Why You Need to Read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I’ve read a lot of books in my life. I’ve read twenty books in 2020 so far, and a total of 75 last year. As I grow older, I’ve been trying to branch out and read as many different kinds of stories as I can. Therefore, it’s always been hard for me to choose a favorite book, because I just have so many, whether they’re fantasy, romance, or science fiction. Yet when I picked up Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid back in January, I immediately knew I had found it: my favorite book in the world.

If you’ve never heard of it before, Daisy Jones & The Six tells the story of the fictional group of the same name, a 1970s rock ‘n roll band. It chronicles their story of success and, ultimately, their breakup and downfall, all through the format of an interview. Think of a music documentary―something along the lines of that, but in a book. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, but I also think that’s why I love it so much. The first thing I did after I finished it was Google it, and I noticed that all of the related questions were from people wondering if Daisy Jones & The Six were a real band. That’s how much this book comes to life.

Part of the reason why I loved this book so much is because of how much it resembles the story of another real-life band: Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac is a band that is very close to my heart, mainly just because I’ve always been able to connect with their music so much. Lyrics are something that are so important to me, and Fleetwood Mac always managed to be spot on with theirs. Daisy Jones & The Six is similar to Fleetwood Mac in the sense that it is set in the same time period, same genre, and it has a similar lead female singer. Daisy Jones isn’t Stevie Nicks, but she’s definitely inspired by her, and it was so fascinating to read about her life.

Something Taylor Jenkins Reid really excels at with this book is how well-developed her female characters are, which is something that’s very important to me in the novels I choose to read. The three main female characters in this book—Daisy, Camila, and Karen—are all so different. They all have their own dreams, ambitions, and struggles, and Reid never sacrifices their development for shock value. They feel like real, flawed women, and they come to life through the course of the novel. 

Another thing I loved was the general aesthetic of this novel. It’s set in the seventies, and it’s fascinating to read about that era since I’d never read a book set in that time period before. The music, the fashion, the culture―Reid tackles it all, and it works so well. 

The characters feel real, the band feels real, and the music feels so real. To top it all off, at the end of the book, there are lyrics to each of the songs from the album the band released in the book, Aurora. It’s hard to believe that Reid was never in the music industry because all of the songs are so beautifully written. My personal favorite lyric from the book comes from their song “Regret Me,” when Daisy sings, “When you think of me, I hope it ruins rock ‘n roll.” That line is such a punch to the chest, and I love it so much. It gets me every time.

If that’s not enough to convince you to pick up Daisy Jones & The Six, a television adaptation of the book is headed to Amazon Video very soon. It’s being produced by Reese Witherspoon, a woman I trust with my life, and the casting has already been announced, with stars like Sam Claflin, Camilla Morrone, and Suki Waterhouse. Daisy Jones is being played by Riley Keough, who happens to be Elvis’s granddaughter, which just adds more excitement to the whole thing.

All in all, I highly recommend Daisy Jones & The Six. If you’re not a big reader, the audiobook is amazing, with an excellent ensemble cast, and you can find it on Audible. Sometimes you come across a book, and the second you finish it, you immediately want to read it all over again. Daisy Jones & The Six is that book for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.

 

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• 1970s
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• taylor jenkins reid