Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publication: March 5, 2019 by Ballantine Books
368 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy on Amazon
From Publisher: Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
My Thoughts: I’ve got to admit, when I first started reading Daisy Jones & The Six, the author’s note at the beginning is so completely realistic that I found myself heading to Google to figure out how I missed hearing about this band way back when. I kept reading though and realized, no this is just really good fiction writing! With that being said, I know I’m standing out from the 5 star Goodreads crowd on this one but I’ll share my thoughts on why I didn’t love this book overall, one of my MOST anticipated books of 2019.
I’ll start by saying I’ve loved several of TJR’s books that I’ve read this past year…The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, One True Loves, and After I Do … so even though I knew this was about a rock band in the 70s with a tribute to rock music in general, neither of which I enjoy, I still believed I’d enjoy this because it’s TJR! Keep this in mind… if you enjoy rock music, classic rock bands and reading about the lifestyle from the 70s you may really love this book.
The story is structured in an interview style format (for the whole book) with many characters getting a chance to speak, including the band members and all those involved in their lives. This interview format lent itself to short snippets from the characters, repetitive behind the scenes music details, concert details, song details, an abundance of party scenes involving drugs and alcohol, etc. I get it, drugs and alcohol, especially in rock bands, was big in the 70’s and 80s but I wanted more from this story and these characters if that makes sense. For me, this structure left me feeling disconnected from the story and characters because I didn’t feel immersed in the storyline. I should’ve connected with the main characters Daisy and Billy but I didn’t. I liked Camilla (Billy’s wife) but honestly couldn’t understand her motivations so I’d say my favorite character in the end was Simone, Daisy’s best friend. I love that TJR took a chance on a completely different format for telling this story and for a gazillion others it will work, just not for me unfortunately. I’m still a fan though and will be eagerly waiting for her next book!!
Thanks to Ballantine Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review