Reviews tagging Gaslighting

Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

29 reviews

juvonh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Abandonment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Miscarriage , and Vomit

lotus440's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Police brutality

kalemottison's review

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I usually really like Taylor Jenkins Reid's work. I really enjoyed the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six. I don't know if I liked Malibu Rising. Parts of it were fantastic, and I couldn't tear my eyes from the page. Other parts were so dull I didn't know if finishing the book was worth it.

 I like the overarching story, I always appreciate a story that has two different timelines, but I don't know if it worked as well for me in this case. I like the Riva siblings, all of them endearing in their own special way. I liked hearing from each other them. Along the lines of TJR's other books, the characters are really the backbone of this story. Without the Rive siblings being so interesting, the rest of the story doesn't have much merit to me. I know Mick is supposed to be a flawed character, we have seen that in plenty of his other appearances in the TJR cinematic universe, but I don't really care for his and June's love story. I find it a little lackluster. I think TJR just needed to go a little further with everything in this book. Every one of the siblings' emotions are so stunted, and I understand why in the grand scheme of life, but in a book, go further. I felt like everything was just out of the Riva's hands, brushing their hands of everything. I feel like there is no good conclusion to anything, but maybe that's the point? I don't know, it feels a little messy to me. I didn't really like the cuts to random strangers just because they were at this party, I felt like it took away too much from the impact of the story. 

If you like TJR, I would say you should still pick up the book to connect more with her little universe that she has going on. If you want an intro in this, I would go with Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, Drug use, Alcoholism, Sexism, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

abbrillopezz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, Ableism, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Child abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Classism, and Alcohol

mansinnikam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

jane_austyn's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Gaslighting, and Suicide

ashleyvharris's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Malibu Rising is an unexpected and heartfelt novel that confronts generational trauma, the heavy expectations of others, and our desire to love and be loved.

I owe Taylor Jenkins Reid a drink or several. I had no idea how meaningful and healing this story would be for me. Reading a story about siblings abandoned by their father was definitely triggering, but Reid handled the trauma and grief of that situation with such care and honesty. 

The characters of this novel were so distinct and unique. They’re strengths and flaws, desires and fears. It all felt so natural and right. I loved that Mick was very clearly a deeply flawed and narcissistic human, but he still managed to have layers. I was worried that there would be a cheesy redemption arc for his character where he found some grudging reconciliation with his kids, but the ending was just perfect. Mick Riva setting one last fire felt so full circle.

I wish that we had gotten a bit more development with Kit’s character. The other siblings felt fairly well-defined, but Kit felt like a bit of a mystery. She feels like a character with so much potential, a force of nature. I would love to see a novel with her at the center.

The shifting focus to the novel’s background characters like Tarine, Tuesday, Ricky, etc. felt unnecessary at times. I was tempted to skip past those parts of the story to get back to the Riva siblings. These diversions were more distracting for me than anything.

Overall, this book was like a time-machine to the 80s. With its picturesque Oceanside setting and dynamic sibling characters, Malibu Rising bottles that August, end-of-summer feeling perfectly. Also, I’m totally buying a surfboard tomorrow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, and Cursing

Minor: Car accident, Eating disorder, Injury/injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Violence

pun1sher's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Everytime I read tjr i feel like a middle aged mum but i have a soft spot for her books ngl. There's not enough historical fiction set in the XXth and not about war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexism

kateyjay's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Stunning story spanning multiple generations of a family who have known love and loss. 

Nina Riva deserves the world and you cannot tell me otherwise. Nina sacrifices everything for her family, losing herself in the process until her family also become her salvation. 

Seemingly doomed to repeat the mistakes of her mother until she learns she can stand up for herself. 

This book had me laughing and crying and having to look away feeling second hand embarrassment on multiple occasions. TJR has done it again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Miscarriage , Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Vomit

amanda_reads13's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Drug use