“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.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them… and what they will leave behind.”- Taylor Jenkins Reid
Welcome to Aphrodite’s first book review…. here’s what to expect
The beauty of books is their complexity. The reason that movies can never compare is because they lack the verbal imagery, the inner thoughts, and the escapism that books create. That’s why I have decided to create a monthly book review. There are so many things to explore in books and so many opinions to be shared. This review will dive into the characters, the quality of story, the writing itself, and finally my personal rating. I encourage you to read this book before reading my reviews as they do contain spoilers, and plus, its more fun to see people’s opinions when you have already formulated your own.
The Story— what is it about and is it good?
Taylor Jenkins Reid had a beautiful story to tell. This story dives into the depths of family and how strong a family is. Reid uses flashbacks to explain previous generations and to create understanding for the reader. The importance of family bonds is the prominent theme in Malibu Rising; exploring brotherhood, sisterhood, motherhood, fatherhood, and everything in between.
You might be saying, “okay but is it just a happy family the whole time? Where’s the fun in that?”.
And our answer to that is no, Reid takes us on a rollercoaster of drama and hardship to break down family dynamics. She also discusses the fear of turning out exactly like your parents and how we can break off from that. Malibu Rising does an excellent job of showing the influence our parents lives have on us, and how, in ways, we can choose wether they negatively effect us.
So… Where’s the catch?
This book was packed to the brim with drama, and while yes, that made it a quick and intriguing read, it also pushed the lines of being soap-opera-esque. For example, the upturning of a long lost sister who happens to have the same lip as the family’s father.
I understand that Reid has a niche for writing about the private lives of the rich and famous, but I still found this book to be a little bit to o convenient. There are two main problems in this book: struggling financially and emotionally after the loss of a mother, and the need for escaping a very publicized life. Both of these problems are solved by either the fact that their father is famous, beauty, or money. Nina Riva is left to take care of her family when her mother drowns and her father runs away to other women. Reid shows just how much Nina struggles financially, causing her to drop pout of high-school and obtain guardianship over her siblings. This problem, however, is solved when she is offered a job as a model when she is seen surfing, and her career skyrockets because of her daddy’s name. At the end of the book, Nina Riva ends up coming up with the brilliant idea of moving to Portugal to start a new life (one that most people who don’t have extreme amounts of money have the option to have). While these quick fixes didn’t ruin the story for me, they did prove as problematic- especially because moving to a beach house in Portugal was Nina’s answer to how to escape generational trauma and pressure. Unfortunately, this is not a fix that many people have the resources to accomplish.
Overall, if you want a book that takes you away from your problems and straight to a rich mansion on the cliffs of Malibu, Reid does a great job of taking you there. This book is an entertaining one, but not an eye-opening life changing experience.
Characters
Malibu Rising had an incredible amount of characters. Arguably, about half of these characters were rather unnecessary. In the second half of the book the famous Riva party begins,. During this party there are a surplus of characters who are explained. While these characters are interesting to read about, they did not contribute to the point of the story in any way. I believe that it would have been more beneficial to cut out those characters all together and explore the main characters and the members of the Riva family more. Because of the sheer amount of characters, I found it hard to truly connect with any single character.
Can we talk about the fire?
Seriously— can we talk about that fire? In the opening pages of Malibu Rising, Reid explains that the Riva party will end in the house burning down in flames. It seemed as though Reid forgot about this plot though, as the story took a complete turn and did not lead up to a fire at all. Which, personally, I was thankful for. The plot of Mick and June and the Riva family proved much more intriguing than a random fire. The fire takes place in the last few pages of the book, only because some idiot throws their cigarette in a bush. The fire, I believe, was unnecessary, and the story would make perfect sense without the fire at all. It seemed as though too many plots where trying to be fit into one book.
Drum roll please…. my rating reveal…
Okay, so I know that I was harsh in my review, but Malibu Rising was an overall entertaining book. Although problematic at times, the book grasped my attention. This is a quick, fun read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a book that can teleport them into a different world thats packed with drama. I closed this book satisfied, but not, per se, wanting more.
Thank you for reading my review, and feel free to leave your opinions in the comments below!