Review: Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I downloaded this book because it has a pretty cover and it's about the music industry - and I love music! However, I didn't realise it was written in the style of magazine interviews, with rapid changes in points of view. Normally I hate that kind of thing but fortunately I stuck with it, and was immediately drawn into the story, falling completely in love with the characters. It is utterly, utterly brilliant!

The Six are a rock band founded by Billy Dunne and his brother in the mid-1960s. By the 1970s they have a certain level of success but their manager suggests they should join forces with Daisy Jones for their second album. Daisy is an original wild child. Her wealthy parents don't care what she does and she spends most of her time hanging around bands, getting stoned, and trying to write edgy songs when she has no real experience of life. Billy, now a reformed addict/alcoholic, only wants to write happy love songs about his wife. How are they going to make this album work without killing each other - or falling for each other?

Daisy Jones and The Six is an incredibly detailed, behind-the-scenes style story about a rock band, and the writing and recording of an album, with all the drama and clashing of egos you might expect. (I suspect the author was inspired by Fleetwood Mac!) The characters are not immediately likeable: Billy leaves his wife at home to go on tour, spiralling into various addictions and womanising, and Daisy is completely self-absorbed, needy, and entitled. But it's a lot of fun watching them learn to work together, and help heal each other.

The best bit about this book is that it is so well-written and the author's research is so detailed (she's even written songs for the band), you'll start believing The Six are real. My favourite character was Warren, because he's so matter-of-fact about the benefits of being in a rock band, but I also loved Billy because he tries so hard to do the right thing. Daisy is fascinating, but I really wouldn't want to be her friend! 

In conclusion, Daisy Jones and The Six is absolutely brilliant, and particularly recommended if you're a fan of music, or films such as A Star is Born.


Thank you to Taylor Jenkins Reid and Cornerstone (Random House) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.