Entertaining drama, but more generic than it could have been
★★★★★☆☆
Title: Malibu Rising
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction
First published: 2021
Edition: Kindle e-book
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.
***
First line(s): Malibu catches fire. It is simply what Malibu does from time to time.
***
This is the third book by this author that I have read. They are reliably good, but never quite wow me. It is the same with this one, though I think this is my favourite I have read by her.
We start out with dual timelines, in the present (well, 80s) with the four Riva children and the 50s/60s with the parents. I warmed quickly to both mum June in the past and daughter Nina in the 80s. I do wish I felt a little bit more of the the actual time they lived in. I think the domestic aspects were well written, but I do feel like it lacked a little atmosphere and especially the 80s felt like it could have been the present, like there was no point to it being set in the 80s, if you get my drift. It made it feel more generic than it could have done.
There was plenty of drama, but I kind of wish the drama had gone a little further, maybe a little more sensationalist. It felt like it was setting up for something big, like a murder or something, but that something big never quite materialised. I am not sure what I expected to happen, but I did feel like there would be a big dramatic event and it just puffed out a bit instead.
Having said that, I did like the ending and I appreciated the way the story came full circle, but still, I wish it had a bit more oomph in the end.
I have read three books by this author and I have rated them all quite similarly. There is always something missing for me. Still, I feel like this author could write a book I absolutely love. I just haven’t read it yet!
5 out of 7 stars
CAWPILE score: 7.4
- Characters: 8
- Atmosphere: 6
- Writing Style: 8
- Plot: 7
- Intrigue: 7
- Logic: 8
- Enjoyment: 8
Previous books read by this author:
Lola Et La Vie 