In this book by the author of „The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo“, Malibu is practically the main character. It is the town, where the Riva siblings grow up. A small fishertown back when their parents fell in love, the rich are now settled on this land. Nina Riva seems like one of the rich, living up on the cliff in a glass hous, although she doesn’t feel like one of them and rather lived in a beach hous right at the shore. But tonight is her big annual party and even though Nina isn‘t in the mood, she can‘t cancel now.
The Riva siblings are especially connected through their love to surfing. This love spills out of the book to the reader. The water is omnipresent in this book. While reading, you feel as if every wind brings a gush of salt droplets to your face and you feel the sand between your toes.
I really liked the structure of this book. The story begins at 7 a.m. at the day of the party and builds momentum from there until the evening. There is some foreshadowing at the beginning of the story which makes us anticipate the happenings of the evening even more. Weaved through the story of the four close siblings Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit is the lovestory of their parents, June and Mick. A few side characters also get the chance to tell a part of their story. This was made very effortless by the author Taylor Jenkins Reid.
In the end, one question remains throughout the book. How much does the way you grow up have to influence your whole live? And is family history obliged to repeat itself or is there a way to break the cycle?
