Book Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

TJR is incredible at writing about real people. People that aren't perfect, people that think they're unlovable and not deserving. She creates these stories with little plot (not that it's not there, it is just not the main attraction of her books), but with GREAT stories. She has to be one of the best authors at writing characters that aren't flat, and she weaves and creates this fiction world that you feel you're a part of.

This is my second TJR book and I felt just as swallowed by the book as I did with the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I love how she actually created a whole world of characters, and has created stories based in this Hollywood style setting. It was cool to see how we're going to get books on many players that appear in her stories. They are all so interesting and their souls are so important to me as a reader.

Malibu Rising is a beautiful tale of family issues and feeling unworthy for parent abandonments. The best message I got from the book is the idea that our lives are connected with those of our ancestors and cycles (both good or bad) repeat if we allow them to repeat. The story is told in different timelines, one is in the present as the Rivas' family gets ready for their annual party. Nina has become a surfer model and she has been able to provide for her brothers and sisters since her famous singer father left them when they were young and her mother died young as well. When they find themselves alone, Nina become their guardian and caretaker and stops living for herself. The bond between the siblings is heart breaking and raw because through the glimpses of the past we get, you can tell how much they suffered and how much their parents choices affected them.

It was great to read about a family and in a way the lives of all their ancestors. We get the story of the Rivas's, their parents and their grandparents. We see, as readers, how this constant cycle of being a bad parent is repeated over and over again. And in the end we see how Nina and her siblings stop this traumatic cycle and want to change to be something better.

Overall I think I just fell in love with the way the story is written. In a way it feels as if someone is telling you and narrating an interesting story of their lives because of how easy everything flows and how you are able to imagine all the connections and scenes in your head.

Overall rating: 4.5 stars