Daisy Jones & The Six

★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a book I was extremely excited to get started on: it was a Reese’s Book Club pick, I loved the last book I read by Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and my Pittsburgh friends gave it raving reviews. Additionally, I’m a sucker for anything musically inclined, especially if it’s set during the 60’s or 70’s. So I was ready for a great ride! Let me tell you – I have a lot of thoughts on the book, but it did not disappoint.

First and foremost, I love the format of the novel – I loved it from the start, and it only developed further as I got to the end of the book. The novel is told in an interview format, with the main characters retelling their accounts for their time in/around Daisy Jones and the Six. The way the story is told from the perspective of each character really develops your understanding of their perspectives of the inner workings of the band and sets a really strong foundation for character building.

As I got to about halfway through the book, I was enjoying the book but I have to admit it was feeling very cliché. The writing style was unique, but the way the plot was playing out felt like every other Small-Band-Makes-It-Big story: beautiful girls, drugs & partying, band mate relationships and resentment, control issues, etc.. It was still a fast-paced read, but I was eager to get to the part that made the book worth the hype.

What I eventually realized was that for me, the hype is about the character development and the way Reid is able to bring the reader into a space where you start to truly feel and understand the thoughts & emotions of everyone involved. She deals with heavy subjects (addiction, infidelity, choices about having children, etc), that you start to really identify with because of how connected you are to each person telling their story. There is a point (on page 214-215) where Billy opens up on what love and marriage mean to him – he talks about how marriage isn’t all ‘rainbows & butterflies’ but rather putting your faith in someone and working to deserve their faith in you - which I thought was nothing short of poetic.

It’s the end of the book that really brings it all together and makes it truly beautiful. Despite the clichés in the plot line, your connection to each character is solidified as so raw and complete – it moves even the most skeptical reader. I find this (in addition to the brilliantly unique story-telling method) the sign of a gifted author. Plus, there are one or two surprises at the end!

Overall, this is a solid 4.5 for me. It may just become a 5 – which means being added to my ‘favorites’ shelf - but the only thing stopping me right now is the fact that two of my favorite books/movies are Scar Tissue (autobiography of Anthony Kiedis of one of my all-time favorite bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Almost Famous (A similar story about a band’s rise to fame following a young journalist), which this didn’t outdo. But the bar was set very high!

Lastly, I have to speculate that story was largely inspired by Stevie Nicks (I think a lot of people would agree). The only proof I have is that Reid mentions here once in the ‘Author’s Note’ and recently posted a picture of her in her Instagram story (yes, I’m a stalker). If anyone has any info or has heard Reid speak to confirm this is true – PLEASE let me know! I love Stevie and would be thrilled to hear that my suspicions are true.

^the picture above was taken from a @RollingStones article showing the life of Stevie Nicks through images – link to the full article is here.

^the last picture is of Paris Jackson in a photoshoot where she is interviewing Stevie Nicks (link from the article at @CR here). I added a little "gold dust" to give it a Stevie-edge; this to me is exactly what Daisy looks like, so I have to share. Beautiful!