Daisy Jones & The Six
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Reviewed by Jessica Colleran
Well, I'm sure quite a few of you have heard of Daisy Jones & The Six by now! My sister actually read this prior to myself and highly recommended it to me. This is not the only book I've read by Taylor Jenkins Reid; Malibu Rising was my first book by her, and it was also wonderful! I was intrigued by this book because it just launched as a series on Amazon Prime and stars some pretty well-known actors and actresses. I must say, I have never read a book set up quite like this one. The entire book is written in interview format. While this might be a turn off to some, I found it to add a cool element to the story and helped me to visualize what was going on much better. The back and forth between characters all at the same time as if you are reading their interview as it took place was a neat writing style and a breath of fresh air, in my opinion.
Summary
Billy Dunne is a singer/songwriter trying to build his rise to fame in the mid-1970s. He and his brother, along with several other band members, start their rock band in a garage. Billy has no doubt he wants to make it big someday. The band starts off small (as most bands do) by playing at graduation parties, weddings, and eventually getting some gigs in local bars. The story mostly takes place in LA and does a great job of describing what life was like for rock bands during that time. Billy is, unfortunately, addicted to drugs and alcohol in addition to producing all the band's music. The Six just finished their first album and first tour when they are introduced to a fiery redhead named, Daisy Jones. Daisy is also no stranger to drugs and alcohol. She is a "lost" young woman who had awful parents growing up who could have cared less about her entire existence. Daisy sings a duet with Billy and America LOVES it. From that point on, Billy is encouraged to ask Daisy to join The Six officially. The only problem is that he can't stand her. The pair are like oil and water off the stage, but together they make some phenomenal songs. As Daisy Jones & The Six grow and grow in popularity, life behind the stage grows increasingly miserable for all the band members.
What I Liked/Didn't Like
I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book was written. The interview style did take me a bit to get used to, but once I did, I couldn't imagine the book written any other way. The whole LA rock scene in the 70s was very interesting. I knew nothing about this as I'm generally not a huge fan of rock music, but I enjoyed learning more about this era. I can now see why there was such a following for bands during that time in America. There were times in the story where I felt like it dragged on a bit. Sometimes things got very repetitive as far as the band bickering, writing songs, producing them, going on tour, partying and getting drunk/high. The characters were extremely interesting as were the relationships between Billy/Daisy and Billy/Camila (his wife). Some situations that occurred made me very frustrated and I wished some of them would have turned out differently; there was a cute little twist at the end that I wasn't expecting that I did enjoy though.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a solid historical fiction read. I did enjoy most of it, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in rock bands in the 70s as well as those interested in what life is like in a band. The book wasn't very long, but I did feel it could have been even shorter than it was just for the fact that some parts seemed a little lengthy and didn't need to be. I very much enjoyed Daisy Jones as a character, but not so much Billy Dunne. As these were the two main characters, I found this to be an interesting internal struggle as the reader. I also enjoyed the little side stories between the other members of the band and hearing their perspectives on the struggles between Billy and Daisy. Overall, this is a fun little story that I recommend you all check out!
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