MALIBU RISING

 Malibu Rising. (Made my blood pressure rise too, I think.)

(Daughter's POV #5)

For my first July read, of course, it was another work from Taylor Jenkins-Reid. I am just so obsessed with how she writes and how I get immersed with it.  And, Malibu Rising did not disappoint me. This book might just be my favorite novel written by TJR. The drama, the love, revelations, and confessions just makes this book such a masterpiece.

With each page I read, I actually find myself daydreaming as if I am also part of the story. How I feel and connect with each character- especially Nina. How this book tackled her relationship with her father was just heartbreaking. All her life her father was absent, and then he showed up out of nowhere, earned her trust and love, left again for another woman, then showed up years later because he’s already old, lonely, and needs his “family” and their “forgiveness.” The anger and sadness just mixed and my emotions were literally all over the place. How proud I was when Nina stood up for herself, her mother, and her family, it was over the top.

You might think that I probably pitied her, but no, I resonated with how broken she is just as how much she is whole. This book made me feel as if my half was her and her half was me because there were a lot of instances where you’ll just realize: “Oh wow, I am just like her, she is just like me.”

 The broken pieces she carefully attached again just to be whole for her siblings, and how each piece still falls because she was still so young, she wasn’t ready to be broken yet. But she stubbornly pieced them back together because the people she loves need her to be whole. If she was broken, these people would break apart too. Being wholly broken wasn’t even a choice. Because she is their Nina. But Nina needs to break free too. 

She was too tangled up with all the problems, all the pain that she just has to leave. She needs to take her time off and be the person she really wants to be. Not someone who had to be responsible for their restaurant, not someone who had to be a mother for her siblings, not someone who was abandoned by their father to fend off for their family herself. She had to be Nina. And I hope, in a universe where this story probably existed, she’s happy now.

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At some point of our life, breaking free is not an option but a must thing to do if we are in the pursuit of happiness. Have a good day!

My Cafe Latte  from The BERKELEY HOTEL (Bangkok Thailand)