Can Taylor Jenkins Reid ever do wrong? I’m starting to think not, at least after The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six completely knocked it out of the park! With Malibu Rising, I can easily say that I’m now a lifetime reader.

Malibu Rising tells the story of the Rivas: Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit, a sibling pack whose lives are forever changed one night in 1983 during the annual end-of-summer party at Nina’s cliff-side home. Before we get there, we glimpse the fated encounter of their parents on the shores of Malibu in 1956, when a starry-eyed June meets Mick Riva, an idealistic heartthrob who dreams of wealth and fame. An instant match, June and Mick’s love seems to be enough to sustain them, until Mick’s quick rise to stardom spurs them on a path of heartbreak that has generational implications. Nearly 30 years later, with both their parents out of the picture, Nina is left to pick up the pieces while her and her siblings, marred by trauma and dysfunction, find a way to move forward.

It has to be said that many of the novels I’ve read by Taylor Jenkins Reid have a distinct signature; they all take place primarily between the 50’s and 80’s, intimately flirt with the notion of celebrity, and have a back-and-forth format to them (whether it’s in the form of an interview or rotating chapters). They also happen to take place in California. It’s truly a testament to her ability that, within the confines of this “style”, her stories /never/ get boring.

One of TJR’s greatest talents is in characterization. What makes reading Malibu Rising such an experience at times is the emotional engagement with the characters. In accepting the reality of her parentage, Nina does everything in her power to make her younger siblings feel safe and pave the way for their success and happiness in life. In June, the reader witnesses the tragedy of romantic anguish and how it leads to unhealthy ways of coping. Through Kit, we see the struggle of finding identity in the shadow of others while beginning to learn new things about oneself. Even the more heinous characters, while not redeemable through their actions, are not fully abandoned without the possibility of change. One of the greater lessons of this novel is that all of our thoughtless deeds leave scars that cannot be healed by remorse.

All in all, this was a beautiful story with a lot of heart. If you’re looking for a dreamy summer read that balances the lavish lives of celebrities with a poignant view of family and loss, pick this up ASAP!

My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, NetGalley, and to Taylor Jenkins Reid, for a dependably emotional and thought-provoking read!

I honestly wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book at first. I did enjoy the story.
I just felt there were too many characters being introduced almost right up to the end of the book. Many of these characters were not really needed in my opinion.

I don't feel as though I have any other choice but to love this book. The writing was, unsurprisingly, amazing. The characters (of which there were quite a few, both major and incredibly minor) were crafted with such detail and complexity there was no way to not comprehend their motivations or their emotions. At first it feels like you're passively along for the ride until suddenly at some point you feel like you're part of the story, inside the heads of the characters and watching everything unfold from above. There are things I could probably critique about the story as a whole, but I think the point of this book was how valuable the pieces were and how they fit together in the end. I couldn't put it down and I genuinely enjoyed myself while reading it. It had the glam and impact that I've come to expect from Taylor Jenkins Reid while still bringing something totally new to the table. Her books are definitely a must read for me.