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Malibu Rising

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Start date: April 16, 2022

Finish date: May 16, 2022

Discussion: Buddy Reads 2022

Why we're reading this: April Buddy Read
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Buddy Reads 2022

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What Members Thought

Jan 01, 2023 Erika rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I listened to the audio version by the fantastic Julia Whelan. She could read a grocery list, and I would not be able to play pause.

I liked the book, and I liked how it connected to The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and I can’t wait to read Carrie Soto; she seemed like a fascinating character.

I was not crazy about the characters in this book. I felt they lacked something and their journey was not as powerful as it should have been. But it was a very easy read, the prose was great, and I felt engulf ...more

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Jan 22, 2024 Keli rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-5-stars, fun-and-engaging-main-character, downgraded-after-digestion, historical-fiction

Writing style -5 of 5
Pacing - 3 of 5
Characters - 3 of 5
World building - 4 of 5
Story/Plot - 2 of 5
Overall - 3 of 5

I love how TJR writes books. She weaves large casts of characters into wonderfully detailed and brilliantly evoked times and places. However, I think I was spoiled reading Daisy Jones & The Six as my first novel by her. It was so good, but it set the bar too high. None of her other books have been quite as wonderful.

I enjoyed aspects of this. The relationships between the siblings we Writing style -5 of 5
Pacing - 3 of 5
Characters - 3 of 5
World building - 4 of 5
Story/Plot - 2 of 5
Overall - 3 of 5

I love how TJR writes books. She weaves large casts of characters into wonderfully detailed and brilliantly evoked times and places. However, I think I was spoiled reading Daisy Jones & The Six as my first novel by her. It was so good, but it set the bar too high. None of her other books have been quite as wonderful.

I enjoyed aspects of this. The relationships between the siblings were pretty dull. I just didn't care enough about them. They were not the central pull. Many of the things they said and did just felt like setups for the big showdown that was inevitably coming. Nina was the center of the book and her story was the one we wanted to hear. But even bits of hers I didn't care about. The husband thing was dull. Even a cameo by Carrie Soto couldn't make me interested.

It was the parents' story, and Nina's relationship with them, that was pretty engrossing. Honestly, this alone saved the book from being a two star "meh" affair. TJR can excel at compelling relationships and she did really well with Nina and her parents. I even cried a little,

The party and happenings at the end were pointless. We met people who had zero bearing on the book to this point, yet we are given insight into their lives and antics for a few minutes for no apparent reason. It was weird. She should've cut all that out and saved 50 pages.

The premise of the story was actually pretty weak upon reflection. What really happened? A grown woman comes to realise that her grown-ass siblings don't need her any more. That's it. She did couch the not much in a colourfully realised Malibu of the 1980s.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad read, just not her best. One aspect of it was brilliant, but the rest was okay.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Devoured the book, couldn't put it down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it, consumed within days
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyed a fair bit, better than average
⭐⭐ - Meh
⭐ - Absolute drivel ...more

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Nov 03, 2021 Toni rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook-read

I liked this family drama set in the '50s - early '80s. I was pulled to watch the creation of the family and how they struggle with the cards they were dealt - even if they were sorta "rich & famous" and that behind a facade of paradise there is a lot of ugliness...

This was just a good, steady pull and very character-driven. ...more

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Aug 08, 2022 Edith rated it really liked it

Such a good read! The author tugs at your heartstrings with this one! It is a story about tragedy, responsibility, and strong family bonds. Somehow there is beauty in all the relationships that form no matter how many brutal hits they take. TJR is a master craftsman when it comes to writing about such complex and raw characters.

Despite all this, to me it is not a book I would read again. It is the kind of story that you think about and it just sticks with you--no second passing needed.

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