My Sister Made Me Read It

MALIBU RISING Review, 2000’s Ashton Kutcher, and Amy’s Red Wedding Reaction

• Amy and Abby Preteroti • Episode 21

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It’s Abby’s Week!


On this episode of the My Sister Made Me Read It podcast, it’s Abby’s week to choose what book we read, and she’s decided on the Historical Fiction Novel MALIBU RISING by Taylor Jenkins Reid (12:38:6).


But before they dive in, the sisters slowly wake up in their early morning recording talking about fraternities and Abby’s theory of the connection between fraternities and Ashton Kutcher. Amy talks about a wedding they’ve just hosted and two middle school sweethearts that she’s convinced are true soulmates. After going through the intricacies of Malibu Rising and the connections with TJR's books before and after ( THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and CARRIE SOTO IS BACK), Amy talks about finally seeing the Red wedding in GOT and her reaction. 


Subscribe and Leave us a Review down below! We want to hear from you and what you thought of MALIBU RISING. Give it a rating in the comment section of your rating! 


Thanks for listening!


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Credit for Intro and Outro music: This That Shizznit by Beat Mekanik, Free Music Archive, CC BY


abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Good morning.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Hello, hello. Can you hear me?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, where's your microphone?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

It's sitting right here next to me.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Oh

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I put it on the stand today. I've got like a, a new little setup because I got into my third bedroom finally. And I'm sitting in the chairs.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yup. And I have like a little, oh goodness, a little table next to me, so. Much better set up. Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

need that ice roller this

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I'm, so swollen

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Well, you should get one.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

all this traveling I'm, like i've been waking up full liquid

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. No, you've been traveling a ton

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'm been traveling a ton.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

um I just want to give you a warning because I live next to a high school and they have started doing something that involves chanting since like 7 a. m.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

They've been doing chanting.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

to do, yeah, it's like men chanting. So I think it has something to do with the fraternities who are chanting. Doing their, what is it called? Not, they don't call it rushing. They call it something else, don't

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That's horrifying

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. So if you hear men being like, Oh, like it's probably

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

For high school. They don't rush for high school

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think they're, I think they're renting the football field next door. Yeah. And like, I mean, if there's like a soccer game, we hear like the people cheering. Like, it's not like they're using the intercom that often, but it's, that's the only thing I can think of. Cause

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Weird. That's fucking weird.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

think sports would be that, it's literally been since like

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Damn. Uh,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. How is your Friday the 13th?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Um, we have a lot of weddings, and last night, so this couple was younger. They were, I think they were probably like a year younger than me. Sorry, I can't stop yawning. I didn't make coffee this morning. Um, and it was like We all were like, this couple's like really in love with each other. Cause like we see like a lot of weddings and we're like, this is so strange. Like the energy is so weird.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

together.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. I like the energy is so weird, but like last night you could definitely tell like, they were like really in love. They were middle school sweethearts. Yeah, so they met in middle school, in sixth grade, and then dated, oh my god, and then dated in high school, and then broke up, and then got back together, and got married. So it was very sweet. But yeah, nothing, nothing crazy happened.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

me

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No. Kroger.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

what I did yesterday. I know I slept in because we got home later. And, and then of course I had to go to like Kroger and do all this stuff, but it's just been a wash of a

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I haven't been to Kroger in like five years, probably.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

It's horrible. I hate

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Really?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

usually go like 8 o'clock in the morning so I can avoid everybody. But yesterday I had to go to, I was, I ended up being like 11 by the time I got there. It wasn't that bad, but like, I don't know. I don't think I, I know I don't look like a Kendall Jenner or like a Hailey Bieber, but you would act, you would think I do because like I go to places around here. I'm saying I'm not

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

But you would think I do.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

these all these old men just stare at me like yesterday when I went to Kroger I counted three old men just staring at me as I walked by like not even trying to

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Love that for you.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I'm like, yeah, it just makes you

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh, no, not me.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I was in this sweatshirt that I'm wearing and like leggings shorts

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Your list of what?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Sometimes I like write down things that I've been thinking about and this is like Ties into frat boys being next door actually. I forgot I wrote this down. I wrote down I have a theory that frat boys are seen as attractive for their height and skinniness and their dark hair usually because of Ashton Kutcher in the thousands or like 2010s and his rom coms because I think Ashton Kutcher in these movies were like the best.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

so ran That's the most random thought I've heard in a long time.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think I remember seeing like something of someone saying like Ashton Kutcher's rom com something. Maybe it was like the best and I like kind of went through them and I was like, yeah, He really did like have cute rom coms like no strings

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh yeah,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

a cute rom com then like I was like, you know what he like when I think of an old ashton kutcher I think of like That's what the image of like frat boy looks

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

really?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't know if I Frat

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

skinny dark

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

boys aren't that tall, are they? Okay, maybe. I don't know.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Not all of them.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

not all of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I get like, look, there's like, frat boy that's like, dirty, grimy, dive bar frat boy.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, there's ones that are like that frat boy, like, Oh, fuck. Yeah. Keg stand. Yeah. Like that type of frat boy. And then there's like country club. My daddy pays for everything frat boy. It like depends on what college you're at. I think.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think the country boy country club still can get dirty and grimy

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. As in like,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I've talked about this with my friends before who have been in sororities and universities and they say and even like I mean They just say, like, the floors are so sticky, like, on all these houses. They're so disgusting.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Their rooms that they live in are, like, the sizes of, like, closets. They're like packed in like sardines. Like it's just disgusting.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'm sure it's fun.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

smells,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Obviously.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but no, that's what I was, I don't know. That is a random thought, but I, I am going to stick with that. I

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'm going to stick with that. I stand by that.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

attractive because of Ashton Kutcher.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

That's my opinion.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That's my opinion.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I was just about to say that. I did that to Jose yesterday. don't know what we were talking about. And I was like, that's my opinion! And he was like, whoa. He was like, you don't have to do that. And I was like, you don't know what that is? And he was like,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Of course he does it. Why would he know what that is?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

know, he didn't know the meme, welcome to Jilly's.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't either. I

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Amy? Yes, you do. I sent it to you last week.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

don't remember.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

The kid who's like half naked, I shouldn't say half naked. He's just in shorts and no shirt and he walks into the bathroom. He's like, welcome to Chili's.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I do know that.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

It's a vine

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

It's like a video.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Probably 2008

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That's funny, I love chilis.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and I had to show them to that Tim because every time we pass the Chili's I say

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That's funny.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and so I showed It to him and now he understands

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Why do I keep yawning?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

cuz you just woke up. Just tell yourself to stop. What else happened

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, I was about to piggyback off of that. Um,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

But we were talking about that's not my opinion. Well, that's my

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

have you started Housewives of New York?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

No, I haven't I haven't been watching TV We um, I that's a lie. We've been watching one show on Netflix called the perfect couple.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh, you started it?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, I started it after I left your house and that night and then I finished it at mom's house when I was at mom's house and

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

What do you think?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

wasn't with me when I finished it. So then now he's finishing it. So I'm rewatching it with him

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

What did you think? Really? I've heard, I've heard.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I thought it was

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I've heard mixed things. It's a book, isn't it?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, but I heard, um, they changed, like, a lot of character personalities.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Really?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, I heard it's, like, pretty different. Like, the, I think the plot's the same, but I think personalities and characters are different. But, um, no, it's, like, one of those things of, like, it wasn't, like, oh god, like, that's so creative, like, like, thought of that. It's kind of, like, and it's not, like, it's who you think it is. It's kind of, like, in the middle, so that's why it, It wasn't like, Oh my God, that's so great. But like you find out who it is at the end and you're like, yeah, I should have known that. Like, there are so many signs for it. But, um, I don't know, like, I don't think I've ever really been a big fan of Nicole Kidman, but this show, like, it's too distracting for me, for her to be in it.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

She's, she's

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and I was like, okay, that's fine.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

in like so many things right now.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, and but like I look at her and I don't know if they did it because this is kind of like her character or if she just actually looks like that because I don't wasn't really like actually watching the movie when we watched family affair because we Were doing the puzzle but like her Botox are so bad Like it looks like that like meme of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and it's so distracting but it it goes with her character So it's not like so you just are sitting there like is that her or is that the character then you're taken out?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

a perfect couple.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't know.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but I mean aside from that. I just I don't think i'm a huge nicole kidman

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't think I am either and I, I think it was the wrong casting for a family affair.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, I kind of agree, but I feel like she was involved higher up in that movie

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Well then, fuck, I'd want to make out with Zac Efron too. I get it, girl.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I'm tired of watching all these shows that have like prominent and actresses That like we already know like, and that's the good. I mean, the good thing about, um, the perfect couple her name's Eve. I don't know her last name, but the 1 of the main character. She's the bride in the series. She is newer, like, I haven't seen her in anything else. And, like, it was really enjoyable to see somebody like I've never seen on screen before, like, do a really good job.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I know, I think I noticed that one of the guys is the main character, one of the main characters in Midsommar.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I didn't see Midsommar.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

You haven't seen Midsommar? I re watched it, I watched it the other day just for funsies, it's on, I think it's on Netflix right now. That movie's crazy. You seen Hereditary? Hello?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I don't, like, watch horror movies anymore.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, I scarred you.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, just when I got older and lived on my own, like, we'd live alone. Well, I know I live with a husband, but, like, I still live

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I live with a husband.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I can't, I can't go to, I can't go to, like, Mom and Dad's bed anymore.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I, but like they're not like scary movies, I mean they are scary, but they're like different. Like Midsommar is like about like a cult.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Oh.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

And then Hereditary is kind of also about a cult, but it is a little bit scary. I'd say like Hereditary is scarier than Midsommar. Midsommar is just like a psychological horror for sure.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Interesting.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Anyways, um, we read one of my favorite books ever.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Did you

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I loved this book.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it again.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I loved this book. And like, when we, when you chose it, I was like, ugh, how boring. And I loved this book.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I don't think she can write a boring book. I was trying to explain it to Jose and I was like, yeah, right now she's like my favorite author and he was like, I thought Octavia Butler was your favorite author. know, like she is, but like, she. All of her works are done. She's passed. So like, Taylor Jenkins read is still creating. So she's still my like current author, favorite

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Right.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

And so like everything new that she comes out, I want to read and all that, which I haven't read all of her stuff. is my, is this my third or fourth book I've read of hers? I can't remember.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

my second book I've read.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

You've read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. But see, you're different. We're different because I'm not like an author girl. Like, I don't really like, like, sometimes I'm like, oh, I really like this book and it's this author. Like, let me read something else of theirs. But like, as far as like, like you like really dive into the authors, like I don't.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

follow them. Yeah. Um, Yeah, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is like, the big one. I think everybody has read that one now. That one is kind of like what blew up and made her known. And then, um, there's a few other ones that I haven't read that people say are great. But, for some reason, I wanted to read Carrie Soto's back because I think this is one of her newer ones. And then Malby Rising is one of her older ones, but I had always heard how great it was.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

So Carrie Soto is back as she wrote after Malibu Rising. Yes. Because at the end of Malibu Rising, there's an excerpt for Carrie Soto is back.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. I'm pretty sure she wrote, I'm gonna look this up actually,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, this book was so good.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

because I'm pretty sure she wrote Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo before.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I think it was Daisy Jones and the Six, Seven Husbands. Not that it matters. I mean, it kind of matters because it's all intertwined.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

older ones that we haven't read yet. So her first one was Forever Interrupted in 2013, then After I Do 2014, Maybe in Another Life in 2015, One True Love's in 2016, and then Seven Husbands is in 2017, and then Daisy Jones in the sixth, 19, Malibu Rising came out in 21. And then Carrie Soto is her most recent one that came out in 22,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Interesting.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

um, which makes a lot of sense. But, um, do you want to read the synopsis for Malibu rising

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Uh, yeah, sure. Okay. So, 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, watches. Brothers, Jay and Hud won a championship surfer. The other renowned, renowned, renowned,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

renowned?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

photographer and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination, especially as the offspring of a 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 rising to the surface. Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family, the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them and what they will leave behind. I feel like the synopsis didn't really do the book justice at all. Not like, cause when I read the synopsis I was like, okay, like. Okay,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Synopsis are so hard to write though, because it's like so many, especially with her books, people are going to take different things out of it. And so it's like, you never want to give something up, but like, I kind of agree. Cause the way the synopsis says, I thought it was going to be like arson,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

too, like about like a fire.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

catches the house on fire.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

The fire, the fire of it all is so, there's, it's like the smallest part of the book. What are you growling at me for? You hear him?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Hello? Where's your ball? Get your ball before sunshine gets it. Yeah, that's what I thought. Lay down. You know when he has like his tennis ball and he like has already like bit into it so many times so it's like an open half circle and he bites it and it shoves his lips up. Oh my God, it's so funny. That's what he's doing now. Bubba, you're grumpy. I get it.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

woke up on the wrong

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

He sure did this one. Um,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I almost feel like the fire was, like, unnecessary. Like, I see the, I see

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

no, I don't think it was unnecessary. I think it was symbolic.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah, I see the symbolism in it. But, like, I don't know. Anyways.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

you have thoughts, obviously.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Huh?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

you have thoughts, obviously.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

no, no. I, this book, it wasn't, I liked Keri Soto more. Yes. Keri Soto, just take a second talking about Keri Soto. It was different than anything I've ever read before. And it was, I was, I explained it once before on this podcast. I think of like, I didn't know anything about tennis, really. We knew a little bit because of mom, but not like the specifics. um, she does such a good job to where you're like, Holy shit. She must've done so much research to where she's bringing like the tennis world alive and in front of you. And you feel like you're literally like, you know, all the information, like I finished the book and was like, I know everything about tennis now. Like, And that's so hard to do and it just like kind of carries you through the story and Kari Soto, which we kind of saw in this book, is she's not a likable character, but yet she humanizes her so well to where it's like. You know, of course she's this way and of course she like,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I love characters like that. It's like Nesta, kind of.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah She's even more unlikable than Nesta like there are things that happen and you're like bitch calm down but then like you also like understand why she's that way and why she's so driven and why she does come to somebody's house and is like fuck you and Here's your clothes

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Is that in Kiri Soto?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

So that's what I was dog earing when you came on. It's they she doesn't describe it

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

to give people kind of like an overview, like Taylor Jenkins Reid has intertwined her other stories and her other books in Malibu Rising.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, so they all happen in the same way

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Same timeline.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I can't speak to, like, the other books prior, but these books specifically all operate

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

books, these books meaning Malibu Rising, Kiri Soto is back, and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

They all, um, operate within the same world of. You know, like, like how our world is, I think I don't know how to explain

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

What?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but they're not like, like how Selena Gomez is living in my world right

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

The real world.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. But it's not the real world because all of this is still fiction. Like she still creates her own world

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

they all, they all have the same world. You're right.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Um, but so The Seven Husbands, one of the husbands in Seven Husbands, it's the third husband, Evelyn Hugo marries Mick Riva, and in that, he's the husband that they, she kind of marries to

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Is it, did you go back and check, is it the overnight wedding that they talk about, McRiva? How they get an annulment the next morning?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah, they get an annulment the next morning. But I think this was the one, this was the one when she kind of gets like, there's lots of rumors about her getting close to Celia, I think, and this

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I don't know. She marries him to kind of like switch the narrative.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

cute. Okay,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. Cause like one of the chapters in the section that is his, it's Cecilia was shooting a movie on location in big bear for three weeks. I knew that going with her wasn't an option nor was visiting her on set. She insisted she would come home every weekend, but it felt too risky. And so, um, I'm trying to see when she decides to marry him. Yeah. Cause they shoot the movie, they shoot a movie together.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

you're, you're an Evelyn Hugo right now.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, but I really liked how she did that. So in Malibu rising, we kind of see it as dual PR. Well, I mean, it's multiple POVs, but it is dual timelines. Um, so what? You're way

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

her she says the first thing you need to do to get a man elope to elope with you Is to challenge him to go to Las Vegas And then she like goes, that's when she like goes through each step of how she kind of like manipulates him to marry him and then have sex with her that night. Um, and then she like, cause she thinks it's going to be something. Um, sorry, I'm all over the place.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

off right now.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

When he gets up off the bed and grabs his jacket, you realize there's an element of this that you haven't accounted for. He likes to reject. He likes to condescend. When he was calculating his moves last night, he was thinking of this moment, too. This moment where he gets to leave you. So you do something you haven't rehearsed in your mind. When he gets to the door and turns to you and says, I'm sorry it didn't work out between us, baby. But I wish you all the best. You pick up the phone on the side of the bed and throw it at him. You do it because you know he'll like it. Because he's given you everything you came for. You should give him everything he came for. He ducks and frowns at you as if you're small deer and he has to leave in the forest. You start crying and then he's gone and you stop and you think, if only they gave out Oscars for this shit. So that was like the marriage that she manipulated him to get what she needed to change the narrative.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

And so then we come into Malibu Rising, which would be the next book McRiva, uh, is We learn about his first family and kind of his like, um, origin story, if you will.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yes.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

What?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

because like, I felt like the Evelyn Hugo cameo was such a tiny, tiny bit of this book. Like the smallest, like, like a fart in the wind.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Like,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think it's important if you read those, if you read these books in order,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

no,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

coming into this book with preconceived notions.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I know, but it's like, it was kind of like surprising. Ow! It was kind of like surprising, like, so. I didn't realize that they were going to intertwine like that. So like reading this book, I didn't even realize, and I read Evelyn Hugo so long ago. So like, I didn't like, the name didn't pop out to me like McRiva nothing. And even in Evelyn Hugo, I mean, she fucking had seven husbands. So like, and he was a very small husband. So it's not like, it's like a name that you're like, Oh my God, the McRiva, like from Evelyn Hugo, like, no, it's like a fart in the wind. So that's like when I talked to you about it, cause we get. The dual timelines in Malibu Rising, we get, so the main character Nina is like the,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

His

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

right, but it's the main, it's like basically who we're reading about is Nina's story. And then we get a history of Nina's parents, June and Macreeva. Then we kind of go back and forth between like mixed timeline and we get his background of like how he grew up and how he came to be and how he met June, um, and how his indiscrepancies throughout their lives and their marriage. And he walked out multiple times on his family and. Um, got married multiple times, like left Junie, got divorced from her, and then like remarried, remarried, remarried, comes back, leaves again, remarried, like, it happens like a lot of times, and Evelyn Hugo was one of those marriages that is literally like a sentence. Because it's like in Malibu Rising, right? Because she's like, Yeah, Macareva got married to an actress. Did she even say Evelyn? She did?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

She says something, she says like

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, I didn't even know she said that. But she just mentions like, Yeah, I got married to like a famous actress. And then it's like, Dot, dot, dot. They annulled the next morning. Like, So it was a very small part of it, but I do like how she intertwines it. Now, Keri Soto is the big mashup here.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. But like, I, I think if you don't know any of her other books and you just picked up this book, you, it, it's not like you would be missing out on

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Not one thing.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

just having read the other books, you bring in like a second, uh, of things.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

It deepens the, the, it deepens the connection to the characters.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

well, one thing you see how common it was for people in Hollywood, Hollywood. Having seen Evelyn Hugo and then now seeing McRiva, how common it was to like, jump around and marry and jump around from relationship to relationship, but you also, it builds his character, which then like, builds the relationship between him and June, the mother. And then later on, when we're in Nina's point of view, we're starting to see parallels between her relationship and Brandon and cook, Carrie Soto. And so it's, it just. So beautifully like intertwines everything to where it shows that like, know, we always say we don't want to be like our parents, but if you don't actually change things, history will always repeat itself. You know, I think that's like a common theme of like, like, I mean, right now that's a common discussion with it ends with us of like breaking the chain and stopping this abuse pattern and stopping from like marrying abusive men or abusive partners. And so like, yeah. It shows that the 3 books,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, I want to read Keri Soto's back for sure.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah, so, like, the 1st, half of the book is pretty heavy in June story, the mom's story and how she ends up with make Reva how she becomes paralyzed by the fact that he. Just spews like false words and false narratives at her of like, you know, yeah, he buys her the house and yeah, he ends up having money one day, but he doesn't stay like he doesn't have a relationship with her. And then she's stuck with these children. And then 1 day, a woman shows up at her door and hands her Hudson and is like, this is your husband's child. I can't take care of it. And she's like, yeah. Okay, I'm taking another child on because she cannot imagine him not having a mother and she tries to kick Mick out that day and he Kind of weasels his way back in I would say and he's good for a while and then he's not

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. That was sad. That was sad. Like watching like June's. like digression I think throughout the book was really difficult.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, it was really sad

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Very sad because it's just like and I think like I don't know it at its core like this is a sad story you know like I'm glad like it I I know you didn't really like like the ending I don't know but I think it was I mean

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Well, like the mom's story like the overview of it is very much like she's raising these four kids alone And then on top of that You She's trying to stay with her husband who, um, is not her husband at some points, but who is going outside their marriage and is sleeping with these women. And then these women are coming back to her house and flaunting it in her face, or she's seeing the press and it's being flaunted in her face. And then she's seeing how he's carelessly like marrying, uh, Evelyn Hugo. And there's that resentment and there's that. Anger that builds with her inside her of like, I'm stuck here, raising our children as much as I love our children. I don't think I would choose anything else. I think there's that anger of like, how could you just go out and abandon your children? And there's like a quote that he says, um, because this is third person omniscient. So it goes in between heads. And he says, at one point of like, I'm not, I wouldn't be a good father to young children. So I'll just come back when they're adults or something like that. Like he alludes to the fact of like, he doesn't want to be a parent now, but he'll be a parent when they're an adult. And it's like, at that point, how much parenting do you even do? Like, that's just a cop out. And that just speaks to his

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

There's a, there's a win. Okay. So, I mean, I don't, there's so much that goes on throughout the entire book. Did Jose just bring you Starbucks?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Um, coffee, but not Starbucks. Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Um, okay. Um, but going on that same topic, I really, really, really, really loved the end of this book. So, I mean, is there, are there like key points you want to talk about throughout the story?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

There's just one quote after the, so. Yeah, do you want to wait till we go to

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Sure.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Okay, give me two seconds. Let me just say this. So the mom ends up getting, because she becomes an alcoholic because it's a lot to handle, and she ends up drowning in a bathtub because she's so And after the mom drowns in the bathtub, it switches to Nina's point of view and she's 17. And um, she, there's this quote that just kind of stood out to me and I just thought I would say it. And this is why I love her writing, because I just, You don't read this anywhere else. said she knew it was up to her to say what had to be said to do what had to be done. They're talking about Nina. When there is only you, you do not get to choose which jobs you want. You do not get to decide you are incapable of anything. There is no room for distaste or weakness. You must do it all. All the ugliness, the sadness, the things most people can't stand to even think about all must live inside you. You must be capable of everything. And that's like right before she has to tell her siblings that their mom died.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Ugh. So

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

that's

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

sad. Mm hmm.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

the Theme for the rest of the book is Nina has to step up. She has to drop out of high school and working at the restaurant and becomes like the mom and dad because dad won't come home and they try to reach out to dad and have he even has to like sign off on a few things with June being buried and then like with the kids And he signs it but he never like reaches out but then When it goes into the future, when we kind of jump back and forth, when it goes back, theme becomes Nina's been doing this her whole life. It's always been putting them before her. She like, make sure they get their college, their, uh, education doing what they love and all of those things. And there's a quote on page. 165 and, um, it's Nina and Kit are talking to each other and Kit says something of like, if you ever need to talk, you know, you can talk to me. This is right before the party

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Mm hmm.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

like, I know, like, I'm fine. And, There's this quote and it says too much self sufficiency was sort of mean to the people who loved you, Kit thought. You robbed them of how good it feels to give, to give of their sense of value.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

They also come back to that theme at the end, too. Saying something about like, like I don't remember the exact quote, but saying something about like letting people care for you is an act of love. Like for them, like you don't have, because Nina is so, she's always kind of like taken on everybody else's issues and raised her siblings and all those things and like thanklessly and like selflessly and then like at the end, it's like when they're trying to do something for Nina. It says something about like letting people do things for you. It was like a, an act of love and like, she needed to like, let them do that.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. It's like, I think Nina was seeing it as like a repayment and she kept saying like I don't need to be repaid. But it's not even that. It's just like

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Or like when, like, there was also a point like after the, so, um, their mother dies, that's not like a surprise or like a spoiler or anything, but like, um, their mother dies and Nina to avoid them going into foster care, cause she was 18. She. Worked her ass off and kind of hush hushed that the mom was dead. Um,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

well, they said an aunt, The dad was still in the picture and they said like an

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

yeah,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and staying with

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

until she turned 18 and was able to legally adopt her siblings. And when all of that went through, like they all like thanked her and she, it, it always said like, She never allowed herself to like, she couldn't say like, you're welcome. Like she couldn't like even acknowledge that it was a thing. Like she just had to like, keep going, but they would like, thank her. And she would just be like, okay, anyways,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

you know,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. But then she becomes and makes all of this money. And she was just also really sad because it's, she makes money based off of like the sexualization of her body. she talks about this one specific photo of like, it was a lot more sexual than even she kind of signed up for. And then like, if you, You know, it was sheer enough where you can imagine seeing something. And a lot of men did that to her. And a lot of men like begin feeling, they have, um, the right, maybe to physically touch her when they're in her presence. And

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

well, it was that specific ad was for like a fabric.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

like a cotton

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. So like men would like touch it and be like, Oh, it is like, they kind of would say like the tagline and she didn't like that.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. But it's sad. Cause it's like, she had to resort to something of like giving up the power of her physical

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. Most people do. Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, and that's just such a sad fact of like, she doesn't, she's like, yeah, it bothers me, but like what else was I supposed to do type of thing? Like that was what I had to do to make money.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

it's

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Like the restaurant wasn't gonna make

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

it's giving Anne Hathaway and Les Mis.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I've never seen Les Mis.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

We should watch it. She like sells her teeth and shit

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Oh, yikes.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

take care of her child

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yikes. That just gave me the heebie jeebies.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I mean like

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

some

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

you have like some people like I mean like we're very fortunate, you know,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

no, no, no, no. I get that. For some reason, teeth just gives me the creeps. I remember one time, I remember one time I was going through mom's jewelry drawer

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

shut up.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Shut up

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and it had like Tootsie's teeth in it

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay, I get that

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

What the fuck? You think it's weirder for a child's teeth?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, if

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

it was

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

if I had my

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I think maybe that's why I'm creeped out.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

yeah, that's kind of strange I mean like a lot of people do that

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I don't know.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

teeth are weird their bones essentially Gross.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

They're,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That reminds me. Damn. Last night, so we had, um, we had a wedding last night, but downstairs there was a business group in our like networking rooms and our conference rooms. That had like a human cadaver because they were like doing stuff in there And I wanted to go see it and I forgot

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

that's gross. That's like dad took us to the bodies

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, yeah, that's

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

and I'll never forget had, you know, in the beginning, they kind of had, like, this is your skeletal system and this is your circulatory system. And then I remember it was horizontal in a case it was all the skin, like, if everybody's inside was just sucked out and it was just like the outer line, like, just your skin. And it, I remember it like, to this day, it still is, like,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

grody.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

that was the worst part. Like, but out of everything we saw like slices of people, we saw brain, we saw babies, we saw so many things that day. The skin creeped me

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't remember the skin but I can imagine

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

The skin creeped me

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

gross anyways

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Um,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't know what else to say. I love this book.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

there's not much. I was trying, like, when I was reading, And maybe I'll like connect it later on when I read the other books. But especially when you get to the party scenes, naming so many characters to where I was thinking like, does this connect to other books? Should I know these

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Maybe she's setting up. But yes, she does It's like it she really does. It's like the She'll do like one or two pages of just like random side, like Tuesday and then like Ricky.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

have all these backstories.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

giving us like these weird rant, like tiny pages of like backstories of people, which I didn't hate. Like it was kind of like,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

loved

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I kind of like gave you like an understanding of like who was at this party anyway. So Nina, her whole life has like laid down for other people has like never stood up for herself. Mick Riva has been out of their lives for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kit, the youngest one sends an invitation to this, the Rebus party every year, or like the past three years. This time he finally decides to go for some reason. So he shows up, they're on the beach chatting. Nina finds them. She comes down. This is my favorite part of the book is when Nina storms down and confronts her father for the first time. And it says, I'm just going to like read like a few little parts of when she.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

page are you on?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

315. Um, she kind of storms down, right? Hold on. Let me find one. Oh yeah. Let's see. So she overhears them chatting and Kit is asking Mick like, what's changed? Like, why are you here now? And Nina storms down and she says, I'll tell you what's changed for him. Nothing. Nina said, they all turned towards her. None of them were surprised to see her. They all had more or less hope she'd find them here, but they were a little taken aback by her sweatpants and her general demeanor. And then Nina says, nothing has changed dad. Right. And then Mick says, Hi, Nina baby walking to her. This is his first time seeing her up close and as a doll. And he was overcome by the affection he felt for her face, whatever, whatever. He kind of like goes through a little moment. Um, he moved closer to Nina, ready to hug her, but she put her hands up, stopping them. You're fine where you are. She said. Um, and then she says, guys, if you want to know why he's here, it's really simple. Um, she said to her siblings, then she redirected her attention to her father. You're here because you want to be right. She asked him because you woke up this morning and you've got a wild hair up your ass to try to be a decent guy. Mick flinched. That is absolutely not. And then she says, I'm not done. Um, it's awfully convenient that you're suddenly interested in us once we're adults, once we no longer need anything from you. I'm like, damn bitch. Yeah, keep going. And then he said, I told you that's not, I said, I wasn't done. Nina, I am your, and then she says, you're fucking nothing. Kit's mouth dropped and Jay and Hud's eyes went wide. The three of them watched their father's face as he moved through stages of shock. Nina spoke again. You are a big somebody to the world, dad. We all know that. We live in it every goddamn day. But let's be clear about one thing. You are not anybody's father. Sick burn. Sick burn. Hold on, but she's not done. Let me keep going.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Well, it says at the end of that chapter, it would not be her that bent and broke

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No. And then it says, Mick was taken aback by his daughter's anger, but he was not deterred. Um, but hold on. There's, there's something else that she says I got to find cause she really stands on business with him. She really stands on business with him. I loved it. But anyways, um, oh, this, this made me cry. Okay, Mick says, what do you want me to say? All right. We all know I'm a shit. It's not news. I've been a shit my whole life. I wish I was a better man, but I was just never capable of it. I really did try sometimes, but it was like putting lipstick on a pig. Some people are just shits and I'm a shit. Honestly, it never quite made sense why a woman as good as your mother picked me. But you know, I did lay it on pretty thick when I met her. The second I saw her with those big brown eyes. I thought, let me just try to be whoever she wants. Let me just pretend I can be good enough for her. And I really did become that person for a little while there. I know I failed at the end, but I did try. Nina turned and looked at her father. Mick caught her eye and relaxed into the softness of her gaze. She deserved better. He said, I hope she knew that Nina watched her father's face. She watched his long eyelashes as he blinked, remembering looking at them as a child. She didn't. Nina said her voice almost as quiet as a breath. She didn't know that. That

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. That is sad.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

ruined me. And then Mac nodded his eyes on the ground. I know. Horrible.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

like, well, then like the other sister comes in the picture of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

she finds out that he's his, her father and that's just like a secondary storyline that I don't know if it's that important, but

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

There is something else. I gotta find it. There's something else that she says.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

it was very much rooted in like power we have over people and the. I mean like he did he like had emotional manipulation over their mother and it in turn just created such a

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Here it is. This is probably my favorite, my favorite passage of the book. It's on, so pages 339 Um, through like three, like 45 probably, I'm not going to read all of it obviously, but, um, he, him and HUD kind of start getting loud for each with each other. And Mick says, that's not what I'm trying to tell you. I'm trying to tell you that if I could have been a dad, I would have been your dad. I wanted to be a father to you all, but I couldn't, I couldn't be a father. This is something you have to understand about being a parent. Some people just aren't cut out for it. Some people just don't have what it takes and I didn't, but I'm here now. And I'm hoping that we can make something of this. I simply couldn't before, but I think now I have what it takes and I want to be a part of your lives. Now, suddenly Nina started cackling, laughing like a mad woman, like the women they used to burn at the stake. Oh my God, Nina said, putting her hands in her hair, shaking her head. I almost fell for it. I forgot. Your words mean nothing that you just say whatever you want, but you never prepared to do anything meaningful at all. And then it jumps into, she says, if you were any kind of real parent, you would know that capable has nothing to do with it. Do you think mom felt capable of raising four children on her own, holding her head up high when the whole world knew you left her twice, making all the money, doing all the housework, blah, blah, blah, blah. She goes on and on and on. Do you think I felt capable of taking it all over after she fucking drowns. Do you think I felt capable of trying to pay all the bills, scraping up enough money for coconut at the fucking Malibu Mart? Do you think I felt capable of holding each one of these guys as they woke up in the middle of the night, remembering that they had essentially been orphaned? Do you think I wanted to drop out of high school so I could do it all, that I wanted to be 25 years old without a high school diploma? I didn't feel capable of any of that, but did that matter? Of course not. So I've gotten up every single day since mom died, and even a lot of days before that, and I have done what needed to be done. Capable is a question I have never had the luxury of asking because my family needed me. And unlike you, I understand how important that is. She ripped my heart out.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

then she says you think I want to be here selling photos of my ass and living off this fucking glyph

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

She's so real for that. She says, I don't, I stay here. That's what it means to be a family. Staying, not just strolling into a party after midnight, expecting a hug. And then he said, Nina, you're right. I'm weak. Must be nice to be able to be weak. I wouldn't know. She's so fucking right. Like this book is so important to me. I love this book so much. I think everybody should read this book. And then she says, um, I like this scene because it was finally Nina like, kind of like, taking her power back. She says, You have no idea what it takes to stand by anyone. You certainly don't know what it takes to stand by a child. Mom did that. And when Mom couldn't, I tried to finish the job. And then she stops herself. No, I, I didn't try to finish the job. I did finish the job. Because look at them, they're all talented and smart and good, and sure, we're not perfect, but we have integrity. We know something about loyalty, and we're there for each other. All of that is because mom and I did a great job. You have done nothing, despite how capable you probably could have been if you gave half a shit. But because you weren't here, we learned how to go on without you. There is no room for you in my life anymore, and I don't owe it to you to make space. Period! Period, bitch! Like the book could have ended there.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

she just keeps preaching

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

She just keeps going. I don't owe it to you to make space. You know how many times I'm gonna say that to people?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

mm hmm use

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'm gonna use it. I'm gonna tattoo it on my fucking forehead.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

it's a good idea

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

There's no room for you in my life anymore, and I don't owe it to you to make any space. And then Mick like has a pity party. Do you all feel this way? I've been like, fuck yeah. Damn, and they all obviously stand by their sister.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

well then Mick starts like blaming it like my dad stepped out on me

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Cry about it.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

But it is it's like that Conversation of like you still have the power to change things if you don't like how things were done to you Then change them. Don't do them to your own children.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

And then he, this is like prime narcissism. He, he sets up a pity party.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I know exactly what you're about to say

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I hope we're on the same page. Anyway, I'm whining about it like I've got some sob story. Yeah, you are.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Was gonna say then he goes on to say oh wait, I read that wrong

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

What do you think he was gonna say?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I thought he says this but she says I think the problem dad She said with an unexpected warmth and voice is that your love doesn't mean very much Then he goes on to say if I exist on this earth, someone loves you I'm just I'm a very selfish man, but I promise you all I love you. I love you so much. No, you don't

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

No, you don't. No, you don't.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

If you, when you love somebody, you literally put your body on the line for them. You wouldn't do that. You'd be like, Oh, what a shame they got shot.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

in front of the bullet. I loved them. Yeah. But then it goes back to the whole party. The party like kind of gets out of control because somebody was like handing out Coke

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

handing out coke. They had like fucking

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

on a silver

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

so much blow at the party.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

And, um, this is what I'm saying though. Like, I feel like it maybe is connected to maybe future

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I hope so.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

books, because like it was a friend, the friend of Nina's friend that like is Engaged now to like that 50

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Taryn.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

She ends up getting arrested. Vanessa, which is Kit's friend ends up getting arrested.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

they go in like an arrest spree. So they call the cop.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, they like call the cops to stop this party. Or to like get a control of this party. And like Nina and the siblings and the dad are all on the beach. So they're kind of out of the, out of the house. So her friend, Taryn is like, this is crazy. We have to like stop this party. Cause like shit starts breaking, like people are throwing glasses, like it's getting really wild. And it also shows the time of time of year. It shows the timeframe of this book a lot at that part, because like when the police officers come, they don't want to speak to the women. They're kind of very much like who owns this house. And she's like Nina Riva. And he goes, Oh, this is Mick Riva's house. And she's like, no, this is Nina's house. Like, what do you mean? And like.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

No

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, and then like Taryn kind of gets like mouthy with the police officer and he, did he like, I don't know, he like says something like super demeaning about her like being like a woman and she like slaps him, so then he's like, alright, fuck you, I'm arresting you.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, so they just kind of go on like an arresting spree.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. They rest every like half the party basically. And then the kids and Mick come back up from the beach and everyone's being arrested and they're like, okay, whatever. And then they take a seat on the front porch, not porch, but like front steps. um, It says, like, make, like, buy whatever he leaves, we need to talk about the carry soda of it all. But Nina's ex husband takes mixed car. And so makes, like, walking around. I

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. I like looking for his car.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

where's my Ferrari?

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Jaguar.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Um, and then so they, it says Nina sat down the steps facing the door and her brothers and sisters sat down next door. They're like, asking each other. You good? And then, like, it says Casey stood by the door, which is the that. It's like they're half sisters. She just found out mix her dad and it says had looked at her They are alone and unsure on the threshold. Come come on sit down. I don't care who your dad is You're one of us kids scooted over to make room and when Casey sat down next to Nina Jay squeezed her shoulder Nina patted her knee She needed someone to love and they could do that They could that would be very easy for them to do June was gone yet here. She was living on through her children

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

That was a direct quote from June. Remember when she handed HUD, when they handed, when, uh, that lady handed her HUD and she said, I could love this child. That would be a very easy thing for me to do.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Oh, yeah, you're right

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. And I literally sobbed

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I know that made, I was about to say, that was the part that made me

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

like when they said that and I was like, and it kind of makes you realize like, yes, like the worst things about your parents can live on in you, but also the best things can too. And like that kind of, I liked how she did that, that correlation.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

why I think, I honestly kind of liked June's point of views or story

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Me too.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but that's why I liked it because it was like, she was such a flawed human and she fell into the deception of somebody else, but like at her core, she was still such a good person and she still just loved her children. And like, how could

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't think June was a flawed person. I think she was, I think her downfall was. Um, wasn't because of anything that she did. I really don't. She didn't do anything to deserve what happened to her, in my opinion. She was just a victim of Micariba.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, but I liked that. I liked when they, when they said that, like, this person needed love and that would be a very easy thing for us to do.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, how beautiful like I was like saying is

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah. And that's what she said about HUD when he was handed to her. I was like, no, so good. Yeah. The Keri Soto of it. So background real quick. We got to wrap this up soon.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

yeah

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Um, Nina is married to Brandon kind of repeating history with,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

He's a

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

yeah, he's a famous tennis player. Um,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but he's sorry continue.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

have a very comfortable life. Nina's happy and he goes to a tennis match, meets Keri Soto, has an affair with her. He decides he wants to be with Keri Soto. He comes home and tells Nina, I'm leaving. And he leaves. So that's kind of where we start the book with like Brandon leaving her at this party. All of a sudden, so he, it kind of goes back,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

He

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

we get Brandon's perspective very briefly, um, and him and Carrie Soto are in a hotel room and he overhears her talking rudely to somebody and he's just like, what the fuck am I doing? Like, I don't want to be with somebody like this. And he just kind of gets up and storms out and carries like, okay, bye bitch, like, you know, girl pair. So he is like, what am I doing? Like, I want to be with Nina. So he goes to the party and kind of. The bum rushes his way back into Nina's life. Um, and Nina's kind of just like, it's easier just to like, let him be here. Like whatever. So then as the party is kind of like increasing and like, Craziness, they hear commotion outside and Carrie Soto is on the front lawn, like throwing shit at Brandon.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

She's

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

So Carrie Soto and Brandon are fighting. Um, and Nina comes out and it's just like, what the fuck is going on? Where's the, did you find that?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

No, I didn't. But I was going to say, um, I went and found it and carry Soto in the book, carry Soto. And it gives a little bit. So like Brandon Randall is kind of like known as the nice guy. And we get some, like you were saying, like background information about him of how his dad kind of taught him, like or lose, you have to be a good sport. And if you watch tennis, You understand this more. I didn't really get this until I started watching like the Netflix documentary of tennis and like some tennis players are very emotional And like it's very common for a tennis player to get upset and like beat their tennis racket on the floor And then they just switch out the tennis racket like that's very common So like for him to be like the nice guy is very uncommon and in kary soto um, kary soto is You Like one of the best, if not the best woman's tennis player and her father's her coach. And so her father, they have like a hard time. Going back and forth between like talking when they're a coach and like talking like daughter and child. I mean a Father and child and so were at one point. They're talking about People she should be dating and he says maybe you can find someone good for you My father said someone more from what? Someone for more than one date and she says, it's not that simple. Dad. It's not. And he goes, you're picking the wrong men. I like that Bowie Huntley. What about what are you doing? Blah, blah, blah. And then he says, and she says, so then who's the guy I pick? And he said that Brandon Randall is a good one. Brandon Randall was one of the number one players in the ATP. They called him the nice guy of tennis. And she said, um, I would love to go on a date with Brandon Randall, but he's married to Nina Riva, a swimsuit model. And he said, McRiva's kid. And she, and he said, I cannot stand that guy. Oh, well, someone like Brandon, then a nice guy, go for a nice guy, please. So like, that's kind of what you come into. she goes, It goes to the next chapter and it says Brandon Randall was married and he was not a nice guy as my father thought he

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Hmm.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I know because I went back to his hotel room with him in Paris after the final of the French Open in 1983. won the French Open before. It's a clay court. Blah, blah, blah. Just talks about tennis for a second. And it says, Brandon and I ran into each other in the elevator the weekend we took We each took our single titles we stopped in Brandon's floor. He took a step out, but then he put his arm out to stop the elevator door from closing. He looked at me in the eye and said, do you want to grab a cocktail in my room? A toast, baby to our success. Um, so basically, she talks about how she goes, um, then they end up having sex and she said, Brandon told me he thought I'm that I might be the only person in the world who made him feel less alone. Um,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Brandon's sleaze bag.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

then

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I found when she went on the. When she

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

she said, sorry, she said, I feared it might have still ended up a one night thing, but Brandon kept calling. He kept calling this closeness between us. It continued growing like a balloon filling with air. It says here, this is kind of like how it kind of goes past after this Melby rising. So we got caught in late July. So the party at Nina's house happens in August. And so she said, We got caught in late July. He left Nina shortly after and the tabloids reported it all that August, which was when the cruelty of what I was doing became obvious. It was on the cover of every magazine in the checkout aisle. Love, love. Brandon and Carrie set up Love Nest at Beverly Hills Hotel, leaving Nina Rivera brokenhearted and Brandon and Carrie taking a battle ax to Nina Riva's heart. And it says, And yet I didn't end it. Not when the paparazzi started following us. Aren't Or when now this showed a photo of Nina crying outside a grocery store in Malibu, not even when he tried to go back to her and she rejected him. He came crawling back to me and I stuck with, I stuck with him then too. I was too far gone, too desperate to believe I'd found the real thing. And after all that, he was the one who ended it when it, when it, when he left me for another woman in December,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

McRiva.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

goes back to carry Soto in this book and Malibu rising because Nina's like, I don't want to

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

And then he still ends up leaving carry Soto a few months

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

McRiva 101.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

the parent, like, if, you know, that information from reading carry Soto, or, like, you find that out later on, you're able to come back to this book. that's why, like. bridged so beautifully from book to book because you have the information and the parallelization becomes so much more clearer.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I loved it. Five stars for me.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I gotta read Carrie Soto's back now.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

You would love her, the character.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'll read it.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

She is very like independent, but not soft at all. She's very much like a hard person, like rough around the edges, I would say,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Well,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

but it's very sweet.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

cool. I'm gonna read it. I'm I have so many things to read.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I want to read, um, Daisy and the Six.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I don't know. It's never really jumped out to me.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Well, I want to read it and then I want to watch it, because everyone loved it when it came out.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

On film, or video, whatever. Yeah, I just She's always a good author. If I need, like, if I know, like, if I've been in a slump, and I know I just need, like, a good book, I always go to one of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Mm hmm.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

That's why, like, this book was on my shelf. For the longest, but I was kind of just waiting for like, I need a good book right now.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Good. I'm glad we chose it. So next, we're going to jump into Magnolia Park's U verse. So Magnolia Park's, it's a four book series. I read the first one, Magnolia Park's, like two years ago, and it stuck with me so much and I've never gotten around to reading the other ones. So I want to reread Magnolia Park's, I mean, you'll read that.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah, there'll be next episode. We'll go through that

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yay. I have to order them. So you can get them at the bookstore, obviously. However, she did like a rebranding of the covers and they're

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

horrible.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I want the old cover. How do I get

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

So you can buy them on Amazon, but you can only buy them all together. And it's like a hundred bucks.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Okay.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I'm going to order them.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yeah. I was looking online at like, there's some people on eBay, but they wouldn't come in time. And then there's like, obviously the secondhand link. Stores, but I don't think they can guarantee like an old cover.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I think, cause I read mine on Kindle.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I was thinking that too. I think I

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh, it's not. I thought it was on Kindle for some reason.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

No, but um fourth wing still on Kindle unlimited if you haven't read that yet Now's the time because um, I don't think she'll do it I don't think iron flame will go on there, but onyx storm comes out in January

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

So exciting.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

She just posted that she's done with all her edits and it's off to the

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Wow. I'm scared.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I'm excited.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay, we have to wrap this up.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

kind of

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay,

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I saw this interview real quick, I saw this interview and she kind of like spilt um, doesn't die.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I didn't think he did.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

said like the series can't continue without him, so he doesn't die.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Did we think he died?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

People thought he was gonna die at the end of this next book. Because he became a Venon.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Oh my god.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Spoiler!

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I didn't even, yeah, I didn't even catch that. I was gonna say, we didn't even talk about my, I watched The Red Wedding.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Oh yeah.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Shocking.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Shocking.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

I was like, what the fuck?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

that show's so much That show's so much better than House of Dragons because of shit like

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Yeah, that was shocking to me. I was like, not prepared.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

I know. I hated that.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Because like, Megan has this whole list of episodes that like, she like, won't let me watch by myself. And that was one of them, that season three, episode nine. And she called me and was like, Hey, what are you doing? And I was like, nothing, I'm doing a puzzle. And she was like, okay, I'm coming over. Let's watch episode nine. I was like, okay, bet. And I had no idea. Like, I just was like, cool. Like I'm sitting there doing my puzzle and she, and we're watching. And I was like. And she's like recording me. She always like sneaks records. I was shocked.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

that. Yeah. It's fun. I don't know. That's probably like the people say, like that's the most surprising out of the whole series, but there's other things that I'm like, I don't know. I feel like that was a little bit better than the red wedding. I say that to say like, that's not the best it's going to get. Like there's things into the other seasons that are really good too. There's one character that is mine and Jose's favorite character. And we'll talk about it one day when you get to it. But his storyline is the best.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

it Paige or Pascal?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

No, I didn't really like him in Game of Thrones.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay, we gotta wrap this up. I got things to do.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Okay,

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

You have things to do too, right?

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

Yes. Okay, bye.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Okay, bye.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

We'll see you

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

All right. See you later, sister.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

All

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

All righty.

abby_1_09-14-2024_091501:

All right.

squadcaster-6idh_1_09-14-2024_091505:

Bye bye.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Abby Preteroti

Co-host
Head Shot

Amy Preteroti

Co-host

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