After reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I knew that I absolutely had to get my hands on another Taylor Jenkins Reid book, and once I read the synopsis of Daisy Jones and The Six, I knew that this would be my next read.
Daisy Jones and The Six looks back into the 1970s when the band Daisy Jones and The Six found their stardom. The book is told through a series of interviews of the former members of the band, the people who worked with them, were in the music business at the time and friends and family. More specifically, we follow the band members Karen, Pete, Warren, Graham, Eddie, Billy and Daisy. The interviews look at how the band became so popular and the events that eventually led to their breakup in 1979.
One of the first pages of the book says, “The truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle.” This idea of truth, as well as those of memory and perspective, play a significant role in the novel. There are moments where one character will tell a story one way, but in another interview, another character will tell the story differently. The way Reid uses these themes throughout the novel, in very subtle ways, really makes the novel and the storytelling stand out.
Along with the amazing storytelling, the portrayal of addiction is also a really big part of this novel. The book doesn’t just highlight how addiction affects the user, but also how the addiction affects the people around the user. This theme is most prominent with two of the members of the band Billy and Daisy. This idea of influencing the people around us doesn’t just stop with addiction though, it carries through everything the characters do. The novel features the idea that our actions and our words really do have an impact on the people around us. This way of thinking really pushes the story forward by leading up to the inevitable break up of the band. Many of the characters’ words and actions, intentionally or not, really have strong ramifications throughout the rest of the book. The story builds through the idea of things just piling on to each other until there is one final situation that just breaks everything apart.
I really have come to love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels because of her remarkable characters and fascinating storytelling. In the book, the characters go through an abundant number of ups and downs. Just when you think things might be okay for the characters, when two characters might finally work things out, or when there might be an actual time for communication and listening, things go wrong again. The story thrives on the fact that one thing after another seems to not work out, and it can be extremely frustrating at certain points in the book. Although, that’s one thing about this book that I think made me love it so much. The characters absolutely infuriated me sometimes and the direction the story was headed in often made me want to stop reading because I couldn’t handle another layer of conflict. Yet, that’s what made it feel more real. These characters didn’t have perfect lives, perfect relationships, or a perfect career, they were all just trying their best.
I consider myself someone who has read a lot of books. Being able to escape into a new book for hours brings me a large amount of joy. Even though I’ve read a lot of books, and have enjoyed a lot of books, I will say that no book has ever made me feel the way that Daisy Jones and The Six made me feel. This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and continued to do that over and over again. After finishing the book, I wanted to lay on the floor and contemplate everything that I had just been reading. I have never felt so many emotions while reading a book. I would read this book over and over again.
Overall, I think that everyone should go buy a copy of this book and read it. Daisy Jones and The Six deserves all the attention it can get.