Note: This is part of a series on BookTok and the books it features by my fall intern Kaitlin “Kait” Carmichael. We hope you enjoy it.
Grab your concert tickets, we are headed to see the greatest band in the 70s, Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
In this work of fiction, we follow a band from its beginnings to the end. We witness new friendships, loves, relationships, the start of a family, addiction, loss, rivalries, and fights among this hip, groovy rock band.
Daisy Jones is a young face in the music industry. She wants to do what she wants without pushback. However, in the music industry, as a woman, that is not possible. She is faced with tough love from her agency. They press her to record songs that she didn’t write and said her songs had potential but just didn’t quite make it.
The Six started with six members: Billy Dunne, lead singer; Graham Dunne, lead guitar; Warren Rhodes, drums; Pete Loving, bassist; Eddie Loving, rhythm guitarist; and Karen Sirko, keyboardist.
Daisy and The Six join forces in order to record a duet based on Billy’s life and his relationship with his wife, and everything is a fight.
This story was riveting. I never wanted to put this book down. I read it in a combination of the actual book and the audiobook, and let me just say, the audiobook might be the way to hear this story. I was shocked to learn that this story was written as an interview.
This book is a look back on this band from the beginning from the members themselves, crew, and family of the band. I loved this format for this story. It was unusual but made the story feel raw and real. Reid makes us the readers care for a fictional band by making its members feel human in the interview.
In the audiobook, each member has a different vibe and voice. The edge in Daisy’s voice is no-nonsense, the softness of Karen makes you feel for her and see her as the mom of the group, and the grave voice of Billy is a depiction of how broken he really is. It feels like you are listening to a podcast on this band. At some points, I wanted to hear a song—even though the music doesn’t exist.
Daisy Jones and The Six is definitely a book to be on your TBR (to be read). I would give this story an 8/10. I had to adjust to the format and realize that the entire book was written as an interview. Even though it works very well, it was an adjustment I wasn’t ready for.
I think we need to pull out the tissues again for next week’s read It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. Look out for that post next Wednesday!
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