“Daisy Jones and the Six”
Written by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia
This year, I have fully developed into a big fan of
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. After reading the first four, I chose to read “Daisy
Jones and the Six”. This book is an oral history of a fictional rock and roll
band from the 70s, as they go through the first initial fame to full blown insanity,
to their downfall. Daisy, Billy, and the other bandmates are not the best model
citizens, as they drink, do drugs, and have reckless sex. Our ensemble cast is
interesting, but I felt disappointed with this book. I felt that I enjoyed the
rise to fame story, but I was disenchanted by their ridiculous actions and
choices.
With Daisy and Billy portrayed as arrogant and
selfish lead characters, the smaller bandmates squirmed in the sidelines.
However, I feel that the side characters were the most interesting and entertaining
characters. I loved reading about Karen and Graham, Eddie, Pete, and especially
Camila.
The format of the book was an element that I have
not seen often in fiction books. The story of the Six and Daisy is told by the
accounts of each character, written in a format that is reminiscent of bio-pics
and music PBS specials. I’ve seen many friends and fellow reviewers say that
the format reminds them of “Behind the Music”. Additionally, a large portion of
the book was related to the music, which incorporated song lyrics. For the actual
story, it made sense to sprinkle in a bit of the lyrics, but I did not feel
that we needed each song printed in the back of the book.
I felt that I preferred the elegant but rags to riches
story from Reid’s other popular hit, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”. At
least with those characters, the ones who we love are wonderful. The ones we do
not like get their just desserts. We are not meant to love or care for Daisy or
Billy, so why are we supposed to be stuck reading about them for so long? I was
heavily reminded of “A Star is Born”, in many examples.
In conclusion, I do recommend this book. However, I fully
recommend Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other books more than this. Unless you love ‘sex,
drugs, and rock n’ roll’ stories. I rated this book a 3 out 5.
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