Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins-Reid
369 pages/11hrs 6 mins
Audible
Released May 27th, 2021
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Malibu Rising is a standalone novel from the bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six, about a day in the life of a family of young adult siblings in early 80s LA. I listened to the audiobook, which is beautifully narrated by Julia Whelan, and while not as good as DJ – not many books are, I enjoyed it for the characters and their Poor Little Rich Kid dramas.
Nina Riva is a gorgeous swimsuit model, the daughter of a rock star, who is about to host her glamorous annual party in her clifftop mansion, but her life is falling apart – her husband has just left her for another woman, she’s sick of being pawed by strangers because she’s famous, and she doesn’t know what future she wants. Meanwhile her younger brothers have problems in their love-lives, and her little sister is fed up with being treated like a baby. As the hours count down to the debauchery of the Party of the Year, their tragic family backstory is revealed, and over the course of one night, their lives will change forever.
What I liked best about this was the way we get to know Nina, liking her more annd more as we learn what she’s sacrificed to hold her unusual family together. You know from the beginning that the night will end in flames, and I got quite worried about the fate of certain characters. What I liked the least was all the irrelevant minor characters who attend the party – it was hard to remember who was who and I didn’t care about them at all. I did love the ending though. I have mixed feelings about whether I now want to read Carrie Soto is Back – which features Nina’s husband’s fiery mistress; it sounds like it’s not a sequel, just set in the same world – except it’s about tennis players.
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