Review: MALIBU RISING by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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.

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Malibu Rising is the first book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I can’t wait to read more of her work. This story is immediately striking as it’s told in third person omniscient which I find is so hard to get right. But it really works. Reid is a masterful writer. Not only do we have these alternating perspectives, but we have alternating timelines too.

This story is definitely character driven. It’s an examination of the Riva family, and every single character just feels SO REAL. The plot in essence isn’t so much a plot but this examination focused on a single night when all the conflict and energy that’s been building for the last twenty years comes to a head. It feels real. It feels frightening and energetic and lively and lovely. We’ve got so many emotions packed into this book. It was a rollercoaster, but a good kind.

This has to be one of my fave reads of 2022.

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