“Emily Henry never fails to deliver… a breath of fresh air”
Taylor Jenkins Reid on Book Lovers
“Malibu Rising gives a lot more than you expect with nothing you wouldn’t want”
Nathaniel Finestone
In a lot of ways Malibu Rising is almost an exact opposite of the last book I reviewed, The Invisible life of Addie Larue. Whereas Adeline was forever alone, doomed to be forgotten in a novel with a very limited set of characters, Malibu rising features a rich cast all interconnected by blood or marriage or circumstance.
In what would initially purport to be a story of an awesome party at a beachside mansion in Malibu is actually an intergenerational tale of family, betrayal and finding yourself in defiance of others’ expectations. In it Taylor Jenkins Reid weaves a narrative filled with real people facing real struggles, though obviously exaggerated for the sake of fiction, everyone in Malibu Rising is filled with desires, angst, trauma and hope that almost anyone could relate to. It also has a timeless to it that lends an authenticity to the story. It’s mostly set in the early 1980’s but goes back to the 50’s, 60’ and 70’s when necessary to give weight to the consequences of the decisions made by these flawed human characters.
I highly recommend this book and hope they make a tv show out of it one day like they have with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other more known work, Daisy Jones and the Six. Like that one there’s a lot of room to explore the world of music, but also modeling, surfing and taking what’s yours.
