I picked this book from the library, in that random way that I do, without knowing what it was about or what to expect. And, I still don’t really know what to think about it. The story follows four siblings, the children of an absent ultra-famous singer, as they prepare to host their annual, infamous celebrity party in Malibu in the 80s. Interspliced with their story, we also get the history of their mother and father’s story, from their beginnings to present day.

The four siblings really drew me in with their nuanced, fully-fleshed personalities, and also the intense bond between them, forged through a difficult childhood with the abandonment from their famous a-hole father, and their loving but despondent and alcoholic mother. The writing is beautiful, and the story feels so real, you get the urge to google if Mick Reva is a real person, just in case.

However, on the whole, I found this story, for the most part, rather depressing. Both in the family’s story and the nostalgic description of Malibu’s changes. There were a few things that I didn’t quite buy, and honestly I did think about DNF’ing around the 60% mark, just because I don’t tend to go for heavy books that leave you down.

Still, the pay off and catharsis at the end was almost worth it,  I did enjoy the over the top shenanigans of the Reva children’s party, and they do get a relatively happy ending, even though, after several weeks distance, I still think of it as a heavy read.

Recommended if you’re in the mood for a middling to heavy read somewhere in between the spectrums of drama and literary. Some of you will definitely love it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐½ 

Thanks for reading!