Title: Daisy Jones and The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pub. Date: March 5, 2019
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.
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.
Trigger Warnings: Substance abuse/addiction
Told in interview format, Daisy Jones and The Six are about a singer (Daisy Jones) and a band (The Six) that are on the rise in the 70’s music scene. They are both getting noticed quickly and a producer, Teddy, thinks it would be a great idea to have both Daisy and The Six unite for ultimate success. Before the becoming of Daisy Jones & The Six, we learn about Daisy and the lead singer of The Six, Billy Dunne, separately. Both addicted to the fast life, sex, drugs, alcohol, and a wild life on the road, will that stop now that both have unite to make one of the greatest hit albums of all history? What happens when they abruptly decide to split? If you read the book, you will find out!
“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse.
I am not a muse.
I am the somebody.
End of fucking story.”
Because the book is told in an interview format, there isn’t much to talk about here in regards to prose, and if the book was lyrical, etc. I think this book couldn’t have been written any other way. I did read this book in physical format and I found the voices to be distinct (I heard that the audiobook was amazing). I didn’t have trouble with the characters voices or feeling like they were all the same. I loved how the author split the book into different time years. Truth be told this is my first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid and I am so mad at myself for not reading any of her books sooner. Taylor Jenkins Reid knows how to write a fucking good ass book that will leave you sleeping late into the night and turning every single page.
Because the characters are recounting things that happened about 40 years ago, there are times where you don’t know what the truth is. Here are some super unlikable characters, telling you what they think happened at a certain time frame or event and with all of that, I never found myself confused or upset because of how realistic the author executed it.
The writing of this book and the way the author presents events, the retellings of the characters, and era of time that this book is in, literally transported me into the 70’s every time I opened this book.
“I wouldn’t have come up with something like that. Which is what we
all want from art, isn’t it? When someone pins down something that feels
like it lives inside us? Takes a piece of your heart out and shows it to you?
It’s like they are introducing you to a part of yourself.”
This section can be very long but I’m going to try to cut it short. I find that Taylor Jenkins Reids knows how to write super complex characters that are extremely unlikable but will still have you rooting for them in the end? Do you get what I mean? Due to the format of the book, everyone from the band to producers, sound engineers, significant others, family, friends, etc. had a part. Which I found fascinating because not only do we get to hear from Daisy Jones and the band members from The Six, we also get an outside perspective from their end. Those characters played a part in the foundation of storyline.
I loved Daisy Jones ruthlessness and I loved Billy Dunne’s selfishness. These are two easy things that can get on anyone’s nerves but it worked for them. Every single person that we meet has their own personality but their love for music is one and the same. Daisy Jones is wild and full of rebellion, she’s her own and doesn’t care about what anyone has to say, she lives for her art and wants to be great at it. Billy Dunne is a perfectionist when it comes to the music and he was a people pleaser when it only came to the people he loved. When it came to music, it was his way or the highway. However, when it came to his life, that’s where my favorite character, Camila Martinez, comes in.
Camila Martinez is my absolute favorite character. I literally wanted to cry when I found out she’s Latina because she is the literal definition of a Latina madly in love and will do anything and everything to save her family because family comes first. Her passion, her devotion, her love is heavy and beautiful and toxic. And all I could do is admire her for the woman she is.
Karen is another character that I loved. I don’t want to go into details why because that would be spoiling the book. However, I loved how she stands up for what she wants and even though she acknowledges that the music scene is run by men, that doesn’t stop her from pursuing her music career.
Like I said before, there are many characters to this book. If you read it, who was your fave and which did you dislike the most? I couldn’t stand Eddie, he got on all my nerves.
“Art doesn’t owe anything to anyone.”
Is it obvious that I loved this book? Lol I hope so. The author really nailed it with the portrayal of the 70’s. This book is very heavy when it comes to drug/substance abuse, it’s something that is spoken about a lot because of how the 70’s music scene was back then. I enjoyed that aspect of the book because it didn’t sugarcoat the realities that musicians faced back then. Taylor Jenkins Reid made me feel like this band truly exist. I cannot wait for the show because that means we get to hear the songs and how they’re actually played which also means I get to play the album on repeat (I don’t know if this is definite but a girl can hope and dream). Daisy Jones & The Six is reread material. The plot twist at the very end was SO WELL DONE. I was not expecting that plot twist at all because my mind was reeling and I was already crying anyways, so the tears? There was more to that. Everything made even more sense when that plot twist took place. Beautiful, phenomenal, well done. I will not give up on this author.
“The things you run from, baby, I run to
And I know it scares you through and through
No one knows you like I do
Try to tell me that ain’t true
Oh, we could be lovely
If this could get ugly”
Have you read Daisy Jones & The Six or do you plan to? What are your favorite Taylor Jenkins Reids books? Let’s chat in the comments!
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