoping Malibu would take center stage but it really didn’t. Aside from mentioning some hot spots I didn’t feel the author truly captured the setting. It could have been atmospheric but it fell short and with the name of the town in the title I expected a bit more on that front. As far as the kids go…I didn’t really get a feel for each of them as strongly as they could’ve been painted. Nina was fleshed out a bit but how much is there to say about ages 25 and under? They were all just kind of boring. I understand that TJR’s characters show up in her other novels so perhaps we’ve not seen the end of all of these people? What bothers me is Mitch Rivas is deplorable but yet he gets to walk away unscathed and on top of it all he causes the fire that ruined people’s homes as a result of his not thinking about anyone but himself. He lives in Malibu - they all know better than to carelessly flick away a burning cigarette but he’s so full of himself it’s no shocker he gives no concern about the area he inhabits. Are we better off knowing about any of these vapid folks? Not really. It kept my interest but it could have been so much better. I agree with the other reviewers that all the introduced characters in the second half were completely unnecessary and I’m puzzled as to why the author included them. This won’t change your life but it had all the elements of a great book so that’s why it’s hugely disappointing that it wasn’t fleshed out more. There’s a story there but it isn’t this one. I’d love to read this story in the hands of a more skilled writer.
  • Loved the book

    4
    By Staceymally543
    Loved the book but expected more in the end.
  • Malibu rising

    3
    By har0515
    Easy entertaining summer read
  • Part 1 5 Stars | Part 2 1 Star

    2
    By lasher29
    What the heck?! Part 1 was a Marvelous summer read; part 2 made little to no sense. Lame