CBR Bingo – Dwelling
I am a huuuuuuuge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. The first book of hers I consumed was the audio version of “Daisy Jones and the Six” which I loved 5000; the same can be said for everything else of hers I’ve read. She is pure MAGIC, an author who is so talented and adept at making historical fiction seem like non-fiction that I’m a little suspicious she may have gone down to Georgia and fiddled against the devil in order to secure her place on the bestseller list. (But really, I’m sure that she works very hard. I’m just saying I don’t know if she’s been to Georgia…)
She is a masterful storyteller and has woven together a fun universe in California, where characters from one story will show up in the next. They aren’t sequels, taking place at different places in time, but rather sneaky peaks into another part of someone’s life. There are four books and Mick Riva, the patriarch of the Riva family, is in three of them (this one, Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Daisy Jones & the Six). He isn’t in Carrie Soto, but the title character makes an appearance in this book too. What a fun and tangled web!
At the start of this book, we know that at the end of the day, the Riva mansion will go up in smoke. But who lights the match? Nina, the dutiful eldest sister, sleepwalking through her own life? Jay, the surfing phenom with a lot to prove, or Hud his photographer? Or could it be the youngest sibling, Kit, who is hoping tonight will be an opportunity to break out of her shell? Or maybe it’s an errant partygoer, trying to make for themselves a night to remember. Everyone has secrets to keep and secrets to tell and this 1980s house party of the rich and famous is a wild ride.
The novel jumps between this one day in the 80s and their childhoods: we go back to the foundation of the Riva family, and see how it all began, and when the cracks began to form. Despite what they have been through they are a close family, but this party may bring it all to an end.
This is an absolutely delicious book, perfect for a leisurely summer day or a winter one when you need a touch of California sun. If you haven’t experience TJR, go forth and dive in (beach pun intended).
