Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publish Date: March 5, 2019

“On matters both big and small, sometimes accounts of the same events differ. The truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle.” – Daisy Jones & The Six

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 ’n’ 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.

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 legends.

Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll – what’s not to love with a theme like this?!

This book has a lot of buzz because there are many rave reviews floating around. Six months prior to its publication it was optioned by Hello Sunshine (Reese Witherspoon’s production company) for an Amazon Studios series.

The entire story is told from a series of interviews with band members, crew members, friends, family, journalists, groupies, etc. sharing their experiences. They narrate the story through short conversations and it’s like they are chatting with you. The interview structure of the story is unique, refreshing and offers fascinating POVs from many characters on the same events. Some are even unreliable narrators because they are drunk, stoned, high, low, etc.

The story and its characters are very well developed even with this interview structure. It centers around rock n’ roll (and drugs! oh, the drugs!) but at the heart of the story are likeable characters that are vulnerable, struggling, and flawed and I rooted for them. Their stories are funny, touching, poignant and entertaining. I love the strong female characters like Daisy, Karen (a band member), and Camila (Billy’s wife). I love the references to iconic Los Angeles locations and landmarks like the Whiskey a Go Go, Sunset Boulevard, Chateau Marmot, etc. I googled these iconic places and I had so much fun reading about them.

The chemistry between Daisy and Billy is very well written. It’s described so vividly that I could feel it. They are so alike in many ways. With this kind of story, you expect it to go a certain way eventually. I liked the ending, and it wasn’t what I expected at all.

“It’s the ones who never loved you enough that come to you when you can’t sleep. You always wonder what the future might have held and you’ll never know. Maybe you almost don’t want to know.” – Daisy Jones & The Six

This is my first read of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s work and I am very impressed. I’ve heard that her other books are very different which shows her depth as a writer. This story is about addiction, overcoming demons, fashion, drugs, rock n’ roll, commitment, music, love, and chemistry. It has glitz, glamour, and a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional rock band and the music industry in the 70s. (I actually googled Daisy Jones and The Six to see if they are real because the story is so believable. They are not.)

This book gets all of the stars from me! I can’t wait to see this book and the music come to life in a small screen series.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars