"Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid Review

As Taylor Jenkins Reid continues to grow in popularity from her literary fiction novels, she tends to not fail her readers. Reid has been releasing books that continue to be shelved by adoring fans.

Recently, I read Malibu Rising by T.J.R. and it was captivating. I have read half of her other works and loved every single one of them, so I was looking forward to this specific release. 

The setting of Malibu from the 1950s to the 1980s was enthralling and magnificent. Reid transports you to this world which is also the setting of her other works Daisy Jones and the Six, Carrie Soto is Back, and the infamous The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Some of the characters show up in her other works, which is so fun and feels like an easter egg. 

Malibu Rising is a story of heartbreak, loss, love and family. We follow the Riva family as they navigate the world after the loss of their mother, June. The first half of the novel includes a past and present perspective of when in the past, Mick and June fall in love and then the timeline switches to the present to how the children of Mick and June are living. The Riva kids throw a huge party annually that hosts other famous people, and we see this party unfold throughout the entire novel. The Riva kids were born into the spotlight because of their father Mick, whom we see in other T.J.R. novels. He ends up marrying June and starts his career as a singer and performer. 

As the story progresses, the character relationships become stronger and some relationships get strained. This novel is very character heavy, and the plot is not very present. Reid includes a plethora of diverse characters that are very realistic. They are lovable yet you also hate their flaws. They are complex with their emotions, and although this novel is told in third person, the reader can truly empathize with her characters. 

In my opinion, Malibu Rising is my third favorite of her works thus far. I would rank the ones that I have read as so:

1. Daisy Jones and the Six

2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

3. Malibu Rising

4. Maybe In Another Life

5. After I Do

I am very excited to read Forever, Interrupted, One True Loves, and Carrie Soto is Back. I will read anything Taylor Jenkins Reid releases, even her grocery list. She is one of my favorite authors, and I cannot get enough of her storytelling. 

Overall, reading Malibu Rising was a treat, and I would highly recommend her works to anyone.

The impact of BookTok

Today is the day we celebrate reading! Each year, National Read Day Across America (also known as Dr. Seuss Day because of his birthday) is celebrated on March 2nd, a tradition that started in 1998. This day is used to encourage children to read by implementing reading activities in schools. As a book lover, I love that there's a whole day dedicated to reading and we should talk about the online phenomenon that has been motivating teenagers and young adults to dive back into reading as they did when they were younger: #BookTok.

As you may know, TikTok is a fastly growing and popular social media app that has everyone in a chokehold. TikTok has multiple, specific niches that the algorithm determines; one of them being BookTok. In my young teenage years, I used to devour a book per day, but once I got into high school and then eventually college, my duties grew bigger and my time became almost nonexistent. So, reading went really far down on my priority list. That is until I encountered this side of TikTok.

Suddenly, book recommendations were coming up on my For You Page, single phrases from a book that caught my attention, character descriptions, reenactions of certain book scenes, reaction videos to certain chapters, and even books divided into different tropes. Surely my curiosity and my FOMO could not stand it anymore. I wanted back in!

I fell down the rabbit hole of reading and it feels so silly to say that it's all because of a fun little app whose primary purpose, I believe, was never to encourage such a healthy and fun habit in its users.

It's amusing to see how social media can have this impact on people. Older generations have this idea that our generation and younger ones have become lazy, iPad kids, or social media addicts. But, of course, social media has its benefits and it's interesting the way in which BookTok has been having this effect on us and getting a lot of us back into reading.

I hope this gives you something to think about on National Read Day Across America Day and I invite you to grab a book, even if it's a small one, and enjoy reading just like all the children in America are probably doing today too. Happy reading!