Malibu Rising, a review by Di

posted in: Di | 0

MALIBU RISING
Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ballantine Books
June1, 2021
384 pages

Goodreads | Amazon

Malibu Rising has one main central event, a party (which is considered to be THE ANNUAL PARTY). The rest of the story jumps time lines to explain all the backstories of the main characters.

The central characters are the Niva family. The story focuses on the 5 offspring of Mick Niva, a crooner/pop singer of the 1960s. The current timeline is in the 1980s with flashbacks to previous decades.

I really found the story of Mick and June very interesting, and in the end sad. Mick’s character was to be pitied.

The children of Mick and June were all great characters. From the beginning of the story to the end they all grew emotionally and found self-awareness.

While the big party was necessary to bring forth the image required of new beginnings and regrowth, I found it to be a bizarre part of the story. Every second sentence introduced a new person who was not relevant to the story. All of their actions were totally disgusting but perhaps it was to show the strangeness of a world that most of us do not recognize.

While I did not enjoy the party (I certainly would have left right after I walked in) it is not up to me to question how the author wants to bring about a point. On the other hand, I loved Nina, Hud, Jay, Kit and even Casey. I loved their relationships with each other.

And I loved the way things wrapped up in the story. I know they are only characters in a book and in my mind, but if the story were to continue I would love it if they all found the true happiness that they were seeking. It seemed that they were on the right road.

 

Sharing is caring!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *