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A review by lillimoore
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5.0
Wow. This was my best surprise of the summer so far. After feeling deeply disappointed by Daisy Jones and the Six—my first experience reading Taylor Jenkins Reid—I wasn't sure I'd want to pick up another book by her. It's not that I didn't enjoy Daisy Jones, because I did, somewhat, but I didn't feel what everyone else seems to have felt reading it. I had such high expectations as a massive fan of the 1970s and of Fleetwood Mac and just that genre of music in general, which the book reminded me of a lot, that it just felt like a personally colossal let-down even more than it should have or deserved to. On top of that, I wasn't at all interested in this book based on the blurb alone, but I received a free ALC recording of it and after finishing Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan I wasn't quite ready to hop off the summery book train quite yet. This came recommended in Noelle Gallagher's most recent reading wrap-up on Youtube so I thought I may as well give it a go. I am SO glad I did.
The characters in this book feel so real to me. I have genuine love for all of them, even Mick, who I really hated until that last chunk of the book when he FINALLY grew on me whilst being put into his place. The character I loved the most was June, closely followed by Nina and Kit. The relationships and the dialogue were outstanding. I truly could not put this book down. I hung onto every word in a way that I have not done with a book in so long. The setting of Malibu from the late 50s to early 80s was so, so vivid to me, and made me crave the Pacific coast. To quote a million book reviews about a thousand books, this was completely "a moving family portrait."
I don't know what more to say or how else to quite put my finger on why I loved this so much but it was an immediate favorite. It was fairly predictable at times but this book did something for me that a book hasn't done in so long—it didn't just make me want to keep reading more and more and more, but it made me want to WRITE, which for me is the hallmark of a good book because I struggle so much for inspiration to write and this just... this just really took me there. 6 out of 5 stars, maybe my favorite fictional book I've read so far this year. Highly recommend.
The characters in this book feel so real to me. I have genuine love for all of them, even Mick, who I really hated until that last chunk of the book when he FINALLY grew on me whilst being put into his place. The character I loved the most was June, closely followed by Nina and Kit. The relationships and the dialogue were outstanding. I truly could not put this book down. I hung onto every word in a way that I have not done with a book in so long. The setting of Malibu from the late 50s to early 80s was so, so vivid to me, and made me crave the Pacific coast. To quote a million book reviews about a thousand books, this was completely "a moving family portrait."
I don't know what more to say or how else to quite put my finger on why I loved this so much but it was an immediate favorite. It was fairly predictable at times but this book did something for me that a book hasn't done in so long—it didn't just make me want to keep reading more and more and more, but it made me want to WRITE, which for me is the hallmark of a good book because I struggle so much for inspiration to write and this just... this just really took me there. 6 out of 5 stars, maybe my favorite fictional book I've read so far this year. Highly recommend.