Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: March 5, 2019

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Goodreads | B&N | TBD | Amazon

 

Synopsis

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their 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.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band 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 that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Review

I was going to try to wait to post my review until tomorrow, but I just finished this book and I already can’t wait to talk about it. So here goes.

My poor heart.

I knew as soon as I heard this book that I wanted to read it. Not only is it by TJR, but it’s about a rock band’s climb to fame in the 1970s and that’s so up my alley. And let me just say, I was not disappointed.

This book was absolutely incredible. TJR is such a gifted writer. The band’s story is told through interviews with the members and a few others that were witnesses to everything that went down between them. This interview format really worked for me. The entire story just felt so real and I’m really struggling to believe that this band that I’ve become so invested is fictional.

There are so many things that I loved about this book, but one of my favorite aspects is definitely the characters. I can’t emphasize how real each and every one of them felt. They were just so authentic, unique, memorable, and flawed. So flawed. Only TJR could make me love characters like that.

The relationships between the characters were as realistic and complex as the characters themselves. There were so many important characters in this story and their interactions were so layered, yet it was never difficult to keep track of what was going on. I won’t say too much in order to avoid spoilers, but there is a relationship in this book that if you had told me about it beforehand, I would have guessed that I’d hate it. And while I can’t say that I support it, I can say that what I would’ve assumed would be a black and white situation was really presented in such a complex way that I was able to see the many shades of gray.

Then there’s the plot, which was so well-paced. I was consistently invested in the band’s story. From the formation to the growing success to the split, everything progressed so steadily. There were new developments constantly throughout the story. And it says it right there in the beginning of the synopsis that the band breaks up. You know what’s going to happen. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less. I just became so invested in the band members and their dynamics that the thought of it all being over broke my heart a little bit.

The lyrics at the end of the book were the perfect cherry on top of the sundae. Just when you thought TJR couldn’t be any more talented, she writes an album’s worth of songs. The lyrics are beautiful and they really tie everything together. I absolutely can’t wait for this to be adapted into a series because I can’t wait to hear these songs be performed.

I honestly can’t rave about this book enough. I have no complaints. It was entertaining, it was morally gray, and it felt so so so real. It was an absolute pleasure to read and I’m currently laying in bed crying that it’s over. I’m already thinking about rereading it and I highly recommend it.