Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Fame and fortune, and everything going up in flames (Book Review)

The Malibu fire of 1983 started not in the dry hills but on the coastline.

It began at 28150 Cliffside Drive on Saturday, August 27 – at the home of Nina Riva – during one of the most notorious parties in Los Angeles history.

The annual party grew wildly out of control sometime around midnight.

By 7:00AM., the coastline of Malibu was engulfed in flames.

Because, just as it is in Malibu’s nature to burn, so was it in one particular person’s nature to set fire and walk away.

Malibu Rising

The book is set over one day: the lead up to the party at Nina Riva’s house. The party. A party that anyone can go to, so long as you are cool enough to know the address. But this year, the guests seem more excited about the party than the family who are hosting it. As the day progresses, we learn about each member of the family: from Nina and her collapsing marriage, to her siblings Jay, Hud and Kit, who each have their own secrets that need to be told.  

I really enjoyed getting to know the Riva family who are all complex characters with lots to tell. I also thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being transported away to Malibu and it even made me want to get out on a surfboard to try and catch some waves (I doubt I would have any grace or poise out there but I would give it a solid effort). As the night wears on, and the party becomes more and more out of control, a sense of foreboding shadows each page and I think Taylor Jenkins Reid did such a good job of slowly but surely raising the tension as the book progresses.

One of the other things I love about Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing is how she creates such rich backstories for each of her characters, even if they are only the book for a couple of pages. I loved learning about certain members of the party and how they ended up there. Everyone has secrets or things they are trying to overcompensate for, and some people just want to be in the centre of trouble.

The book is also interspersed with the story of how their parents, Mick and June, met. Mick swept June off her feet and promised her a life away from the restaurant her parents owned. He manages to break through and become a world-famous musician but at the cost of his marriage. It was heart-breaking to read about June and what she goes through in order to look after her children. 

The book is filled with salt air, sandy skin and losing track of time in the waves. From the first time they find a surfboard on the beach and go home dreaming about the sensations the waves gave them, the Riva kids are a family of surfers who each feel an affinity with the ocean.

June knew that her children had found a previously undiscovered part of themselves that day. She knew that childhood is made up of days magnificent and mundane. And this had been a magnificent day for them.

Malibu Rising

I always gobble up books by Taylor Jenkins Reid – they have such an addictive quality to them. This one was no different: we find out early on about the fire that starts at the party and it is a race to find out how. I also enjoyed the exploration fame and its impact, as well as the history of Malibu and finding out how it became the place it is today.

It’s the next best thing to sitting on the beach with your toes in the sand: a great book to read when it is miserable and damp and you need whisking away in your imagination.