BOOK REVIEW | DAISY JONES & THE SIX BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID (SPOILER FREE)

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Pages: 351
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 5 March 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction
Kinokuniya | Book Depository

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. (Source: Goodreads)

There's this peace with knowing you have a person in the world who would do anything for you, that you would do anything for.

I love book and music, so when I finally read a book about music, I was thrilled. I know this book gets 50-50 reviews. People either love it and think it's inspiring and moving and raw, or people would think this book is straight up boring. Especially because it's written in interview format. 


Daisy Jones & The Six is about a band rising to fame in the early 70's. In the beginning of the book, we saw how The Six was formed, back before Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones crossed path. Later, when their labels decided to combine the two stars together, they were untouchable. They were legends.


And there was a calmness to her that... nobody else had. It felt like when I was with her, I knew everything would be fine. It was like I was following a North Star.

This book follows the life of a rock star, the upside of it and the downside that comes with fame. It's about addiction to escape reality, about pure love, about redeeming yourself and about passion in music. It's captivating and exhilarating. It made me feel like I'm watching a firework show.


Honestly, I didn't mind the interview format. There was a point in the middle of the book where it got kinda slow, but it didn't kill the fun for me. I can totally see why some people would say this book is predictable and cliche, but I'm here for the cliche. I'm here to read about a band just genuinely enjoy performing live music in front of a small crowd. I'm here to read lines like 'Holy shit, we're rock stars.' And those cliche lines made me smile so bright. I love passionate people. They are probably the best kind of people in my opinion. So cliche or not, I love it wholeheartedly.

This is my second book I read by Taylor Jenkins Reid (TJR) and it's safe to say she's one of my favourite authors. Her writing style is right up my alley. She has this way of writing something or a scene and she made it so real like you're watching a movie. 


The way TJR writes her characters, it feels like I know them personally. I can empathize with them, I fall in love with them and sometimes I even wanna punch them too. My favourite character in this book is Camilla Dunne, Billy's wife. She was the most loving and calming and understanding and strong and faithful woman I know. I love her so much I might cry. My heart bleeds for her. TJR portrayed her character flawlessly. 

You're an underdog for so long, and one day you're not.

The plot might feel like nothing is happening because this book feels like a daily routine, just something you repeat. So, it kinda lacks the suspense of not knowing things. It depends. If you love to see how people come up with lyrics, the creativity process, you wouldn't find this boring. In fact, it made you want to pick up a pen and a piece of paper or a tissue and start writing a song. 

Overall, I think my most favourite thing about the book (since I have so many) is how it talks about the reality of being in a band. I've been wanting to be in a band since I was, maybe 13 or 14. I've always dreamed myself as the frontman and performing in front of my school. But of course that never happened. This book made me realize, even if I were in a band, I won't be the frontman. I'll just be the backup guitarist who's opinion on music never mattered because seeing Billy as the frontman, he was charismatic and his brain is a beautiful palace, so I know I could never get to the same level as him.

The Chosen ones never know they are chosen.They think everyone gets a gold carpet rolled out for them.

I think I kinda rant a lot about this book because I just love it so much (as if you can't tell just yet). At the end of the book, there were songs lyrics to the band's first and only album together. The lyrics are so beautiful it made me sad those aren't real songs. I just love this book so dearly. Something I would treasure for a long time. 

This book is a rollercoaster ride. You laugh, you cry happy tears, you cry sad tears, you root for the characters, you love them nevertheless. It's a whole package for me.

Rate: ★★★★★

4 Comments