Die Bewerbungsfrist für diese Leserunde ist beendet. Bewerbungsfrist: Dienstag, 16.08.2022 Laufzeit der Leserunde: 3 Wochen, 23.08.-13.09.2022 20 Leseexemplare zu gewinnen ⚠ In dieser Leserunde wird der Roman in der Originalsprache Englisch gelesen und die Diskussionsrunde im Book Circle findet in englischer Sprache statt. Malibu, August 1983. It is the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone who is anyone wants to be around the famous Riva siblings. But by midnight, the party will be completely out of control and the loves and secrets that shaped this family will all come bubbling to the surface… The perfect summer read from the bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . For this reading group we’re giving away 20 free copies of Malibu Rising . How to participate You’d like to read along and discuss the novel with other readers? Fill in this form and enter your postal address to apply for the reading group and to win one of the 20 free copies. By confirming the completed form you’re automatically in the run for a space in the reading group. The reading group The number of participants is limited to 20 people. Participants will be selected at random. After the application deadline, the winners will be announced in a comment in this thread and will be sent an email with further information. All confirmed participants will receive a free copy of Malibu Rising . We’ll read and discuss the novel together. The exchange will take place in writing, in this discussion thread. After completing the book, all participants will write their personal review of the book here in the community. Conditions of participation Residence and valid postal address in Switzerland. Time to read the book during the specified period and to actively participate in the discussion, in English. Writing a personal review of the book at the end of the reading group on bookcircle.ch. Agreement that the feedback from readers and the reading group will be shared with the publisher and may be used by the publisher for advertising purposes. More about the book Malibu Rising August 1983. It is the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone who is anyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: surfer and supermodel Nina, brothers Jay and Hud, and their adored baby sister Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over - especially as the children of the legendary singer Mick Riva. By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours of dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family will all come bubbling to the surface… 400 pages Published 1 May 2022 About the author Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of several novels, including Daisy Jones & The Six , The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Forever, Interrupted . She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, their daughter, and their dog.

I would be very happy to participate in this reading round.

CommunityAdmin I would love to be part of that. 😍

Oh, ich finde es super, dass es jetzt auch englische Leserunden gibt und hoffe, dass dies nicht die einzige bleibt! Würde sofort mitmachen, aber ich habe das Buch schon vor einer Weile gelesen. Beim nächsten Mal dann :-)

I‘d love to participate! I‘ve read the seven husbands… and I am eager to read this book too!☺

CommunityAdmin I would love to participate 😍

CommunityAdmin finally one in English. I’ve waited too long for this!

Chrissie First time I am able to sign up, since my German is not that good for reading novels yet 😉 I hope I can participate in this one, and looking forward to joining more future book club propositions in English. Yes… finally one in English!! Yaaay!

CommunityAdmin i love taylor jenkings book and this book is on my tbr since its released would be very happy to participate

It would be a great pleasure for me to read and discuss in English again. Thank you very much for this opportunity. And - maybe one day, we will see a French reading group?

Englische Leserunde: «Malibu Rising» von Taylor Jenkins Reid

jomoony

Fanny I expected June to die but not like this! It really caught me off guard. But, as sad as it is, I don’t think she would’ve been able to change herself as drastically as she said, just cuz addiction doesn’t really work that way 🙁

I feel so sad for Nina though. You can really see how this part of her childhood defined her the most as an adult, it must be hard to remember it all so well while her siblings got to enjoy the bliss of ignorance/being younger than her.

I’m not exactly a fan of the bunch of new characters being added, mostly because it barely feels like we know the protagonists well enough! But maybe that’s just my impression, what does everyone else think about that?

I don’t like Brandon. End. 😆

lillylexy

jomoony I would also prefer to get to know the protagonists better (especially the other siblings, I feel like Nina is characterized nicely). But I don’t mind the new characters, I mean, it’s a huge party so I kind of want to know about some interesting guests 🙂

Karla

jomoony

I totally agree!! I did not appreciate the new characters added with a very simple and superficial description that to my view served little purpose. In addition, yes! “it barely feels like we know the protagonist well enough!”. I got very bored during this second part. I was looking forward to going more into depth about the main characters, but the way the book continued, for me they became very shallow and uninteresting. I kept on reading and I now nearly finished, but I don’t like this book very much. It feels like the writer just threw things in to have a dramatic twist, and there is nothing too surprising. I saw June’s death coming…. and (I am going to be careful here not to spoil to some readers who haven’t reached this section *SPOILER ALERT*) also I totally saw the new sibling coming when the girl with the purple dress started appearing in the story. This is not my type of book, so that may be the reason why I am not enjoying it so much. All this hollywood celebrity life, and everyone being more beautiful than the next with no description of real personalities is not very interesting to read about. I have now reached some more interesting conversations within the family, so let’s see if by the end I am not too disappointed.

MaryPoppins

Fanny

Dear Fanny and all

I usually do not give much thought to the cover of a book and would not have noticed it if you hadn’t asked. Yes, I like it, I agree that it gives a nice summer feeling and definitely goes with Malibu, surfing and the beach.

I always enjoy books with different timelines in the same story and am happy with this in this book as well: the passage from one period to the next are smooth but a cliffhanger on and off would provide a little bit more tension.

I do not have any particular feeling towards Mick Riva, he seems a typical male of his time, so no surprises there ;-)!

I like June a lot in her naiveté and freshness. The siblings are all different, I agree, but while Nina is portrayed with a certain depth, I miss this in her siblings…. maybe the author will make up for this later.

Frani

Hi. I must confess, I’m struggling a bit through the book, can’t identify with the characters, who in retrospect and in the now - to me - are somewhat billboard like. As for the writing style, I find some passages a bit long and some adjectives are just too many and some figurative representations a bit contrived (explosion, chaotic, controlled - in one short passage?). However, I find everything around the development of Malibu and the relationship between surfer and sea interesting and therefore imagine it (I’m not finished yet…) as a light reading before or during a trip to California. The book depicts to me something of a RomCom series with recurring, but not really surprising, as announced throughout, suspense that entertains… but doesn’t really go all the way. Still… I’ll finish the read and will see where it ends.

MarieY

Fanny

Hi Fanny

Nearly finished the book and wondering what will really happen between them. Brandon is just similar to Mick in character and we have to hope that Nina will have learnt from her mother’s mistakes. I do wish Hud and Ashley somehow find peace for starting their family. The characters generally are not very deep I find, there is a lot of talk about “making out”, “coke” and all the superficial glamour in Malibu, we do not really get an insight of what they think deep down. It is of course easy reading, holiday / beach book, it does not provoke much reflection. Still Kit is my favorite being a strong little character.

But let’s carry on and see how it ends, in fire, we know that, but as for how relationships develop, I am still curious.

Thanks a lot

Fanny

@jomoony @MaryPoppins @lillylexy @MarieY Interesting that you all mention wishing for more depth in the siblings’ characters. I also fell as though it is mostly Nina’s story as we get to know her character very well. I find the little hints to what is going on inside the heads of her siblings (Kit questioning her sexual orientation in this second part, or Jay worrying about potentially losing his career as a surfer) very intriguing. Let’s see if we learn more there!

@Another_Bookstory @cecile-oatmeal @celine-noemi7 @cindy1980 @evelynfeather @Fjona @Karla @LeaBae linibu @Llyrian @Loki @MariaDirina @Mizzo_Murphy @Patinx @Stephan Curious to hear your thoughts about the second part of the novel - what was your main teakeaway from this section?

Llyrian

Fanny I’m actually a bit behind, I’m gonna able to share with you guys later in the week though, sorry about that! 😅

Fjona

Fanny i finished the rest of the book almost in one sitting as soon as everything started to unwrap and things started to make sense i couldnt put it down.

from here on there are prbly spoilers involved!

i was really excited when carrie soto came because now i’m even more excited for the new book of t j reid!

i also loved that you always thought ohhh okay this person has to have put the house in fire but then it turned out that mick did it and not even on purpose which i personally found a very beautiful ending because everybody got their kind of happy ending.

MarieY

Fanny

Hi Fanny and everybody,

I guess we can talk about the whole book now, no spoilers warnings.

I agree with Karla and Jomoony, I found overall the book lacking depth. Can’t help liking the 4 kids and their different characters though. The setting making us dream of sea and waves…Is Mick Riva a little cliché to Mick Jaegger ? Ok the 80’s were wild but the description of the party getting wilder and wilder did make me loose interest for a while. Just all this glam got boring, not quite the “normal” life.

In the end, I liked how Nina made her decisions and the boys making up. Still it remains superficial, again easy read for a holiday or a long flight if don’t want to concentrate too much. In my head I cannot help comparing with Elena Ferrante who is on the other end of the spectrum for depth and descriptions. I would buy Ferrante again but this writer I do not think so.

However thank you for the opportunity, enjoyed the sharing. Would definitely do it again. English or French !

Marie

Another_Bookstory

Llyrian same for me sorry. im in california at the moment and just got over my Jetlag 😅 will continue reading know 😶 till that chapter are we supposed to read ? i have it also as an ebook and the pages are not the same 🙃🙂

LeaBae

Fanny Hello everyone! Last week I was worried Junes life would end tragically and now that I know for sure I feel really sad about it. I hoped she would get a better ending… Poor Nina… she was already burdened with so much even before June died. I admire her for taking on so much responsibility at such a young age not only taking care of 3 children but also household, business, bills not being able to finish school… and she does it with so much love for her siblings. She’s a very caring person & everyone else comes first.

Oh Mick unbelievable. Can anyone believe he did not make it to the funeral? How can he be soooo selfish? I don’t understand. I have no words for it.

I like some of the new characters especially Tarine (she’s a fiery one :-)) some I don’t think are needed. Nevertheless I am looking forward to see how their storys unfold.

Brandon reminds me of Mick they are so alike. Mick & Junes story is repeated. I just hope that Nina stays strong and leaves him for good!! No going back Nina!!

I love Hud and Ashley and hope they get a happy ending. I actually don’t care how Jays is going to react.

Generally I think we get to know Nina very good but I miss getting to know Jay, Hud & Kit better… at a more deeper level.

MaryPoppins

Karla

Hi Karla

I didn’t like the book very much either and mostly for the same reasons you list….

evelynfeather

Fanny I really felt sorry about June’s end and that Nina had to take care of all her younger siblings. I can’t imagine the weight of it on her shoulders. You can see that later she still does everything that’s ‘expected’ of her and she tries to please others like Brandon with buying a house she doesn’t actually even like. But I thought it was good that she got this modelling job so she can earn money for her family. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want so your loved ones are safe. I really hope that by the end she’ll find her happy end. Also Brandon is an arse for cheating of her and just coming back all of the sudden. I hope in the next part she’ll ditch him forever this time.

i found it a bit confusing at the beginning with the multiple povs we have in this book but you get used to it. As for the siblings, I like that everyone is so different and has their own unique characteristics but they’re all Rivas at the end. As for Ashley and Hudson, I don’t really care about their relationship, I just wished Hud would have told Jay sooner because I’m sure he isn’t going to take it well. As for Kit, I always had the vibe throughout the book that she wasn’t the ‘typical straight girl’. I’m happy she found out about it in time.

As for the other supportive characters, I like their little stories but after a time getting introduced to always new characters and names it gets confusing and I’m mixing them up. I would have stuck just to few background characters and deepen their story more.

That’s it, gonna post my review for the whole book later when I finish it😇

MaryPoppins

My first impression got confirmed through the book: (very!) light reading, little depth, a string of clichés… No, I would not buy it and I am not sure I would like to read more from the same author and I hope I am not being unfair, but with all the really good books out there that I will never be able to read simply because they are too many, I wouldn’t like to waste my time on another one like this.

As said previously, the characters lack depth except for June and Nina, they seem to live artificial lives in an artificial setting (but then maybe this is just me as I have no experience with the glitter world of Malibu ;-)…) and there as every turn seems to be predictable, there is no tension in the narrative. I like the two timelines and as said, the switching from one to the other works well, but while the timeline of the party day develops very slowly, it suddenly takes up a pace that is not justified by the events reported: I got the impression that the author herself got a bit bored with the story and wanted it to come to an end quickly. The new potential sister suddleny appearing and Mick neither knowing nor wondering or caring whether she could be his child or not but Nina taking her on as one more of them without questions asked is just slightly less kitsch than the reaction June had to baby Hud: sorry, but I simply do not buy that a woman who discovers her husband has cheated on her and sired a child has no other reaction than to melt at the sight of precisely that baby….. What about a bit of rage and resentment?

The finale with Nina off to Madeira sticks out like a sore thumb as nothing in the book pointed at her even considering a major change in her life, despite not being fully satisfied.

I liked the end with the fire and wondered whether this book should have burned with the house as well….😈

LeaBae

I finished the book last weekend but didn’t have the time to share my thoughts yet. Overall I liked the book, I think it’s well written and an easy read. I liked the characters and especially the two timelines. Last week I was misssing depth especially in the siblings’ characters but interestingly by the end of the book that changed. Looking back I don’t think I need to know more of the siblings - i think i got to know them very well by the end of the book in their dealings with each other. The talk the siblings had with Mick explained many things. I even understand Mick better (just a little bit :-))

Everybody got a good ending I think it’s great that Nina get’s to do something just for herself for a change. The boys are good. Hud and Ashley are good. Loved how it was Mick who started the fire :-)

In my opinion it’s not one of my favourite books but it’s a good read. I agree it’s light reading but I like that sometimes when I don’t want to think too much just escape into another world. I’m definately going to read more books of this writer. I have my eye on Carrie Soto is back. Would also like to know how Tarine’s story would unfold?

Thank you for chosing me to join I liked the experience. I loved that I could do it English (I have to practice more) Would also do it again - maybe i’m a little bit old fashioned I actually would love to meet up in a café or bookshop and meet everybody for real instead of chatting online (for a next time…)

Fanny

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading along and all your comments & impressions during the last couple of weeks. It’s always so interesting to hear about different opinions about the same book.

Those readers in the group who have read and know other books by T.J. Reid: How would you rate “Malibu Rising” in comparison? And if “Mailbu Rising” was your first book by Reid: Are you interested in reading other books by her?

Your final reviews of the book 📖

With our “Malibu Rising” reading group coming to an end, please take a moment to share your final review of the book here on the platform, with your overall opinion of the book. What did you like in particular, was there anything you thought the story lacked? Did you enjoy the writing style? Would you recommend the book to other readers?

Share your text review here and rate the book with 1-5 hearts. 🖋

I hope to see you again in another reading group!

Best wishes,
Fanny

Llyrian

I finally finished it, too!

I struggled a bit to continue reading after June died and Nina took over, it was rough to see Nina go through the hardships of the oldest sibling needing to become a substitute parent when I can relate to that too well.

All in all I’m so proud of Nina of finally finding her voice and her anger and letting it out, I felt like Hud handled his own situation very well and was very glad to see that Hud and Jay will be fine, and I’m happy for Kit that she faced her own reality of not being straight.

And also I’m super happy that they got closure from Mick, I was very positively surprised how well he handled everything, and how he managed to give them the one thing they actually needed: to hear that it wasn’t their fault that Mick sucks big time, and that they are worthy of love. No-one really realizes they need to hear that until they hear it.

My favourite character is Tarine by far (followed closely by Kit, Hud and Nina), I really hope that Tarine will get her own book. Seeing as TJR tends to write books about the side characters or background characters of the story, my hopes are far up 😛

I’ve already ordered Carrie Soto Is Back and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (apparently Mick is one of the husbands and I love easter eggs in books!), can’t wait to see if those will be just as well-written, because even if general fiction isn’t usually my thing, I enjoy TJS’s writing style a lot and I thought it made the book very enjoyable to read!

Thanks for the fun reading-circle!

Another_Bookstory

I had a little trouble getting into the story because it is written from the third perspective and im not used to it.

After the first two chapters it went much better and i could get a hold on the story.

In the first part you learn a lot about the Riva family which has carried me away! I love them all but nina is my favorite.

In the beginning of the second half, however, the book turned again for me and I had trouble following the story. There were too many characters that didn’t really interest me. Also there was no big twist to the story.

On the whole, I found the book quite ok but no more.

Mizzo_Murphy

Fanny
Hi everyone,

you might be surprised to get a new post in such an old thread, one that was finished almost a year ago. Due to issues in my personal life, I was interrupted in reading and was not able to post anymore. Afterwards it was very difficult to get back into it, thus, my long absence from the book circle. However, I was given the opportunity to take part in this reading group and it is still a privilege. Therefore, and because I am hoping that I will not be excluded from further reading groups I am happy to pick up the book again and share my thoughts. So, I will post after finishing each of the three parts, just like I should have done last year.

Let’s start with the beginning: What are my thoughts on the cover? I really like it and I’ve actually wanted to read it even before I got picked for this group (without knowing what it was about). The imagery and the colors promise summer, warmth, and a bit of an adventure. Along with the word Malibu in the title, the book promises a lightness, a great time at the beach. I really wonder if the book will keep its promise.

Personally, I have three ways to pick a book. Some books were recommended to me and ended up on my to-read list because I am simply interested in the topic or because I love the author. There, nothing else matters. Next, I pick a book by the title. Some titles are very intriguing to me, so I have to add the book to my to-read list. Most of the time I then don’t read a synopsis of the book, I just hope I will like it. Lastly, I pick a book because of the cover. Some covers just speak to me. So, the answer, whether the cover of a book is important to me is yes and no.

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