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.

Review

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I felt transported in this book.

I’d recommend it to anyone looking for an easy to get along with beach read.

The Story
I felt like it was sinking my teeth into nostalgia. Nostalgia for the California I know, while also reading like a campfire tale or a story from Grandma and Grampa, both place, time, and activity. Revives this California beach life complete with all that you love and hate about sand forever imbedded into the carpets of your car, the variety of people around Malibu, how it’s changed over time, Hollywood, stardom, and surf culture. I loved the family shred.

It’s one that makes you feel like you’re going places. I loved the brand references. O’Neill, Windsong, and Shalimar. Brought back a lot of memories for me. Some bits of humor, inside jokes that you know, and ones that you think you know only because of your perception of ones built within the premise of the book.

The Writing
POV omniscient. Flipping timelines which I’m usually not too fond of, I quite enjoyed and figured it was because there was an immediate satisfaction to the characters past as they were introduced.

The writing is not fussy, there’s a sharpness that I quite liked, though some bits felt a bit choppy from too much variation in sentence structure. Overall though I really enjoyed it as a casual, solid read.

The Characters
There’s quite a cast of characters to keep up with. Drawing in, accessibility, into all their worlds and circumstances. I liked the deeper insight into the character’s backgrounds, the psychology behind why they were and who they were. I liked the details that came fill circle, others not quite full circle, but for some reason I didn’t mind because sometimes a glimpse is just enough to make for a complete, well-rounded story if that makes sense.

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