Take a photo of a barcode or cover
graceburke 's review for:
Malibu Rising
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I HAVE UPDATED ALL MY REVIEWS OF TJR’S BOOKS TO 1 STAR BECAUSE I HAVE SINCE LEARNED SHE IS RACIST. She consistently tells stories about POC that are not her stories to tell and she has blocked multiple POC on twitter, specifically Latinx people for asking her to address this.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, this book was absolutely perfect to me- it gave me everything I wanted and made me feel everything I needed to. I spent a lot of time preparing for this book and engaged with just about every interview TJR gave before its release, which I’ve never done with a book before and so I was a bit nervous when I finally got my hands on my own copy because I had a lot of expectations and I knew how proud TJR is of her story about the Rivas, so I wanted to be too. And let me tell you, I am blown away by MR. Even thought it’s her first 3rd person narrated book, it might be her best and definitely her strongest. TJR’s ability to write complex, compelling characters and giving people seemingly irredeemable qualities and making you fall in love with them is a strength of her’s. Nina is privileged and whiny, but soulful and giving. Jay is full of himself, but forgiving and vulnerable. Hud is a mess and is guilty of some fucked up things, but he was also one of my favorites because he’s just trying to be better than the people who hurt him. And Kit is small and scruffy, but she’s real and growing up. I simply did not want it to end. It made me feel every emotion and every page left me wanting more but also feeling incredibly content. MR is a story about family, both blood and chosen. It’s about knowing when to forgive and when to stand up for yourself. It’s about fame and privacy and what people in the spotlight owe onlookers. It’s also very much a love letter to Lilah, TJR’s daughter. I know she’s said such about Daisy Jones, but her feelings about and goals for motherhood bleed through every page of this book. I’m still trying to figure out where this falls in my ranking of her books, but if you’ve ever even sort of kinda liked any of TJR’s books, you MUST put this at the top of your TBR list.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, this book was absolutely perfect to me- it gave me everything I wanted and made me feel everything I needed to. I spent a lot of time preparing for this book and engaged with just about every interview TJR gave before its release, which I’ve never done with a book before and so I was a bit nervous when I finally got my hands on my own copy because I had a lot of expectations and I knew how proud TJR is of her story about the Rivas, so I wanted to be too. And let me tell you, I am blown away by MR. Even thought it’s her first 3rd person narrated book, it might be her best and definitely her strongest. TJR’s ability to write complex, compelling characters and giving people seemingly irredeemable qualities and making you fall in love with them is a strength of her’s. Nina is privileged and whiny, but soulful and giving. Jay is full of himself, but forgiving and vulnerable. Hud is a mess and is guilty of some fucked up things, but he was also one of my favorites because he’s just trying to be better than the people who hurt him. And Kit is small and scruffy, but she’s real and growing up. I simply did not want it to end. It made me feel every emotion and every page left me wanting more but also feeling incredibly content. MR is a story about family, both blood and chosen. It’s about knowing when to forgive and when to stand up for yourself. It’s about fame and privacy and what people in the spotlight owe onlookers. It’s also very much a love letter to Lilah, TJR’s daughter. I know she’s said such about Daisy Jones, but her feelings about and goals for motherhood bleed through every page of this book. I’m still trying to figure out where this falls in my ranking of her books, but if you’ve ever even sort of kinda liked any of TJR’s books, you MUST put this at the top of your TBR list.