I really struggled to care about the characters in this one. Coming from Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones this one missed the mark.

The Riva siblings are famous for being the children of the singer Mick Riva, but they have all built a life for themselves: Nina is a surfer and model; Jay competes in surf championships; Hud's photographs have graced magazine covers; and Kit, the youngest, wants to become a professional surfer.
Every year, Nina hosts a party at the end of the summer. It is a huge event with celebrities attending as well as locals.
This year, Nina would rather cancel the party, but reluctantly agrees to go ahead with it. However, this year the party will be even more unforgettable than usual as it will end with the house burning down.

Having enjoyed, but not been blown away by the author's previous books, I was a little apprehensive as to whether this novel would go the same way as the others for me. However, already knowing part of the ending intrigued me and I decided to give it a go.
Possibly my favourite part of the book was the Riva siblings and their relationships. They were extremely supportive of each other and gave the book a lot of heart. I liked all the siblings, but Nina and Kit were my favourites. I really felt for Nina, who had put everyone else first her entire life and she'd had to give up so much.
The flashbacks were another favourite part of the book for me. They showed how the Riva siblings' parents, June and Mick, met as well as bits from their childhoods. I thought they were very well done and there weren't too many.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention throughout. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I wouldn't say I was gripped.
The writing style was easy to follow and I got through the book quite quickly.
This ended up being my favourite book that I've read so far by the author, and I can see myself re-reading this in the future.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Malibu Rising highlights the rise of surf culture, beach bunnies and the legend that would become Malibu, against the fall of musical legend Mick Riva. Known for his smooth vocals and moves, Riva is also known for the string of women he’s left heartbroken. But, not much is known about the kids he left behind.

This is the story of Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit Riva, the mother that brought them up, the famous father that failed them, and the secrets that surround them all.

The story is told in alternative timelines. The highlights for me were the scenes set in 50’s Malibu where June and Mick’s story begins. The other is set in the summer of ‘83, where Nina is preparing for her annual summer party. Dubbed the event of the year, if you know you know, and you’ll definitely be rubbing shoulders with the coolest of the cool.

While I loved the ‘then’ scenes, I found the present day scenes pre-party a little slow. The pace change between the two pulled me out of the story, and at times I found myself a little bored in the 80’s, rushing back to get to the 50’s. Once the party started, I was entertained with how all the loose threads came together into what devolved into a 90’s teen movie crossed with the drama of The Young and the Restless.

The book touches on themes of loyalty, family duty and sibling love/rivalry. It was character driven, filled with unlikeable characters (and some cameos from past books!). I disliked Mick, almost as much as I admired Nina for her strength and her quiet tenacity. Overall, the book fell a bit flat for me. I just didn’t find myself wanting to pick it up to read it, and that’s never a good sign. It was well written, just a bit... slow?! If you love the glamour of old Hollywood and family drama, you may enjoy this!

Never fear, this is not my first TJR and it won’t be my last! I’ve got a few left from her backlist that I’m hoping to pick up soon.

I honestly do not know how she does it. Taylor Jenkins Reid is the queen of writing addictive and emotionally gripping stories that makes you crave more.

I was scared going in to Malibu Rising incase it didn't live up to the pedestal I placed it on but oh my god it deserves to be there. This book was amazing in every aspect and now confirms that I need to read her entire backlog.

Malibu: August, 1983. It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control.
By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

Being honest, this probably is my least favourite book of TJR...

The characters and the way they acted seemed almost comical. For me they just didn't seem life-like at all, all the relationships seemed forced and didn't read as very convincing.

I did enjoy that characters from other TJR characters had some cameos though!

I read another review that summed it up pretty well that kind of made me chuckle a lot:
This book is basically rich people with Daddy issues 😂

I'd still recommend it, just not to everyone. It's a quick entertaining read, it just is not as good as the other books TJR wrote.

Initially, the synopsis failed to amaze me and I was prepared for a dull read, yet Malibu Rising took me by complete surprise.
It tells the story of the Riva family - surfer siblings Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit, as well as their mother June and their father, the world-famous singer, Mick Riva. Set on the 24 hours leading up to Nina Riva's infamous Riva party, Malibu Rising also explores generations of secrets and traumas.

I was ready to not enjoy it, but there was something so compelling about this story. The first 60% was the strongest part, and I loved following the growth of the family from the '60s into the '80s, but my interest did dwindle for the actual party itself. I'm a huge fan of family saga's so I loved the Riva family. Nina was such a strong character and very easy to relate to. It was nice to see a part of myself in her character and story.

A surprisingly good read that manages to encompass an array of themes. Very glad that I picked it up!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is the first Taylor Jenkins Reid I have read, and I'll be honest - I was a bit underwhelmed. I know she has been really loved due to Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - I don't know how this compares to them, but I think from that hype I was expecting a lot more.

This is about the Riva siblings, the children of a famous, Frank Sinatra-type singer with whom they have no contact. Now all in their 20's, they have basically been raised by their older sister, Nina. Nina herself is now a successful model married to a pro tennis star, and at the start of the book we know that Nina's relationship with her husband has broken down after he has cheated on her. She's struggling with that, but feels like she has to go ahead with the big party the family throws every year - a very anticipated event, attended by celebrities and always full of salacious goings-on. This book charts the 12 hours of the build up to the party, the party itself, and the aftermath when things go very, very wrong.

I definitely found the second half of this book to be much better than the first. The start is really quite vapid, reducing a lot of the characters to their physical descriptions - all very taut bodies and bikinis. It just didn't give off the vibe of something I would like. And it's very white - I think the only character of colour, it's remarked upon that that people wouldn't have thought his girlfriend would be with a man of colour. But I do love family secrets, family histories coming out, seeing how that affects the different members of the family, and the second half of the book delivers on that front. The mounting tension with the party also builds up and comes to a head in the second half, which made it much more interesting to read. I can see why people would like this author, but I'm just not very interested in the type of people she seems to write about, and I don't know if I would be in a rush to pick up any more TJR books. It was kind of middle of the road for me.

I enjoyed this book, it’s a great holiday read which unravels family dramas while taking us into the world of the rich and famous. It could have done with focussing on fewer characters as I felt the number of peripherals distracted from the main players but apart from that an enjoyable easy read.

I reviewed this book as part of a Catch Up and Currently Reading video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/33QbRBC9gNY

My thoughts can be found from 02:07 onwards

With the overarching themes of family and betrayal, we follow the trials and tribulations of the Riva siblings as they prepare for their infamous end of summer party. Flitting from present day to past, we learn about Nina - head of the family - and her brothers and sister who were forced to fend for themselves growing up. Despite the fleeting looks at moments in time, the sites of Malibu and the ins and outs of surfing culture are tangible constant elements, even among the preparation for the heady 1980s house party that will become out of control.

Unfortunately for me this lacked the dreaminess and immersive-world building that TJR nailed in both Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I do feel as though this book's demise lies within its pacing issues - I found it trundled along for approx two thirds of its contents, before it ploughed full speed into drama, and personally I'm not a fan of a slow build with a blistering conclusion. Despite this though, the revelations that come in the latter third are exciting and unexpected, and were enjoyable but if you're impatient like me it may be a struggle to last until this point. I did love the strong bond that the Riva siblings had following all that life had thrown at them, and learning about the fallout of their parents marriage was fascinating, but I didn't warm to the characters as much as I expected to. I thought in some scenes they lacked depth as the multiple timelines at times left me feeling detached from the world, before being sucked back in when the next chapter arrived - it felt like ebbing and flowing like a wave, as if Reid lured you in and then spat you back out by the next page.

In spite of all this, I do think this would be a good summer read - especially if you're at the beach or somewhere warm, as the juttering timeline lends itself well to being picked up sporadically. I did enjoy the story but it isn't one I'd pick up again in a hurry, and if I was going to recommend a TJR novel to someone it wouldn't be this one.

3.5 rounded up

This has been on my TBR list for a while and I didn’t know what to expect but I finished it in 3 days! Four famous siblings, the book is literally over the period of 24 hours. It’s the day of the Riva’s house party, renowned every year for its epic levels of partying. The party becomes out of control and so do that of the siblings lives. Explore lives, love and secrets that are explored in this family over the years.
The shenanigans of the celebrities, the beautiful warm relationship of the siblings and the flashbacks showing toxic relationships throughout the 1950s to the 80’s. 4 ⭐️

This was an interesting family drama that delivered a satisfying read but in the end I found it less riveting than the author's previous work. Than you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This is my first TJR book and it will NOT be my last. This was a fab summer read - I am late in posting my review due to moving house and its kept me busy, I am just getting round to updating my Netgalley.

I loved reading this book, I thought it was great and the style of writing unique to anything I've read before. TJR this was an experience that I won't forget when reading any other of yours book, this one was simply wonderful. There was some romance but not overpowering. I enjoyed the character development throughout, I loved Nina, I feel sorry for her as she has been humiliated but I think she did try her best to put up a facade. It was be so embarrassing to have her husband dump her so publicly.

Thanks for allowing me this ARC TJR and Netgalley.

A riveting family drama with great characters and a strong sense of time and place. I was immediately transported to Malibu. My only criticism is there were two many peripheral characters who served no purpose..

I absolutely loved this. A more straight-forward novel style-wise than Daisy Jones and the Six, but the same brilliant characterisation, relationships and drama. It absolutely drew me into this hot Malibu world - both the glam and not-so-glam - and I didn't want it to end.

I loved ‘Daisy and the Six’ and could wait to read this. It definitely didn’t disappoint - fully created characters and an engrossing family storyline. The timeline was also well done, flipping between the past and the present. A great read from a new favourite author

Another excellently written character driven book from Taylor Jenkins Reid. A thrilling look into the lives of the rich and famous, with the eloquent description of family relationships. Great pace and superbly written.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Destruction. And renewal, rising from the ashes. The story of fire.”

“The Malibu fire of 1983 started not in the dry hills but on the coastline”

“Because, just as it is in Malibu’s nature to burn, so was it in one particular person’s nature to set fire and walk away” 

Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.



I have mixed emotions about this book. There were some things I really enjoyed and things that I really disliked - I loved about 60ish% and the rest frustrated and disappointed me. Credit to Taylor Jenkins Reid for creating characters that elicit such rage in me *cough* Mick Riva *cough* where I found myself feeling physiologically repulsed every time they were mentioned and ones that I really found myself caring about and rooting for. The character creation and development in TJR’s novels are second to none. 



Things started to go downhill when we approached the big party and the story shifted to the present day. We begun to hear perspectives from random characters that made the story feel disjointed and the plot started to feel quite ridiculous. Things felt like they were just being placed in for shock value and didn’t add anything to the story.

 The climax of the party was disappointing. As much as I appreciated the character development and my faves finding their voice, it just fell flat to me.



I loved the descriptions and feel of Malibu where this story was set and the shift between past and present day where we learned about the Riva history and why the events at the big party took place. 

This was my third TJR book and although I didn’t enjoy it as much as the others, I am looking forward to anything that she publishes in future. 



As always, a MASSIVE thank you to #netgalley and #RandomHouseUK for providing me with a review copy.

Review posted on Goodreads and Instagram.

I absolutely loved this book! I am a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, having read TSHOEH and Daisy Jones. This book gripped me from the beginning and couldn't put it down for the duration of reading it. The chapters were so gripping, I wanted to keep reading on and on. Another excellent, classic read by Taylor and I can't wait to see what she has next for us.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in fits and starts over a few months, but when I sat down and read 2/3 of the book today, I really got into it and enjoyed it. This book made me think about my own family and our dynamics, and what I want for my future family. As always, Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing is great, and she tells a beautiful story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!