Wow.

I know Taylor Jenkins Reid can write because I’ve read both The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six, and those were good books. Still, I was not expecting to love this one so much, but I really, really loved it.

The vast majority of historical fiction appeals to me because I love history. But the 1950s-1980s LA based Hollywood scene type of historical fiction that Reid writes is just so (for lack of a better word) cool. It’s especially cool when even though I’ve never been to most of the places described, I can still picture them so brilliantly with the straightforward, captivating way the book is written. So the writing and setting and time-period already made the book a really good one for me, but you know what made it great…? Nina.

I connected to Nina as a character on such a deep level because of not just everything she’s experienced, but the way she looks at life and people. All of Reid’s characters feel vividly real, but Nina in particular felt not only real, but relatable. The emotions this book caused in me were through the roof. I cried like three times and the book is not even sad really. I also laughed and screamed a little bit at certain characters because AH! The feelings!

This book was really something. I feel like I don’t even have all the right words, I just know I want a physical copy in my hands so I can read it again. All of what I already stated paired with the sibling bonds, the surfing, the house-party setting, the drama, the small ways that Reid connected this book to her last two so effortlessly? Yeah, it’s a five star.