A review by mel_sh
Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
3.75
once again begging goodreads to let you rate books with half star ratings because four seems too high and 3 seems too low so im a bit torn.
but i had a lot of fun reading this! of the three taylor jenkins reid books that ive read, this one definitely impact me the least but was undoubtedly the most fun reading experience. i read this at a much faster pace than i normally do because i was just so excited to see how things would wrap up. i felt very strongly for the riva kids and i think my main qualm with this book was the way other people's perspectives began being shared by the end. i forgot about most of them almost immediately and i felt like it made the ending a bit messy. i would have rathered skipping their parts and focusing more on the conclusion of the story and the actual fire since despite the fact that it's part of the synopsis, it felt very rushed. all in all, i adore tjr's stroy-telling. i think she has a gift for crafting stories and characters that you're immediately attached to and this was no different. my next book of her's is going to be "daisy jones and the six" and i might bump malibu rising to a 4 star depending on how much i enjoy that.
edit: oh i also wanted to mention Julia Whelan! she narrates a lot of books and a few of them are tjr books and she's so good and definitely enhanced my reading experience!
but i had a lot of fun reading this! of the three taylor jenkins reid books that ive read, this one definitely impact me the least but was undoubtedly the most fun reading experience. i read this at a much faster pace than i normally do because i was just so excited to see how things would wrap up. i felt very strongly for the riva kids and i think my main qualm with this book was the way other people's perspectives began being shared by the end. i forgot about most of them almost immediately and i felt like it made the ending a bit messy. i would have rathered skipping their parts and focusing more on the conclusion of the story and the actual fire since despite the fact that it's part of the synopsis, it felt very rushed. all in all, i adore tjr's stroy-telling. i think she has a gift for crafting stories and characters that you're immediately attached to and this was no different. my next book of her's is going to be "daisy jones and the six" and i might bump malibu rising to a 4 star depending on how much i enjoy that.
edit: oh i also wanted to mention Julia Whelan! she narrates a lot of books and a few of them are tjr books and she's so good and definitely enhanced my reading experience!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Car accident, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Vomit