Isabelle Simonson’s Reviews > Malibu Rising > Status Update

“He smiled to think of it, the ways in which he would mess this whole thing up. It was inevitable, wasn’t it? The small mistakes and heartbreaks of guiding a life? His mother had screwed up almost as much as she had succeeded. But the one thing he knew in his bones was that he would not leave.” - 350

“He needed his children now that he was alone. Now that he was afraid he wasn’t going to matter very soon. Now that he had a house that echoed. But they didn’t need him.” - 342

“If I exist on this earth, someone loves you.” “I think the problem, Dad, is that your love doesn’t mean very much.” - 344

“There’s no room for you in my life anymore. And I don’t owe it to you to make any space.” - 341

“Maybe you owe your parents nothing, maybe you owe them everything.” - 322

“She knew that she could not sustain her life fueled only by the memories of those she once loved. Loss would not propel her forward. She had to go out and live.” - 319

“You are a big somebody to the world, Dad. We all know that. We live with it every goddamn day. But let’s be clear about one thing, you are not anybody’s father.” - 317

“Nina would not break her gaze…It would not be her that bent and broke anymore.” - 317

“Hungry Heart started playing through her speakers and Ashley felt just the tiniest bit of hope. Your whole world can be falling apart, she thought, but then Springsteen will started playing on the radio.” - 310

“I’ve been really sad that I…that I meant so little to someone who had made me believe I meant so much.” - 276

“Nina, her entire life, had been programmed to accept…for so long, Nina had believed it was her greatest strength—that she could withstand, that she could endure, that she would accept it all and keep going. It was so foreign to her, the idea of declaring that something was unacceptable.” - 271-272

“Every day of your life feels like you’re climbing up a mountain. And then you get there and you stay for a bit. And it’s nice at the top. But then you start sliding down the other side.” - 260-261