Title: Daisy Jones & The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publisher: Cornerstone

[Synopsis]

EVERYONE KNOWS DAISY JONES AND THE SIX.

They sold out arenas from coast to coast.

Their music defined an era and every girl in America idolised Daisy.

But on July 12 1979, on the night of the final concert of the Aurora tour, they split. Nobody ever knew why. Until now.

This is the whole story, right from the beginning: the sun-bleached streets, the grimy bars on the Sunset Strip, knowing Daisy’s moment was coming. Relive the euphoria of success and experience the terror that nothing will ever be as good again. Take the uppers so you can keep on believing, take the downers so you can sleep, eventually. Wonder who you are without the drugs or the music or the fans or the family that prop you up. Make decisions that will forever feel tough. Find beauty where you least expect it. Most of all, love like your life depends on it and believe in whatever it is you’re fighting for.

It’s a true story, though everyone remembers the truth differently.

[My Review]

Daisy Jones & The Six is a unique book – an account of the fictional band, Daisy Jones & The Six, and their meteoric rise to fame in the 1970s. The story is told through the format of quotes and short interviews, ranging from the beginning of ‘The Six’ and Daisy Jones’ career, seperately, through to Daisy joining the band and them reaching the height of their fame.

This format means that the reader often sees a certain occurrence from one person’s point of view, and then how another person saw it – and often they are significantly different.

Although the band are obvuously fictional, the music scene during the 1970s seems pretty accurate and well-researched (in terms of what I’d previously read and how I’d imagine it to be, anyway) and I loved reading about their time on tour, recording albums and navigating the difficulties of going from being a ‘nobody’ to a huge star. The relationships between band members can be fraught with tension at times, fighting (or in some cases, not fighting) attraction and musical differences, power struggles, addictions… it all makes for really interesting reading! So much so that it doesn’t matter that you know this isn’t a real band and these things didn’t actually happen to these people, because you’re well aware that it likely happened in a very similar way to other bands at that time. It does feel like you’re reading about a slice of rock history, but through a fictional band.

I have to admit, both Billy and Daisy – but especially Daisy – really got on my nerves at times. Obviously she is supposed to be this hugely talented, ‘I don’t care about anyone else’ superstar with various addictions and problems, and as a singer in a band she’s expected to be late to everything and messing people around, but it still annoyed me, as did the various band members who obviously thought they were so rock ‘n’ roll and revered by everyone (and they really were adored).

It made them pretty full of themselves… I am aware that this is just what music stars must be like – you must need a pretty big ego to start with – but it was a bit cringey at times… Good job I don’t manage music stars! My patience would have worn thin with them a long time ago.

There are lots of important themes woven into this story – it’s not just about a band making music and being spoilt brats, of course, there’s lots of other problems and issues taking place which added another layer of depth to the story.

Daisy Jones & The Six offers something a little different and it’s a really easy, quick read – I absolutely tore through this in no time. Though it had its faults, I’d definitely still recommend it, whether you’re a music fan or not.

[Rating: 4/5]

DON’T FORGET… FOLLOW ME ON: INSTAGRAM @SNAZZY_BOOKS_ / GOODREADS LAURA / AND TWITTER @LAURANAZMDEH!