Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid || Book Review

Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication: Ballentine Books / Penguin Books
No. of Pages: 355
Book Type: Standalone
My Rating: 5/5
Trigger Warning: Drug Addiction, Cheating, Depression, Anxiety, Abortion

Blurb

For a while Daisy Jones and the Six were everywhere. There albums were on every turntable, they sold out arenas from coast to coast, their sound defined an era. And, then on July 12, 1979 they spilt.

Nobody ever knew why. Until Now.

They were lovers and friends and brothers and rivals. They could not believe their luck, until it ran out. This is their story of their early days and wild nights, but everyone remembers the truth differently.

The only thing they know for sure is that from the moment Daisy Jones walked, barefoot, on the stage at the Whiskey, the band was irrevocably changed.

Making music is never just about the music. And, sometimes it can be hard to tell where the sound stops and the feelings being.

Daisy Jones: Singer / MC
Billy: Singer / MC
Camilla: Billy’s Wife

On the Plot:

I don’t have much to say about the plot, other than the fact that when the narrator was revealed I was absolutely in shock. I loved the premise, 90s story in New York about a famous rock band – it was just perfect. I enjoyed every second of the book, there were many plot twists which I did not see coming at all – but they were smoothly laid. It was easy to go through the entire story except for the one bump which triggered me in the beginning of the book.

Writing & Theme

The way Taylor Jenkins Reid writes? I can write a whole book praising her writing skills. She weaves the world so raw, I can’t even believe that whatever she writes is fictional. Every bit of her story seems so real. In both the books I read: Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six, I tried to research every band or actress or anything I could find (for the characters she wrote)- that she may have interviewed a real person or taken inspiration, about the stories she wrote. But, no! they are just from her imagination. But, accepting the fact that the book was fictional was the toughest thing I have to do when it comes to TJR books. Lol, I feel like a naïve person, wishing to visit the world Taylor Jenkins. I absolutely loved the way “love” has been mentioned in the book. TJR talks about families, friends and how they are affected by what we pursue in our lives and yet they love us for who we are. How they put all their faith in us and support us no matter what we do. She talks about how difficult it is to build and maintain a family while chasing dreams, how a woman believes in the guy she loves and sticks by him no matter what the situation is. The way infidelity was mentioned in this book and they it was dealt with was so unbelievably out of the world. There were times I felt like throwing the book away and times where I wanted to hold the book and never let go. All I will say is that, I can always swear by Taylor Jenkin Reid’s books. It is impossible to not like them.

Characters

As I have been already raving how the story felt real and the premise obviously, coz New York is real. ROFL. So, there is no point writing about how the characters felt so real. But, uh-oh I did. **winks**
I felt I could go and meet them, or may be find out more about them if I google the right words? Ah, the number of times I tried to google the songs mentioned in this book thinking I will find the singer and thus the band. I could not relate to the characters in the book, because I obviously am not a rock star but I could understand their worlds a bit better. Being a fangirl / fanboy – I could only say that we see all the glamour and the fame, but every time I read these books, even if they are fictional they actually bring out the reality we never could see. I absolutely felt bad for Daisy because she had such a shitty life as teenager, I felt bad for Billy for people not understanding what he wanted and I felt so proud of Camilla, for being such a goddess.

Overall

I recommend this book to any fangirl because it will make you feel like you know your idols a bit better. Also, if you are not fangirling – read this book, it will make you feel things on such a deeper level that you never knew you had.

Quotes

• I used to think soul mates were two of the same. I used to think I was supposed to look for somebody that was like me. I don’t believe in soul mates anymore and I’m not looking for anything. But if I did believe in them, I’d believe your soul mate was somebody who had all the things you didn’t, that needed all the things you had. Not somebody who’s suffering from the same stuff you are.
• I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise it’s not faith, right?
• I wish someone had told me that love isn’t torture. Because I thought love was this thing that was supposed to tear you in two and leave you heartbroken and make your heart race in the worst way. I thought love was bombs and tears and blood. I did not know that it was supposed to make you lighter, not heavier. I didn’t know it was supposed to take only the kind of work that makes you softer. I thought love was war. I didn’t know it was supposed to… I didn’t know it was supposed to be peace.
• Passion is…it’s fire. And fire is great, man. But we’re made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive.
• You have to have one person in your life that you know would never do anything to steer you wrong. They may disagree with you. They could even break your heart, from time to time. But you have to have one person, at least, who you know will always tell you the truth.