JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. 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. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control.
By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

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.

Lifestyle of the rich and the famous! Taylor Jenkins Reid’s literary novel Malibu Rising explores one unforgettable night in the life of a wealthy, famous family, where everyone is forced to confront their mistakes and their secrets. Malibu Rising is a beautiful, delightful and enchanting novel, whisking readers away on an emotional journey through time.

Whilst the story moves back and forth between decades, the main storyline is that of the present — the four children of famous singer-songwriter Mick Riva are planning a Malibu party. The events of the book take place over 24 hours in 1983, where eldest daughter Nina is reeling from a failed marriage and cheating husband.

Sporadic chapters propel us back to 1956, where Nina’s mother, June, meets Mick. He’s not yet famous, and over the course the novel we follow their love story. Despite sharing an instant connection, he is not loyal nor is he a faithful husband. After a string of affairs and disappearances, and June’s descend into alcoholism, suddenly Nina must take on the role of caregiver for her three younger siblings. It’s a role she adopts for most of her adult life.

“Now here he was, nearly a year later, barricaded from his own house. But he’d known from the very moment he punched the mirror that this was looming. Maybe he’d known long before that, too. Maybe he’d always known he couldn’t escape himself.”

Taylor’s writing is inviting and emotional — we grow to love Nina and her siblings, we sympathise for them, we root for them. But June’s story is as tragic as Nina’s. She’s sweet-hearted and full of hope. She has dreams that exceed what her parents expect of her. She wants to do more than just take over her parents’ fish and chip shop — she wants to find love and have children and she wants to be blissfully happy. And when she meets Mick, she naively thinks he’ll give that to her.

Nina and her siblings have bonded over quite tragic of circumstances. Even betrayal is short-lived between them, because they’ve weathered worse during their childhoods. Taylor Jenkins Reid has crafted four young characters who have all been broken by the absence of their father — his rejection of them. Their mother did the best she could, but any success they possess is of their own doing, and they’ve spent their relatively short lives purely trying to survive, and I can imagine it’d be exhausting.

“Nina grew more and more anxious with every second. He could fall off, he could lose the board, he could break his leg or his hand or go under. Nina quietly calculated how she would save him, or what she would say if the owner showed up, how she could handle all of this if it went south.”

The novel centres around an infamous and raucous party, but it’s worth noting the party doesn’t really kick off until at least halfway through the novel. For most of the story, we’re in June’s timeline. By the time the party rolls around, the events of the evening seem a bit squished together in an unnatural, fast-paced scene.

Admittedly, the ending did feel a bit farfetched. Not the fire, which is teased in the prologue. But the confrontations between the siblings, and the resolution of Nina’s journey in the book. It all felt a little stretched and over the top, particularly in the dialogue — like a caricature of reality. In most scenes that feature Mick, present or past, his dialogue can border on cringeworthy.

“So Nina knew she couldn’t cancel a party like that. The Rivas might not be like most families, being just the four of them, but they had their traditions. And anyway, there was no good way to cancel a party that never had any invitations. People were coming, whether she wanted them there or not.”

Malibu Rising is recommended for readers of contemporary fiction, and romance. The novel moves between the 1950s-1980s, so those of you who love reading stories set during these decades will appreciate the setting. Readership skews female, 25+

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid
June 2021
Penguin Random House Publishers

Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan

She thought of the horses, of the eyes in the earth.
She thought about that number, sixteen. That strange number . . .

Near the dying English seaside town of Ilmarsh, local police detective Alec Nichols discovers sixteen horses’ heads on a farm, each buried with a single eye facing the low winter sun. After forensic veterinarian Cooper Allen travels to the scene, the investigators soon uncover evidence of a chain of crimes in the community – disappearances, arson and mutilations – all culminating in the reveal of something deadly lurking in the ground itself.

In the dark days that follow, the town slips into panic and paranoia. Everything is not as it seems. Anyone could be a suspect. And as Cooper finds herself unable to leave town, Alec is stalked by an unseen threat. The two investigators race to uncover the truth behind these frightening and insidious mysteries – no matter the cost.

Sixteen Horses is a story of enduring guilt, trauma and punishment, set in a small seaside community the rest of the world has left behind . . .

Greg Buchanan’s debut thriller Sixteen Horses is set in a small English seaside community, and follows the discovery of 16 severed horse heads on a remote farm, partially buried. The mystery soon unravels into much more than just murdered animals, drawing the reader in with secrets and a multi-layered crime.

Everyone holds secrets in the secluded town of Ilmarsh — marriages are fraught, relationships are tested, and there’s a lot for local police detective Alec Nichols to uncover. The initial crime feels quite unique to the genre, and the story takes you on quite a journey as you work to figure out who killed the sixteen horses.

“The killer had secured the horses in the ground by digging holes, dropping the heads within these holes, caking soil around the flesh, then spreading loose dirt to help the skin blend in with the surrounding earth. The purpose was to delay them being found, but not indefinitely. To make the realisation itself a moment of power.”

Similar to other rural crime novels, the strength lies in the setting. The dry, desolate, stretched town where nothing really happens but everyone manages to possess some dark secret.

Stylistically, the book feels quite jagged — stop-and-start. Quotes are scattered throughout, as well as short brief chapters. Each passing day is clearly marked, and some chapters towards the end require a re-read to grasp masked plot — twists you missed or didn’t see coming. Greg’s writing style feels very poetic and lyrical, keeping pace on each page and maintaining intrigue. There’s a dreaded feeling of foreboding as you make your way through the story, which is the sign of a great crime novel.

The ending will satisfy readers.

“The teenage angled away from the rising sun. Her whole face convulsed, forcing a sneeze out onto the damp mossy rock beside her. In the early light, droplets dribbled down into the miscoloured marsh below. The void behind her nose ached. She was alone.”

Admittedly, I did confuse some of the secondary characters with each other. Whilst written in third person, the POV does shift between quite a few different characters and after a while they all start to merge together. Perhaps the number of perspectives could’ve been stripped back?

“The journey took a few hours, enough for the specialist to feel queasy without travel sickness pills. Trains weren’t normally too bad, and driving herself, that was fine, but the carriages heaved at slight angles along the rails. Her body, her mind — they lost their balance. The world sank into nausea.”

Evocative, intelligent and haunting, crime and thriller fans will love Sixteen Horses. For those who loved The Dry and Scrublands. The genre skews towards gothic, and readership skews 20+

Warning: extreme animal abuse.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen Horses
Greg Buchanan
June 2021
Pan Macmillan Book Publishers

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr by Alison Weir

A woman torn between love and duty.

Two husbands dead, a boy and a sick man. And now Katharine is free to make her own choice. The ageing King’s eye falls upon her. She cannot refuse him… or betray that she wanted another. She becomes the sixth wife – a queen and a friend. Henry loves and trusts her. But Katharine is hiding another secret in her heart, a deeply held faith that could see her burn…

Katharine Parr. Henry’s final Queen.

And so my favourite historical fiction series comes to a conclusion. Anyone who has been reading my reviews for the past few years will know how much I love Alison Weir’s Tudor Queens series. With meticulous research and appropriate embellishment to make for an interesting read, I’m quite sad that this is the final book in the series.

You can read my reviews of the preceding books in the series HERE.

In each novel, Alison presents a fictional account of each of Henry VIII’s wives, from their childhood all the way through to their death. Whilst each book is considered fiction, it’s clear how much research and factual information has been used to paint these portraits — Alison always explains her basis in the Author’s Note at the end of each novel.

Henry’s sixth and final wife, Katharine Parr, might just be one of his more mature and intelligent wives. She outlives him, of course, but she seems to be the only wife that manages to keep secrets from him and not get caught. Katharine knows when to fight her battles — she’s courageous and confident, but she’s also aware of her weaknesses. Given she was married four times in her relatively short life, she makes for an interesting story.

“It was June when Mother arrived, looking every inch the great lady in damask and jewels. Her manner when she greeted Lord Borough at the outer door was imperious, as befitted one who served the Queen. But Mother did not know that he despised Queen Katherine and knew that she was out of favour at court.”

Sharp and engrossing, fans of the Tudor age will find themselves enthralled in Katharine’s story. Whilst Katherine wasn’t thrilled to marry the King, she does so in the hopes she can sway him towards religious reforms. She practices her faith in secret, working to step away from Catholicism. Faith is an element that wasn’t explored as deeply through the other Queen’s perspectives, so it added something unique to this final book.

Like the other Queens, Katharine Parr works to position herself in roles of power, even though the time period didn’t benefit women. But unlike the others, Katherine knew when to fight and when to accept defeat, and that’s probably the reason she outlived the King.

“It was hard practicing her new faith in secret. She had to make an outward show of following religious custom, for she was too fearful of reprisals if she betrayed her true beliefs.”

Admittedly, it does take a bit of time for Katharine’s path to cross with King Henry, but Katherine does live a rather eventful life up until then. With two marriages and two dead husbands, it feels like she’s lived a lifetime by the time she’s crowned Queen. And her story is definitely not over then. I think some readers might find themselves surprised to love this book – Katharine Parr certainly isn’t the most well known of Henry’s six wives, but Alison crafts her into quite the interesting woman.

“Over the following days, she agonised over whether she should be encouraging Thomas’ friendship. The angel on her shoulder told her she should not, but the devil on the other assured her that it could do no harm.”

I feel there’s no more praise left to give for this series. Alison Weir’s Six Tudor Queens is highly recommended for fans of historical fiction, but I’d recommend you go back to the very beginning with Henry’s first Queen, Katherine of Aragon, to experience the full chronological journey. Readership skews female, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife
Alison Weir
May 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem…

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a heartwarming romance, the perfect long weekend or holiday read. Her previous novel Red, White and Royal Blue was an instant favourite of mine, so of course I was excited to read her latest release.

I’d recommend you go into this book without reading too much about the plot. I’ve actually removed some of the blurb from above to stop readers from knowing what the twist is. Because it’s quite unexpected in the book, and I think it’s a fantastic twist that works better when you don’t see it coming.

“And the thing is, in New York, everyone ends up worn down by the MTA and tourists and rent prices. Everybody’s seen it all. But that also means, sometimes, everyone is the smallest nudge away from delirium — from being trapped on the subway on a Wednesday morning and turning it into a ‘90s hip-hop dance party.”

When August moves into a NY share-house apartment with three other people, I instantly felt like I was reading about an episode of New Girl.

One of the strengths of this story — apart from its originality and characterisation — is the dynamic between August and her roommates. Conversations are funny and whip-smart, and dialogue captures all the personalities with ease. I found the friendships in this story just as interesting to read about as the romance that the story is centred around. Young women, particularly young queer women, will be able to see themselves in this story.

“There are two things coiled in August’s chest these days. The first is her usual: anxiety meets full-on dread. The part of her that says, trust nobody, even and especially anyone that pushes softly into the chambers of your heart. Do not engage. Carry a knife. Don’t stab them, but also, maybe stab them if you have to. The other, thought, is the one that really freaks her out. It’s hope.”

Admittedly, you do have to stretch your imagination to follow the storyline. The circumstances surrounding Jane become quite hard to believe as time goes on, and the ending is also a bit of a mind-boggle. But if you push past that, One Last Stop is a really moving story about love and how it can persevere even in the most unlikely of situations.

I’m glad this book is less thirsty than Red, White and Royal Blue. I probably loved Casey’s previous book more, because I loved the setting a bit more, but the only downside to Red, White and Royal Blue is the graphic, detailed, over-the-top sex scenes were a bit much for me and I found myself skipping them towards the end. But luckily this book has toned it down quite a bit, and whilst there are sex scenes, there are far fewer. Although, personally, I wasn’t a fan of the sex-in-public-on-the-subway scene. Yeesh.

“Jane talks to everyone, but she never misses August, always a few sly words or a quick joke. And August wonders if maybe, somehow, Jane thinks about it as much as August, if she gets off at her stop and dreams about what August is up to. Some days, when she’s working long hours or locked up in her room for too long, Jane is the only person who’s kind to her all day.”

Recommended for contemporary romance readers — those moved by young love, and that time in your life where you’re trying to figure out your life. There are elements of magical realism, speculative and sci-fi in the story, but if you go in unprepared I do think you’ll love the twist just as much as I did. Readership skews female, 16+

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
June 2021
Pan Macmillan Book Publishers

Still by Matt Nable

Darwin, Summer, 1963.

The humidity sat heavy and thick over the town as Senior Constable Ned Potter looked down at a body that had been dragged from the shallow marshland. He didn’t need a coroner to tell him this was a bad death. He didn’t know then that this was only the first. Or that he was about to risk everything looking for answers.

Late one night, Charlotte Clark drove the long way home, thinking about how stuck she felt, a 23-year-old housewife, married to a cowboy who wasn’t who she thought he was. The days ahead felt suffocating, living in a town where she was supposed to keep herself nice and wait for her husband to get home from the pub. Charlotte stopped the car, stepped out to breathe in the night air and looked out over the water to the tangled mangroves. She never heard a sound before the hand was around her mouth.

Both Charlotte and Ned are about to learn that the world they live in is full of secrets and that it takes courage to fight for what is right. But there are people who will do anything to protect themselves and sometimes courage is not enough to keep you safe.

Set in 1963 Darwin, Matt Nable’s Still is a rural crime drama that explores corruption and violence within the police force, racism, and the murder and cover-up of a local Indigenous man.

Matt’s strength lies in the story’s setting and atmosphere — the dry, humid, sticky Northern Territory. The crocodile-infested marshlands. The temperature and the desolate landscape leap off the page, contributing to a visceral and compelling rural crime story for fans of The Dry and Scrublands.

“Ned Potter, a fishing rod resting loosely on his hip, looked north. The Timor Sear in front of him, bumpy and moving in all directions, was rebounding in torn crests off the weathered edges of the rock platform he stood on. His short sandy hair moved with the wind across the sharp part on the left side of his scalp.”

Stylistically, the novel is written in third person and switches POV between policeman Ned Potter, a law-abiding but alcohol-addicted policeman who refuses to pin a local murder on two innocent men, and the young Charlotte Clark, whose marriage to her husband is not what she was anticipating. She feels trapped in her own home, craving more than the constricting life with her flawed and cheating partner.

My favourite storyline was Charlotte Clark — her storyline and her chance encounter with a beaten man propels the story forward. Whilst Ned is an interesting character, and the corruption in the town is an interesting story to unravel, I don’t think Ned could’ve carried this novel. Charlotte expands the story and the plot, and female readers may find themselves able to relate to elements of Charlotte’s life.

“Before Charlotte turned around, she saw a gust of wind sweep over the swamp and spoil the black slate of still water. The moonlight bounced off the disturbance and she caught the glowing eyes of a crocodile just before they sank beneath the water.”

Because it’s quite clear who is responsible for the murder quite early on, and because this novel is more about uncovering police corruption, Still feels quite unique in the crime genre. We’re following these characters to find out if justice will be served — this isn’t a whodunnit kind of story. Whilst this novel won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, there is plenty with these pages to keep a reader turning.

A small flaw but I did find a lot of the dialogue very unrealistic, particularly between Ned and the other policemen, and also the Mayor. The dialogue felt quite over-the-top, caricature and not at all natural. I felt that some of the masterminds behind the corruption could’ve been a bit more clever in their conversations — a bit more intimidating and coy, choosing their words carefully. As a result, some of these secondary characters, particularly the villains, felt a little underdeveloped and like cardboard cut-outs. I think there was room for more depth there, particularly in how they communicate with others.

“Ned sat across from Senior Sergeant Riley in the waiting room outside Mayor Landry’s office. They didn’t speak. Ned didn’t even look at Riley but could feel his glare. And he could hear his tongue running across his gums, loosening the remains of what he’d just eaten.”

Descriptive and gripping, Still is recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery. Readership skews male, 18+

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Still
Matt Nable
June 2021
Hachette Book Publishers