A beautiful story about the complex dynamics of a family
Rating: 5 stars
5 stars
It took me close to 9 months to finish this book. What is wrong with me? It’s funny because it was just sitting on my bookshelf for 8 months, 80% read. And I didn’t think about picking it up until yesterday. Anyways, despite the ridiculous amount of time it took me to read this book, I loved it so much! Those last 100 pages were beautiful and brought everything together for me.
Malibu Rising is about the Riva siblings, children of the great singer, Mick Riva, and their annual end-of-summer party. Each one of the siblings is so well fleshed out. Even though it had been 9 months, I could still envision each character in my head! The story is told from multiple perspectives and includes flashbacks as well. Usually, I don’t even like stories told in dual perspectives because I just prefer to stay in the head of one character, but for some reason I enjoyed this one. There were even perspectives in the book of random partygoers. But we didn’t spend too much time with them, which is probably why I didn’t mind. There is this particularly meaningful part in one chapter that talks about two characters who would be perfect of each other, but because they both stay where they are at the party they never meet each other. I found that so beautiful, art imitating reality. You can be at the same party as someone perfect for you and still miss your chance if you don’t at least try to mingle. Life lessons by Reid right there.
At its core, this book is about family. What it means to be a parent. The mistakes they make. The love they have (or don’t have). The symbolism is amazing and the way that the story links together is truly a treat. I think I’ll have to re-read this at some point to revel in it properly.
All in all, a great read! My first Taylor Jenkins Reid and what a good one it was! Excited for more.
Most Memorable Quote:
“The small mistakes and heartbreaks of guiding a life”
Love,
