This brilliantly told, ‘is it real or not?’ story is about a rock band called The Six and their rise to fame during the 70s.
Though the band had become a success in their own right, their manager decides to bring in Daisy Jones to work on a song with their lead singer Billy Dunne, and it's apparent that Daisy is what's missing from the band. And so Daisy Jones and the Six is born.
The atmosphere and story composition create such an authentic tale that is hard to believe it isn’t real! Taylor Jenkins Reid is a master of fiction – her characters possess an uncanny ability to charm readers and settle into their hearts. This novel is full of timeless quotes, glamorous scandals, and heart-breaking loss.
Most reviews urge that if you have the chance to access the audio version of this book, you will not want to miss out on the experience as it is truly spectacular. I would say I wholeheartedly agree here and it was my best Audible purchase of 2020, in fact I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed the story experience nearly as much if I had only read the book.
The interview-format writing style is not entirely original, but it is still unique, intriguing and captivating as it captures the 70’s rock and roll atmosphere without any obvious exaggeration, plus this interview style lets you clearly see how each person had a different perception of the same situation.
Every character is multi-dimensional with layers of raw, flawed and complex personality traits and quirks. I also loved how the women in this book are so powerful and dynamic. In fact there are so many strong messages about women empowerment, taking no one’s s**t, supporting other women, and demanding credit where it’s due.
One of the huge themes in this book is addiction. The exploration of addiction is guaranteed to leave many readers feeling touched, as it’s a disease very close to many. Taylor Jenkins Reid successfully manages to capture the dark, devastating nature of it in an honest way. The story of both Billy and Daisy’s respective addictions bring light to the glamorisation of drugs of this time, while not glamorising it themselves. This book exposes the truth about substance abuse while simultaneously carrying an air of hope and recovery for those who may be in a similar situation.
It's one of those books that will seem to teleport you to a different time and place. The raw emotion is so potent that at times it feels like you are right there in the middle of the stories everyone is telling.
Highly, highly recommend! (And please get the audio version if you can…)