Malibu Rising Review

 Hello Interwebs!

This is the third book I've finished in June 2021 and was also one of my highly anticipated books of 2021. This book is, of course, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid which came out on the first of June. This book is by the same author as Daisy Jones and the Six, which was one of my favorite books of 2019. This book follows the four Riva siblings: Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit and their end of the summer blowout party in Malibu. This is one of my favorite books so far this year and once again, Taylor Jenkins Reid did not disappoint. As always spoilers are a thing that exists following the cover pic so proceed accordingly. 

So in Malibu Rising we're following the Riva siblings, the children of a legendary singer Mick Riva and his twice married wife, June (Mick Riva is one of the seven husbands mentioned in the book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which, full disclosure, I have not yet read). The first part jumps between the story of Mick and June and the preparations for the end of summer blowout thrown by the Riva siblings. Through these flashbacks you find out that June was Mick's first wife, Nina and Jay were born during the duration of that first marriage. Hud (short for Hudson) was the child of one of Mick's affair partners who dropped him off as a baby with June and raised as twins with Jay. The Rivas marriage is tumulus and he strays a lot before the two get divorced. After a few more failed marriages Mick Riva comes back to June and the children where they remarry and make another go of it, adding daughter Katherine "Kit" to the mix before Mick leaves again this time for good. Things are tough for the Rivas with June working at and eventually taking over her family's seafood restaurant that she hated and never wanted to be a part of before she finally drinks herself to death when Nina is in high school. Nina ends up dropping out to work at and run, Riva's Seafood, barely keeping her small family afloat before she is discovered and employed as a surfer and model. At the present time (the 1980s) Nina Riva is separated from her husband, a tennis pro who walked out on her for a fellow tennis star, and preparing for the annual summer party at her cliffside mansion. As the party kicks up it soon gets out of hand with a young woman showing up who claims she might also be one of Mick's kids, Nina's husband return (and subsequent blowout with his affair partner) and then banishment, Jay discovering his ex-girlfriend Ashley is dating his brother and pregnant with his child, and Kit coming to terms with her sexuality. Then Mick shows up. The family ends up having a heart-to-heart as Nina's friend and fellow model ends up breaking up the out-of-control party. As he leaves Mick flicks his cigarette into the bushes and unknowingly sets the place ablaze. The novel ends with the three younger siblings telling their sister they don't need her to take care of them anymore and Nina leaves on a whim to Portugal to live on the beach in a shack and surf, doing something for herself for the first time in her life. 

I loved this book just as much as I loved Daisy Jones and the Six. I loved the summer beachy surfer vibes and the setting. The party felt a little like living vicariously through someone else. I looved that the tragedy of the Riva siblings, especially Nina, had a good resolution and a happy ending. Nina finally gets to live her life for herself: no cheating husband, no siblings to raise, no hated seafood restaurant: just her and the ocean. I like that she especially got the catharsis of confronting her absentee father who left her as a high schooler to raise her siblings after their mother died. I loved that her younger siblings could pay her back by getting her away from Malibu and giving her the life she wanted and deserved. I liked that Jay came to terms with his heart condition that was going to stop his pro surfing career before it really got started and him and Hud, the photographer, deciding to focus their attentions on their extremely talented younger sister. I liked the sense of family that came out of this book. I can't wait for more Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is definitely on my TBR for the near future. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle