“Nina understood, maybe for the first time, that letting people love you and care for you is part of how you love and care for them.”
Rating:
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.
This is not an ad, but Book of the Month has brought me some of the most amazing books, and Malibu Rising is no exception. This book service picks out 5 of the best new releases every month and then you get to choose which one you want and it's delivered to your doorstep. Ok, now onto the review.
An important aspect of reading for me is the opening chapter. I need a strong hook to want to continue reading. The opening page of Malibu Rising is as follows.
“Malibu catches fire. It is simply what Malibu does from time to time. Tornadoes take the flatlands of the Midwest. Floods rise in the American South. Hurricanes rage against the Gulf of Mexico. And California burns… Because it is Malibu’s nature to burn… The Malibu fire of 1983 started not in the dry hills but on the coastline. It began at 28150 Cliffside Drive on Saturday, August 27 - at the home of Nina Riva - during one of the most notorious parties in Los Angeles History. The annual party grew wildly out of control sometime around midnight. By 7:00 AM, the coastline of Malibu was engulfed in flames. Because, just as it is in Malibu’s nature to burn, so was it in one particular person’s nature to set fire and walk away.”
TELL ME THAT IS NOT ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PROLOGUES EVER. YOU CAN'T!
It might be too early to say since this is only the second book I am reading by her, but Taylor Jenkin Reid might be one of my new favorite authors. Like I said in my review of her other book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Reid doesn't structure her chapters chronologically. The entire story takes place between 7:00 AM one day to 7:00 AM the next. Most of her chapters start with the time of day. Sprinkled in between these chapters are flashbacks to years and years before the party takes place. The structure of Reid's novels works because her writing is very much character-focused. These throwback chapters show us how our 4 main characters grew up and what led them to be the people they are at this party. Learning about their past and their relationship with their father is crucial to really feel their pain in the events that unfold later that night.
Like most readers, I want to visualize what I am reading in my head. It isn't enough for me as a mega movie lover to read a book and not have the movie version of it playing in my head. For my Gen-Z friends out there (sorry to my adult readers who might not fully understand what feeling I am about to describe), Malibu Rising felt like the perfect "Cali Living" Pinterest board of Cali aesthetic Tik Tok full of beaches, parties, Hollywood, surfing, and celebrities. I felt like I was attending Nina Riva's annual party in 1983.
The last thing I want to mention about this book and Taylor Jenkins Writing in general is her worldbuilding. One of the reasons I decided to pick up this book is because Mick Riva, the father of the 4 main characters, was one of Evelyn Hugo's seven husbands in Reid's other novel. This connection meant that the world created in her last novel was about to expand, and that is every reader's dream. It's the same feeling I get when I hear that the movie I really loved is getting a sequel. New book, new characters, new drama. Each character in Malibu Rising has a backstory, given to us through the flashback chapters, that perfectly places them into the world I already had in my head. I can picture Nina Riva's surfing pictures on a 12-month calendar in the house of Evelyn Hugo. I can picture Evelyn reading the newspaper describing the aftermath of the Riva party. Reid is on another level.
Overall, I really liked this book. I didn't love it as much as I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo mostly because of the ending. The book builds up this "Malibu is going to burn" plot and then all it ends up being is literal fire in the last chapter. I wasn't expecting a happy ending, yet Reid gave every character a peaceful resolution. I wanted more metaphorical and physical fire than what was given. Yet, it seems like any piece of content about the state of California, whether that is a movie or a TV show, is amazing in my eyes. This is definitely because I am counting down the days until I move to California, so any piece of content that is set there makes me feel things.
The next Taylor Jenkins Reid novel I will be buying is Daisy Jones and the Six. I will probably be downloading it on my IPad because I will not be buying physical books in college. I'm not really sure how much personal reading I am going to be doing in college, but I know I will be watching a lot of movies. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone reading now who has been WAITING for me to post a review. These last few months have been rough and writing hasn't been coming to me as easily as it had been before. Thanks mom and dad for pushing me to write this book review. I'm back!
Quotes:
“How were you supposed to change- in ways both big and small- when your family was always there to remind you of exactly the person you apparently signed an ironclad contract to be?”
“Nina understood, maybe for the first time, that letting people love you and care for you is part of how you love and care for them.”
“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.”
“Family is found...whether it be blood or circumstance or choice, what binds us does not matter. All that matters is that we are bound.”
“That is the thing about the water, it is not yours to control. You are at the mercy of nature. That’s what makes surfing feel like more than a sport: It requires destiny to be on your side, the ocean must favor you.”
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