Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Historical Fiction
Date: 13 September 2021
Rating: 4 stars
Review: You know how I read Malibu Rising and said I would read this one. Well, I did. You know how I also said that I tried to read it and stopped after 50 pages because there were too many POVs and I was losing track of who was saying what? Well, I found the perfect solution. The best thing about the bookstagram / booktube community is that they help you decide whether a book is worth investing the time required to read it. In this case, bookstagram convinced me to pick the book up again but this time as an audiobook. Boy, did it make all the difference! This time not only did I go beyond 50 pages and finish the book but the multiple POVs and interview style was by far my favourite thing about the book. Maybe I should pick up Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell once again… Nah! Have you seen the size of the book? I am not ready for that kind of commitment.
Daisy Jones and The Six is written in the form of a band documentary transcript that details the rise and fall of a famous fictional rock band from the 70s and solves the mystery of their sudden break up. It is gritty and explores a period of time in American history that is all about drugs, rock n roll and sex. The era of Free Love! The book is about music and its power to bring people together and push them apart, but beyond that it is about love, faith, addiction and family, both the one you’re born in and the one you choose. There is a lot to love about this book but I think what stood out to me was the writing style itself.
In true TJR style, the book feels both like reading about a friend and reading a gossip magazine at the same time. Its like peeking into the lives of famous people and learning the things about them that have always been a mystery to you. How many times have you seen an article in the newspaper about a celebrity and wished to be a fly on the wall to know what actually actually happened? Reading this book is like being that fly. And while the band may be fictional, the story feels real. The characters feel real and so does their music. Also, TJR needs to take a bow for the lyrics she has written for the songs in this book. Every lyric feels original and it fits the story perfectly. My favourite has to be Regret Me, most importantly for its origins because those scenes were some of the most powerful ones in my opinion.
Chef’s kiss for the female characters in this book. Each one was truly well-written and unique. They had their own ideas about family and love and were not hesitant to take decisions, sometimes really hard ones to get what they wanted. That’s something TJR does really well, gives us the kind of women that you wish to see more of in fiction but never do. But one thing I must point out is this common thread between her female characters, Daisy Jones from this one, Nina from Malibu Rising and Evelyn from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo all are described as having that special something. Their charm is effortless, they look beautiful effortlessly and they are effortlessly magnetic. While to someone else this might come off as lazy writing a part of me understands this something, this je ne sais quoi, it is what I believe something that some people just unexplainably have and others don’t. I just wish I could write a believable character with it like TJR does.
I cannot write a review of this book without mentioning its depiction of addiction. I thought it was beautifully handled. When we were reading about Billy trying to stay sober, finding it hard to be in the same room as alcohol and drugs - something that is impossible in this world of groupies and partying - and clings to his family to keep him from drowning you can feel his desperation. You are rooting for him. You hold your breath every time he gets a whiff of alcohol. And when you read about Daisy using drugs as tethers her own life you can hear the silent cry for help. I thought every part of that including drawing the distinctive line between recreational use of drugs and alcohol and addiction was delicately handled.
I have very little knowledge about rock n roll. I am tone deaf and have never had any interest in the song writing process. For a book about these things to keep me hooked, the book had to work hard. And it delivered. Mostly, because the book is more than just that. I was fascinated by the portrayal of this relationship between Camilla and Billy almost as much as I was enthralled by the sparks between Billy and Daisy. It was a love triangle without ever bringing that aspect into play. Camilla’s faith in her husband, her unflinching love for the life she had and her steadfast determination to not be relegated to the spot of the scorned woman left at home with the kids while the husband is off on tour (Exactly June’s character in Malibu Rising) is what made her my favourite character. And Daisy’s unpredictability clashing with Billy’s fragile sensibilities is what made the scenes where they write the songs for Aurora together some of my favourite scenes.
My complaints are few but they are kind of big. The twist in this book is kind of along the same lines as the twist in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, sorry to anyone looking to avoid spoilers. But unlike the latter this one just felt unsatisfactory. I wanted something else. I wanted more. The end was what I had expected it to be and I am not complaining about the fact that it was predictable. I just wish there had been more. More exploration of what led to each one’s decision. More. The build up was so good that the end felt rushed.
I think everyone should listen to the audiobook. The performance is brilliant and once again it feels like being a fly on the wall while the stories are being narrated. I cannot wait for the TV show. Sam Clafin plays Billy Dunne and I can kind of see it. I am hoping it will be a little like the show Hollywood because that was the cure for my The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo cure. Moral of the story is that I should sometimes give second chances to book even if it is in a different format.