Article contributed by Marta Paraschiv
Malibu Rising is a family chronicle set in the glamorous Malibu, following the Riva clan from 1956 when Mick and June first met to 1983 when their children are all grown up and trying to come to terms with their parents’ mistakes and carving paths for themselves. The book alternates between past and present time, the past focusing mostly on June and Mick’s stormy marriage—he many separations and reconciliations—while the present is all about the wild party that their children are throwing. With this book, Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers a multifaceted perspective on family, love, fame and what it takes to start over.
One of my favourite parts of this book was Mick and June’s intricate relationship. June is expected to take over her family’s restaurant—something that she doesn’t want to do because despite her apparent shyness and tendency to shun the limelight, deep down she wishes for a lavish lifestyle. Enter Mick, an aspiring singer, that just knows he was made to accomplish great things. June admires his determination and she truthfully believes that he can make it, she supports him and sees in him an escape as well. If he becomes famous, then he can offer her the extravagant life that she had only dared to dream about and then she will never have to take on the family business. On the other hand, Mick sees in June stability and the possibility of a family he never had. He believes June to be the solace he’d need after months of being on tour and away from home, someone capable enough to wait for him and look after their family even in his absence. Both of them are irremediably dreamers and they love each other tremendously, but Mick’s raving success might shatter all the dreams they’ve made together.
Another highlight of the book was definitely the connection between the four children of June and Mick. They are incredibly protective of each other and the bonds they have are unbreakable despite the hardships they have to face. Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit grow without their father for most part, but they can never stray away too much from his shadow. Everyone knows who Mick Riva is, they all want to be around him and get to know him, and this fascination extends to his offsprings. Something that is evident from the success their end-of-the-summer party has every other year. The party is well-known in Hollywood and every important celebrity is expected to attend. It stirred up lots of scandals through the years as it became an occasion for everyone to lose their inhibitions and the 1983 party is promised to be the wildest one yet. And not only because of the famous guests, but also because each Riva sibling is going through something – from having to deal with being cheated on to self-discovery and everything in between. The character development is so incredibly well done that you can see how their childhood influenced who they are and during the party, they also come to terms with their roots, their traumas and how all of this shaped them.
One of the downfalls of the story was that it promised so much with this party, yet the delivery fell short for me. It delved a lot in the shallow side of Hollywood with an emphasis on the excessive drinking, the sex scandals, the drugs and the violence, which almost made me lose track of what was important. It almost made the book lose its substance.
Malibu Rising is a fast-paced story that explores what it takes to be a parent, with all its intricacies. At its core, it is about how you can love someone with all your heart and still mess up horribly. What matters, in the end, is that you commit to loving them, you show up each time and you try to do better.
Malibu Rising is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 1st 2021.
Will you be picking up Malibu Rising? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.
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 for him 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.
Read the book loved it. Felt an abrupt ending and wanted more!!
I liked this review, much more clear and concise and knew exactly what I was getting into with this one. I’ll make sure to pick this one up; always in need of a good book. I always find myself putting down books that I can never get into.