Daisy Jones and the Six | Book Review

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

What did I think?

Is there any way to go back in time, be born in the 70s, make Daisy Jones & The Six be a real band and let me see them play Aurora live? Or at least create an album so I can listen to it on a long summer roadie.

“We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn’t get much more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than Daisy Jones.”

I honestly couldn’t believe how much I cared about all of these characters and I went through waves of jealousy at the idea I wasn’t born earlier so I could experience the 70s rock ‘n’ roll scene first hand. The story is written in an interview format where members of the iconic 70s rock ‘n’ roll band Daisy Jones & The Six detail their individual journeys that led them to become a band, their relationships and their ultimate demise.

Living in a time of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll Daisy Jones & The Six is made up of some brilliantly complex characters and strong female leads who throughout the book find themselves in various emotional states thanks to the toll their burgeoning career takes on them.

Daisy Jones & The Six consists of:

  • Daisy – lead singer
  • Billy – lead singer
  • Graham – lead guitar
  • Warren – drummer
  • Karen – keys
  • Eddie – rhythm guitar
  • Pete – bass

“Don’t count yourself out this early, Daisy. You’re all sorts of things you don’t even know yet.”

I LOVED Daisy as a led. She is a feisty, complicated and talented young women who leans into the best and worst parts of her personality and her surroundings. She had some interesting character development thanks to her own choices and those of others and of all the wonderful people featured in the book, I could really see her existing in the world. Daisy comes across as a self-assured dreamer who won’t let anyone (especially men) get in the way of her becoming a successful songwriter, but as a reader, her insecurities are also at the forefront of her journey and I was living for all her beautiful flaws.

As a narrative style, I was really surprised at how easily the story flowed especially when there were so many characters and a few time jumps. This was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book and it’s now obvious to me that she is a phenomenal writer who can string together a lyrical book that pulls at your heartstrings and leaves you with all the feels.

It is a truly vivid reading experience that feels very whimsical, philosophical and gritty throughout. Hands down a new favourite read. I didn’t want to put it down and I’m planning on raving about this to everyone who’ll listen.

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