Ever since Daisy Jones and The Six was released, it has been on my radar, in particular because it was highly praised on my two favorite pop culture websites Pajiba and Lainey Gossip . When CBR Bingo was announced, I instantly knew what my Pajiba square book would be. My first title for this review was, “What I imagined the 70s rock n’ roll scene was like”, but while Daisy Jones and The Six is a great time capsule into that era, that is not what the story is about.
It’s a story of ambition, ego, family, lovers , addiction, sobriety and the struggle to remain so, told through the lens of a 70s rock n’ roll band’s ascent from obscurity to selling out stadium crowds. And I devoured it.
This is the first book written in an interview format that I have read. Taylor Jenkins Reid has set the bar high for any future books in this style. The characters are deeply realized and you become engrossed watching how they come together, become greater as a group than they would have alone, and then watch as it begins to all fall apart. Each band member telling their side of the story, along with their manager, producer, sound engineer, Camila, girl friend of band member Billy Dunne, and occasional journalist. Shining above all the characters is Daisy Jones herself. Stunningly beautiful, brilliantly talented in song writing, with a rich and slightly raspy voice that is perfect for rock, and a raging drug problem. She parties harder and longer than anyone else in the band and you can’t help but hold your breath wondering how much longer she can hold it together.
By the time I had finished the book, the fictional Daisy Jones and The Six band felt real to me. Snippets of lyrics flow through the story as they are writing songs. Jenkins Reid wrote lyrics to all the songs on the band’s third album, Aurora, ten songs in all. They are in the back of the book. You read them and recall the sections of the story describing the music for each piece and you can almost hear it in your head.
I highly recommend Daisy Jones and The Six and will put Jenkens Reid on my “Need to read more by…” list.