Malibu Rising

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

If summer could somehow fit into a book, then you’d find it in Malibu Rising. – Oprah Daily

I have raved and raved about Daisy Jones and the Six set in the 70’s music scene!  I absolutely adored it so by now you’ll know I am definitely a Taylor Jenkins Reid fan!  Malibu Rising, while in a different league from Daisy Jones, is fabulous and hugely enjoyable escapism.   

Everyone knows the four children of Mick Riva, a pop singer of international fame and irresistible good looks.  Nina, Jay, Hudson and Kit. Not so many people know that Nina, the eldest, held the family together when their father abandoned them and their mother died of a toxic blend of alcohol and heart-break. Surfing is their common bond. Set in Malibu over the course of one day – Saturday, the 27^th of August 1983 – the book tells the story of the four famous siblings, one epic party and the house that will go up in flames before the day is over.  Throughout the hours of the day there are flashbacks to family romances, marriages, births and deaths explaining how and why the Riva’s have reached this particular moment in time.

As Elinor Ripman in the New York Times writes: “Because the novel begins with a short, nicely portentous chapter reminding us that “it is Malibu’s nature to burn,” we are prepared. We wait for the party to ignite, wondering who among the drunken, stoned or marauding guests or family members will bring about the inevitable.   By the end of Malibu Rising, the Riva siblings will learn several truths. They’ll get an answer to the lifelong question: Will their absent, celebrated father ever come back? Even when a fire claims an estate and rolls down the coast; even after the trauma, the betrayals, the distress, the fisticuffs — or perhaps because of them — we leave the party knowing that we don’t have to worry about the Rivas.”

A great read: sex and drugs and rock ‘n roll and surfing and celebrities and Malibu and most importantly family.  Enjoy!

Reid’s descriptions of Malibu are so evocative that readers will swear they feel the sea breeze on their faces or the grit of the sand between their toes. The Rivas have a believable sibling dynamic, and the family members are complex and delightfully flawed (especially Mick, whose bad decisions reverberate throughout the novel). A compulsively readable story about the bonds between family members and the power of breaking free. –  Kirkus Reviews

Malibu Rising is packed with plenty of scintillating scandal, but Reid cultivates real empathy for her characters, who form the tender heart that beats at the novel’s core and are its greatest achievement…. a juicy, irresistible book that will sweep readers away. – Bookpage

a fiery mix of celebrity culture and family drama – Washington Post