Malibu Rising

I won't be attempting to write much about this book because this one is pure entertainment. Taylor Jenkins Reid has a way with weaving stories about the world of glamorous actors, musicians and models-- something that not many of us are familiar with. She is careful about showcasing not just the glittery facade but also the dirty laundry which is always kept away from public eyes.The book is centred around the the Riva siblings- Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit. Alternating chapters also provide a backstory about how their parents June and Mick met. Their marriage started out as a fairy tale but quickly disintegrated following Mick's rise to fame as a singer. The glamour and the constant attention quickly got to him and he soon left his young children with an alcoholic mother without a second thought. While June's forgiving nature and big heart definitely won my sympathy it did get irritating after a point. Nina's character was the one that stood out. Her transformation from a naive, trusting girl to one hardened by a lifetime of disappointments was particularly well written.A perfect beach read complete with surfing, parties and drinks on the beach, this book is perfect for reading on vacations. Plus a free trip to the beaches of Malibu-- who would want to miss that?Inspite of a slow start it picks up pace after the first 50 pages or so and is a complete pageturner henceforth. TJR's writing is crisp and keeps you on the edge and inspite of a predictable storyline, it doesn't cease entertaining you. I would definitely recommend this one for a quick entertaining read.

A novel, that created characters who fights all the odds of being successful not to attain name, fame, money, or any other nonsense but to stand for the family, stand for the loved ones and be resilient with the stamina of Mailbu fires. How can I not adore TJR's narration that goes hour after hour during the party of the decade, or episode after episode during the darkest hours of the Rivas?Though this is a beautiful historical fiction, the talent lies in subtly linking Evelyn Hugo's universe through Mick Riva. We would be simply carrying on with Evelyn's story while reading 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' but never gave a deep thought about one of her husbands and the music icon Mick Riva. But we got a whole lot of emotions behind Riva's actions in Malibu Rising which paved the way to a beautiful story in PCH's backdrop.The metaphorical fire that we could see in Nina's care as the eldest sibling to save her family after June's demise, letting Brandon go from her life understanding that he does not deserve to be with her after what he has done to her, and finally showing the place to Mick Riva his place in the lives of his children is a sheer transformation which burns red and orange when she departs to Portugal.As a reader, we would want to know what she wanted for herself. The girl was always a giver and when she's going to take something for herself? In the end, Nina takes the deserving freedom to do whatever she likes to do comes as the answer. It's not the fancy cars, the house at Cliffside Drive, the most coveted magazine cover girl, or even Mick Riva's daughter that is what she wants. All she wanted to do is just surf on the shores of Madeira. This makes Nina's character more humane, in fact, the entire book where everything happened in the midst of the mystery fire on August 27, 1983.Must read, if you're already in TJR's universe.

The characters are interesting but the story is lacklustre. The world the author that the author is beautifully indulgent and mysteriously nostalgic. However, being a thriller fan, I wish the book had a little but more intrigue instead of all that drama.

The media could not be loaded.  The quality of the book is amazing, the packaging was done nicely bubble rapped and everything. Haven’t read it yet so can’t say abt the story but I’ve high hopes because it’s Taylor Jenkins Reid and I’m extremely easy to please 😂

Product came in mint condition. Definitely worth the money. Loved the book.

No Spoilers!This is my most anticipated book of the year!! And the book arrived in PERFECT condition. Taylor Jenkins Reid never disappoints me.. she is just amazing! I think one should know as little as possible about her books before reading them because only then you'll be able to enjoy it to the maximum.Her books have such beautiful human beings , who are not perfect but flawed and vulnerable.. the characters just stay with you in your heart through out your lives. I highly recommend her books!!

The copy is a fake. It's pirated and I can see the printed text through the pages

Taylor Jenkins Reid can weave a story so captivating that a slow reader such as myself reads at twice the usual speed. The attention to detail in all the character sketches makes the visualisation so specific and clear it feels like her characters must actually exist..

I loved Daisy Jones & the Six, and liked Evelyn Hugo.Malibu Rising is sadly not as good as either even though there's a lot to love in here.I think the main problem is that it is under-developed and sort of half-written. A couple more drafts and some editing, re-arranging and cutting would have elevated this novel to the standard this author is capable of.It feels as if her publisher might have rushed her into print too soon. Or her editor blew smoke up her posterior & told her it was fantastic when it was still a work in progress.I think this author is incredibly talented and I will read her next one and I'm not sorry I read Malibu Rising it's just not what it should have been.

I'm not much of a one for beach reads - but recently I had a yearning for the good old days of Jilly Cooper/Jackie Collins/Shirley Conran. I'd say it's a good 20 years since I've last read one of those types of lively, tawdry, fun, escapist page-turners. I thought, from the Hype, Malibu Rising would be in a similar vein. It's most definitely not. This is probably the most boring book I've read in a long time. I mean, it takes some doing to write a novel, set in Malibu, about the rich/famous/beautiful people and to make it so uninspiring and droll. All the characters were pretty one-dimensional and there was sooo much telling and a lack of showing.The novel flits back and forth between the night in question - when the annual Riva party takes place - and the early years of the siblings' (Kit, Hud, Jay and Nina) lives and the relationship between their rock-icon father Mick and their mother June. It's all very dull - I had to force myself to keep reading, hoping it would pick up and get better.As for the party itself, at that point a lot of unlikable characters are introduced very briefly and quickly - after all, the author needed people to populate the party with. But they're cardboard cutout characters - there as space-fillers (literally) and the reader can't care about them because they're unimportant and their time in the spotlight of the novel brief. One example is a mini-story (literally covering a couple of pages) about a guest called Eliza and how she'd like a certain type of man but decided not to stay at the party but go home and read a script (who cares - she's not relevant to the novel) - and here's an example of the frustrating style of writing. We're told 'And so, she did not go inside. Instead, she hung out in the front yard, talking to her friends. And Seth hung out in the backyard, looking for love'. It's written with the type of gravity you might reserve for characters who are the focal point of a novel - star-crossed lovers who might later meet. But nah, Eliza has a few pages and that's it. Like I say, filler material - and not even good filler. Or this - where an actor at the party is introduced: 'Back in high school in Dayton, Ohio, Robert Vaughn Donovan III did not make the football or the baseball team. But the moment he stepped into the school auditorium, he had found a home. With his quick wit and charmingly exasperated delivery of almost every line, he had the drama kids in stitches. His dad's college roommate...' Actually, I won't bore you with the rest. But all this setup for someone at a party who does nothing at all - who has no role in driving the overall plot forward - frustrated me as a reader.This novel lacks plot, pacing, interesting characters. It's a slow amble across the years, repeatedly flagging up how nice Nina is, how errant Mick is - and it's all tell, tell tell. It's not even titillating. Barely any sex scenes and when there were, they were brief, boring and pretty chaste.If you are looking for a summer bonk-buster or even a summer page-turner, this book isn't it. It doesn't even feel like it's written by someone who has any insider knowledge of the LA set. I've read that the author used to be a casting agent - but it doesn't feel like she's been close to celebrity or has any interesting stories; unlike Jackie Collins who was clearly close to all the gossip, scandal and sizzle and conveyed every ounce of it in her books. Honestly, what a damp squib of a novel this was.

Felt like I was losing brain cells reading this. Poor writing, bland storyline, basic characters, I struggled to even pick it and read it to be truthful. Not the Summer page turner I was hoping for.

For me, I didn’t enjoy Daisy Jones & the six.I’m unpopular with my opinion I know.But this book took me by surprise. What I thought it was going to be (like a Jackie Collins novel) with horrid little rich people sniping at each other and Botox lol….turned out to be nothing of the sort.This had a lot of depth to it.Grief.Loss of a parent in death and a father who couldn’t handle fatherhood.Yes, they had money, but they worked for it.The eldest daughter made sacrifices.The family dynamics were intense and I loved every word and shocked myself that I enjoyed it so much.I only read it thinking I needed an escape from thrillers, maybe a nice summer read. What I got was much more.So maybe I’ll give her yet another chance when she brings her next book out!

I loved Daisy Jones & The Six so was excited to order this new novel from the author. Unfortunately it was a let down. The family story was pretty boring, the characters were fairly bland, the build up to the big party was flimsy and the main event itself was a non-event, IMO. I was hoping for so much more but it did not deliver.