Malibu Rising
By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published Year: 2021
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 369
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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.
First Impressions
I love the cover of this book, though I do love the UK cover a bit more. I have loved everything of TJR’s and added this book to my list without reading the summary.
What I thought
I don’t know why, but for some reason it took me forever to get to this book. I picked it up from the library shortly after it came out, read a few chapters, and then ended up returning it. Partially because I didn’t have enough time to read it and had nor renewals, but also because I was hesitant to read it. After I read Carrie Soto is Back in the summer of 22 and love it, I knew I needed to go back and read Malibu Rising.
Nina and her three siblings are the children of the famous Mick Riva. Every summer they hold a massive party where everyone wants to be seen. But Nina doesn’t want to throw the party this year and her siblings are all going though their own troubles.
This story alternates between the 24 hours the day of the party and flashbacks to when Nina’s parents met and her childhood. I think the way the book is described is what put me off a little bit. I didn’t have much of a desire to read about a party that over the course of a day ends in destruction. However, this book is so much more. Is it my favorite of TJR’s? No. But is it still a wonderful read? Absolutely.
One of the things I love about TJR’s world of modern historical fiction is they’re all connected. There are characters in this book that cross Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones and the Six, and of course Carrie Soto. Because of this, you feel an immediate connection to the characters you’ve just met.
The flashbacks were much more central to the story than the summary leads you to believe. Learning about Nina and her sibling’s childhood is heartbreaking. I was rooting for all of them and cursing Mick Riva.
If you’ve been putting off reading this book, don’t. The characters are just as lively and heartwarming as every other book TJR has written. The party isn’t as central as the summary makes it sound and it’s not a book centered around disaster. TJR has a special way with modern historical fiction, and if you’ve read and enjoyed her others, I recommend continuing with this one.