Book Review
Title: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical, Drama
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Malibu Rising was on my radar when it came out because I have read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six by this author and loved them both despite little issues I had with them, but for some reason I never picked it up and I am changing that now. All I knew about the book before getting into it was it takes place in August 1983, over the course of a single day following Nina Riva and her family. Something happens over this one day that results in a fire that sweeps across Malibu and I think it will have some of Reid’s signature twists but from the synopsis it is giving me We Were Liars vibes. We are briefly introduced to all of the Riva siblings and their parents in the opening section of the novel which was interesting. Nina has gotten divorced from her cheating husband, Brandon but is still hosting her annual party. Jay and Kit are pretty close since he split from his girlfriend Ashley, Hudson has been sleeping with Ashley even when she and Jay were together but they love each other and plan to announce they are together at the party, so a lot of drama already. They are the children of Mick Riva and June Costa and the way they got together was nice and heart-warming but I have a feeling this is only the beginning and these siblings might be keeping a lot of secrets from each other.
By noon on the day of the party we have got to know the Riva siblings pretty well but the novel bounces between 1983 and 1959. In the present day timeline we learn about the relationship between Nina and Brandon and why it went sour, we learn about Jay’s new relationship with Lara and how he’s madly in love with her even though he has only met her a couple of times and how unsatisfied Kit feels with her life compared to her siblings even though she knows she’s a better surfer than Nina and Jay. In the past timeline we follow Mick and June navigating their relationship, at first it is really wholesome with Mick proposing to June, pushing up the wedding because she is pregnant with Nina and Mick’s rise to fame. After Jay is born things begin to go south as June begins to suspect that Mick isn’t faithful to her when he’s away performing. This suspicion is confirmed when one of his mistress’ dumps a baby on June that turns out to be Hudson because she isn’t ready to be a mother. June takes the boy in because he needs someone to love him and she isn’t going to turn away and she is fully prepared to leave Mick. However, he wears her down and for a time their life returns to normal but the affairs continue until he meets a woman that captures his heart and he leaves June and his three children for this woman but June isn’t going to let herself be defined by the man she married and is determined to pick herself back up. This explains why the Riva siblings are quite cold to their father and hate being labelled as Mick Riva’s children. However, unless Mick and June got back together this doesn’t explain why Kit is so much younger than the others and it makes me question whether she is even a Riva like Nina, Jay and Hudson.
I knew the novel progresses from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. so we only have seven more hours to see what actually happens during this party. The present timeline doesn’t have much happening right now other than preparing for the party but we do get to see how the siblings view each other and how there are now secrets between them but all seem to agree that Nina is too kind and needs to take more for herself. A lot of the drama comes from the past timeline where shortly after marrying wife number two Mick ends up getting divorced again and going through a string of lovers. June keeps tabs on this but keeps it hidden from her children as none of them are old enough to remember Mick being around. However, he soon tires of the rock and roll lifestyle and comes crawling back to June and she accepts him back into her life and the lives of their children. For a while things are going great and Mick seems to be the man June wanted before so they end up getting remarried but Mick’s old habits haven’t died and soon come out to play again. Things once again go south but it isn’t just June getting hurt this time as Nina can remember her father and has gotten attached to him. They get divorced again but this time Mick stops providing for his children meaning June returns to the family restaurant to work in order to provide for her children. While they are still small they discover a love of surfing and wants surfboards of their own but June can’t afford them but she makes it work so the children have their own surfboards for Christmas. June is one of the best characters so far and we’ve already had hints at how she dies but that must have been devastating for the children and Mick can go die in a hole for all I care about him. However, we are at almost 3 p.m. in the present timeline and everything is going to be crumbling around them by 7 p.m. and it makes me wonder what is actually going to happen as there are no hints right now.
Through the flashbacks we get see how June dies after essentially becoming an alcoholic after she realises that Mick is never coming back to her and how Nina had to shoulder the responsibilities of a parent young. Their mother dies not long after that after accidentally drowning in the bathtub, to avoid her siblings being sent to foster homes Nina keeps everything under the radar and learns how to run the restaurant, pay bills and keep her siblings on the right path even if it means coming off it herself. Nina has to drop out of school to work full time to provide for her siblings and this is how she gets into modelling and makes a lot of money very quickly allowing her to pay for college and medical expenses as well as Jay’s first competition. However, she does seem to realise that Kit resents being under the thumb of her sister who is just overcautious after everything that has happened and that she is very slowly following the same path as her mother. Back in the present the siblings are ready for the party and people have started arriving just before 7 p.m. and one of the first people to arrive is Nina’s ex-husband who wants to come home and the déjà vu from June’s storyline hit hard. I honestly don’t know where Reid is going to take us since I know there is a devastating fire and Jay has commented about how the last time the four of them surfed together none of them realised it would be the last time making me think that someone dies. There is also tension between Jay and Hudson and Hud puts some feelers out about his relationship with Ashley. He doesn’t say he’s dating her but he asks Jay if it would be ok for him to ask her out and Jay gets really angry about it but Hudson knows he can’t hide it forever especially considering how he feels for Ashley.
Part two contains the next twelve hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and the party has started in earnest now. Nina does take back Brandon but I don’t think this is going to work out but there is more tension building. Hud and Ashley want to be open about their relationship although they are both anxious about how Jay is going to react especially when Ashley tells Hudson that she is pregnant and it needs to be done now. Jay is anxious to see Lara at the party so I don’t know why he is hung up on Ashley and Kit is looking for someone to fool around with but after kissing a boy there she realises that she might not like kissing boys in general. Her friend is also preoccupied since she has had a crush on Hudson for a long time and sees him with Ashley crushing her hopes for being with him. We also know from the synopsis that Kit has invited someone to the party and not said anything about it and this might be their father which isn’t going to go down well. By 11 p.m. there are so many people at the party and drugs are going around now so it seems like it is building to the climax of the house being burnt down and potentially someone dying. Honestly, I have been really enjoying Malibu Rising even though it is 90% family drama which isn’t normally something I would enjoy and I am excited to see how Reid brings everything together as this is something she has excelled at with her other books and they have always taken me by surprise. The final section of the novel was emotional, hart-breaking and everything I wanted it to be. Seeing all the pieces come together and seeing the Riva siblings come together and overcome the challenges before them was amazing. While it seems to like the hard hitting emotional gut punch that has become iconic in Reid’s work it is there just presented differently. Also unlike Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones where there is something to be told or a mystery to be resolve, Malibu Rising a solid family drama that reduced me to tear by the end.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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