
What’s amazing is how real these characters are and how relatable their issues are. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes about characters who are famous. I may have much stronger feelings about the book personally because I relate to the trauma and emotions that the characters went through (meaning I have a similar past to the characters), but even without this notion, the story would still hit close to home in some form. She writes about people like us, who go through the same cycle of growing up, having family, falling in love, getting hurt, feeling lost… it feels oddly nostalgic reading her books, because even though you don’t go through the same exact things as her characters, you go through the same exact emotional turmoil as them, as if you yourself have, some time in the past, experienced something very similar. She does not exaggerate her stories or overdramatise them. That’s what I admire most about her books – it’s that she does not use fancy words to spice up her writing. It’s all real life issues with relatable human reactions, and there isn’t an ounce of fluff in her writing – it’s all hard-hitting rawness that makes you feel so much at once.

But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.Īfter reading 2 books by her, I can confidently say that Taylor Jenkins Reid is the best at emotional writing.

By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.Īnd Kit has a couple secrets of her own-including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.īy midnight the party will be completely out of control. Oh, and maybe Hud-because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth. The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer and their adored baby sister, Kit. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Publisher: Hutchinson (Imprint of Penguin Books)
