Malibu Rising

As a novel, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid doesn't really work. It is populated by cardboard characters who face unmoving dilemmas and it doesn't capture a 1980s atmosphere despite being set in that decade. Its view of family life, especially motherhood, is unconvincing and sappy. The formulaic plot centers on a big neighborhood party that comes across like a histrionic high school prom, but for beautiful, wealthy celebrities.

Yet for some mysterious reason, the book kept me reading. I wish I knew Reid's secret.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has a way of writing these seemingly normal & boring stories while imparting meaningful life lessons. I think I enjoy listening to her books more than reading a physical copy because they read like memoirs. Her characters are so real & the stories relatable to people in all walks of life in some way.

I wasn’t particularly enthralled or captivated by this story, but I did find myself in the characters. The ending got me. I had to pause & just reflect because wow years of therapy in a few lines.

“It was as if June had given her a box—as if every parent gives their children a box—full of the things they carried. June had given her children this box packed to the brim with her own experiences, her own treasures show more and heartbreaks. Her own guilts and pleasures, triumphs and losses, values and biases, duties and sorrows. And Nina had been carrying around this box her whole life, feeling the full weight of it. But it was not, Nina saw just then, her job to carry the full box. Her job was to sort through the box. To decide what to keep, and to put the rest down. She had to choose what, of the things she inherited from the people who came before her, she wanted to bring forward. And what, of the past, she wanted to leave behind.”

Thanks for the unexpected cry, TJR. ❤️

3.5 ⭐️ show less

I think this book is the dictionary definition of a beach read: light and stylish but immediately forgettable. Not to mention set on an actual beach. The four Riva siblings are like a mash-up of Sweet Valley High meets Party of Five, all of them good-looking and talented, generous and popular, with a completely messed up family background to ground their sun-kissed lives in reality. Did I really like any of the characters or the swallow the cheesy writing, full of references to soul mates and finding 'the one'? Nope. Did I keep reading, almost non-stop? Hell yes!

The story is split between two generations of the Riva family, pathetic wife and mother June and the history of her failed marriage to deadbeat dad Mick in the 50s and 60s, show more alongside the lives of their children, Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit in the 80s. The past merges into - and threatens to define - the present, where Nina and her siblings are preparing for the 'Riva Party', an annual event at her house in Malibu. I tried very hard to understand June's mentality, betrayed and abandoned again and again by her husband yet always ready to take him back (and adopt his love child into the bargain!), but must admit she drove me mad. And then Nina, living in her vain and arrogant husband's glass house, seemed to be taking on all of her mother's worst qualities before eventually salvaging her dignity and the whole novel - 'I'm a doormat', she finally realises. The plot, if there is one, involves the final and cataclysmic Riva party and a lot of very satisfying home truths, but the heart of the story is centred around the four siblings, and damn me, I actually came to care about them all! Beautiful surfer and model Nina is physically flawless but also a control freak, which I found strangely relatable. Brother Jay is a professional surfer with a health scare that forces him re-evaluate his life, although not before playing dog in the manger with his brother's happiness. Hud is the cuckoo in the nest, Mick's lovechild taken in by June. And Kit is the youngest, struggling with her sexuality. They are all two dimensional characters, perfect with token flaws - Francine Pascal would be proud - and yet I loved the strong family bond that makes them local celebrities regardless of fame or success.

I think this book might become a future guilty pleasure! show less

Singer Mick Riva was a womaniser, everyone knew that except his wife June - at first. Mick and June had three children, then Mick left and his lovechild joined the family. After June's death Nina, the eldest, has to drop out of school and raise her siblings to be happy confident individuals. All the stories collide at the annual Riva party at Nina's beach house in Malibu.
There are very mixed reviews for this book which I can understand. It is both a frothy holiday read and also a family drama, what Reid has done is to hide the pathos under the veneer of glitz and glam. Flitting in time frame to give the family history as well as set the scene for the crazy denouement, this book is handled very well. I loved it!

[4.5] it’s been a while since i’ve read a tjr book, so i was worried i’d remembered how much i’d liked her writing to the wrong extent, but this absolutely met my expectations!! having a cast of such diverse, relatable and likeable / unlikeable characters really made this book for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid is pure, sun‑soaked storytelling magic. Reid takes one unforgettable night in 1983 and turns it into a wildfire of family drama, emotional depth, and the kind of character work that makes you want to call your siblings just to check in.

The Riva family is messy, magnetic, and impossible not to root for. Every chapter peels back another layer—old wounds, buried secrets, and the fierce loyalty that keeps them tied together even when everything around them is burning (sometimes literally). Reid’s writing is cinematic, addictive, and full of heart, making Malibu feel like a character all its own.

This is one of those books that grabs you early, keeps you hooked, show more and leaves you thinking about the characters long after you close it. A stunning, emotional, beautifully crafted story about family, fame, and the fires we survive. show less

Taylor Jenkins Reid may not be writing the most important books of our generation, but she sure is writing some good ones. Her last book (Daisy Jones and the Six) revealed an innate ability to explore the lives of beautiful people with not so beautiful backstories, and her new novel continues in that vein. Malibu Rising unfolds over the course of 24 hours as the Riva siblings--Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit--prepare for their infamous end of summer party in the early 1980s. With their alcoholic mother dead and estranged from their music-star father, they have all managed to find some fame and fortune of their own. Flashbacks between the hours of the day fill in those important backstories and give readers the meat to care about the Rivas. show more Malibu Rising celebrates southern California and everything associated with it--the Pacific coast, surfing, celebrity, and those seeking it--while exploring deeper themes of family and parental responsibility. Jenkins Reid has a real touch for storytelling and building characters through plot and dialogue--a refreshing change from the multitude of navel-gazing novels flooding the market these days. This book may not change your life, but sometimes a great story told by a good writer is enough--and Malibu Rising is certainly that. show less