Taylor Jenkins Reid after finishing Daisy Jones & The Six has become a writer that I was going to start keeping an eye on. After finishing Malibu Rising, which came out after Daisy Jones, I can confidently say that Reid has become one of my favorite modern fiction writers. Malibu Rising is about the Riva family, tell their story using flashbacks to moments in their history, while cutting back to present day where we follow the family for twenty four hours while they get ready for their famous party. Malibu Rising, because of the themes that it touches on and the pace the book became something that I could not put down till I finished it.
The most relevant theme and probably the first one you will notice is family/generational trauma. All the decisions that the Riva family and more specifically the children make are all based on what the parents did and caused before them. Because of their father Mick Riva being this huge music celebrity, the children are unable to escape his presence, he is “around” them even if he was not actually around. Mick deciding to leave, impacted what their mother June became, going from young girl with a bright future to a struggling, alcoholic single parent. Which in turn falls down to the oldest Riva child, Nina who has to become the de facto parent in the house since Mick is nowhere to be found and June is drunk most of the time, even getting to the point that she has to drop out of high school to raise her other 3 siblings. As someone who was raised in a household with a non-celebrity version of Mick Riva as a father and a mother who struggled monetarily to provide foundational needs sometimes doing without herself so her kids could have, this really hit close to home. You don’t realize how deep the family trauma goes till you start to separate from it a little bit and how easy it is to transfer down the generational line.
While that primary theme is almost near perfectly done, it would not had such an impact if not for the splendid writing that Reid does with the characters in Malibu Rising. All the children are written perfectly, especially Nina. Because of her father and the unexpected modeling career that she kind of fell into, she is in this uncomfortable in-between of fame and anonymity. Unlike in Daisy Jones, where she is famous for her talent and her beauty, it is really only Nina’s body that is famous and she knows that if she left, they would replace her without a second thought (this comes through when Nina constantly mentions that her most popular photos make her the most uncomfortable)
The second major theme of this book also comes from the strong writing of the characters, this book is all about contradictions. From the very beginning we are presented with one, that fire is both the destruction and the cleansing. Each of the characters carry their own contradictions as well. Nina, the model who is on covers of magazines but just wants to be left alone. Jay, the champion surfer who has a body that can not let him do the thing he loves anymore. Hud, who is the nice guy who is also sleeping with his brother’s ex-girlfriend. Kit, who everyone sees as the child of the group even though she is now grown up.
The thing that makes this whole book feel impactful, even with only 350 pages is the pace that Reid is able to make the story unfold at. It starts off at a brisk pace, and ratchets up from there, going through the full twenty four hour day of the famous Riva party. Reid does a great job of making you feel like you went through this full day with the Riva’s, by the end of the book I was exhausted like I had been at this party that got way to out of hand. Even with only 350 pages, Reid does a good job of making this feel lived in, while 90% of the book is focused on the Rivas, there are enough smaller characters introduced that it makes this version of Malibu come alive. These additional characters also help flesh out the Rivas, especially when they interact with them.
If you are looking for a book to read as a group, something to read while you are going on vacation, or if you are just looking for something quick and impactful, Malibu Rising would be the next one on my list. This book will ignite discussion and is impactful in a very digestible length. Once this book gets its pace going, it is one emotional gut punch after another with an ending that might wrap up a little too cleanly, but overall does not distract from the overall message of the book. Just like with Daisy Jones, it is a book that looks flashy on the outside, but with a deep and emotional story underneath. I can not recommend this book and Taylor Jenkins Reid as an author enough.