The Small Spark

 

   I decided to read the book "Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid after a good friend suggested it. Reid is the author of my favorite book, "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo," so I figured it would be another great book. 

  The story follows the Riva family, who are the children of a super famous musician, Mick Riva. After being abandoned by their father and orphaned by their mother, they have made quite a name for themselves. Nina has always been the caretaker of the family while their mother suffered from alcoholism and made a name for herself modeling. Jay is a professional surfer who works beside their other adopted brother, Hud. Finally, the youngest daughter, Kit, is a spunky girl who is not afraid to speak her mind. The story also recaps the lives of their parents, Mick and June. The story starts by talking about the fire that will rage in the city of Malibu by the end o the night, and readers spend the whole story anticipating where this fire starts. 

  The story revolves around the annual Riva Party that Nina hosts at her mansion with her husband, who just cheated on her, Brandon. The story introduces several characters that attend the party and give a small glimpse into their lives. Although I thought it was fun to hear the minuscule details about these side characters' lives, I found that these snippets took away from the main storyline and felt like filler to meet a word count. I think it was a good idea to get more characters in the story, but I feel like they should have been a part of the story the whole time. As the party continues, it becomes more and more out of hand with these side characters trying to make a mark or name for themselves. 

  Towards the end of the story, Mick shows up at the party and tries to get involved in the kids' lives after not being in touch for 20 years. When Nina sees that Mick is at the party she begins to think of all the pain he put her and her mother through. When Mick gathers all of his kids and tells them that he is sorry, Nina doesn't believe it for a second. She tells him how "can't" isn't a reason not to parent. Nina calls Mick a coward, and because of his irresponsible ways, she was forced to take on the responsibility. After the rest of the family decides that there is no room for Mick, Mick leaves and they are left to sort through the pieces. All of the other siblings convince Nina to leave Malibu and live out her dreams instead of helping them with theirs. 

  The story ends with Mick leaving the house and questioning all of the choices that led him here. He decides to light a cigarette and throws it into the bushes when he is done. This is what sets off the fire that destroys Malibu. Even though this was a metaphor, I think that it was a very anti-climactic ending and kinda let me down. As the party kept getting more out of hand, we were expecting the fire to start earlier in the story.

  Overall I thought this was a good book, and looking back at it, there were a lot of hidden messages that I missed.

Rating: 4.2/5 Stars