“There’s an impeccable sense of balance in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Malibu Rising, a natural order in which every action meets its equal and opposite reaction. . . . Reid’s sense of pacing is sublime as she introduces and dispenses with a revolving door of characters to approximate the chaos of a rager where sloshed A-listers couple up in the closets and waiters pass trays of cocaine.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Just finished Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
This is the story of the Riva family. While the basic story takes place over one day, the day of the annual Riva summer party, the flashbacks will give us the history of the family.
Mick and June are the parents. Mick is a huge star. He is the go to singer of his era. He also is a major ladies man, constantly walking out on his wife, getting married multiple times, a real loser as a father. June takes care of the family as long as she can.
The kids have grown up and take care of themselves. They all live in this mansion on the cliff in Malibu. It’s Nina Riva’s house. Well, it’s actually her famous tennis player husband Brandon’s house, who like Mick, has fled the roost for greener pastures.
Nina is the oldest daughter. Then comes the “twins” , Jay and Hud, both born almost on the same date, same Dad, different Mom’s. Kit is the youngest, another beautiful daughter.
So to come to the annual party all you need to know is the address of the house. No one gets invitations. You just show up. A lot of people show up for this party.
Many issues will come forth on this night, and surprises abound during the entire evening.
The story lines are so good you will not want to put the book down. A must read, especially for the summer, this is one of the top books of the year .
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by:
Richard Franco
Added 30th September 2021
