By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Standalone | 368 Pages | Pub 2019
Daisy Jones & the Six at a Glance
- Overall Rating: ★★★★★
- Heroine: Karen is the real MVP
- Dude: LAME
- Steaminess: In the background
- Emotion: ALL THE FEELS
Pairs Well With
Let’s avoid drinking with this one…
Review
“We write songs about women. Women will crush you, you know. I suppose everybody hurts everybody, but women always seem to get back up. You ever notice that? Women are always still standing.”
So, I listened to the audio for this because FULL CAST. I love full cast audio books and hello, Benjamin Bratt reads Graham.
This book is the epitome of Sex, Drugs & Rock’n’roll. The interview format was spectacular as audio, though I have seen some reviews where people didn’t love it written. I can see that, but for my experience, it was a perfect fit. The actors nailed this one.
We follow the band from their beginnings until the big breakup. Drugs, kids, relationships, and more drugs. Oh, did I say drugs? Rehab. And another drug problem.
Since I wasn’t alive in the seventies, it’s hard for me to know how accurate this would be for a band in that time period. I think we all assume that drugs and alcohol, rehab programs and infidelity are part of a the rockstar stereotype. Yes, there is a huge focus on the relationships and building the band, ups and downs, but they are all driven by and centered around drugs and alcohol.
The lead singer Billy is by no means perfect, he is headstrong and always has to be right. Honestly, he annoyed me. Billy is the exact guy I never want to have to deal with. Was he a talented musician? Absolutely. Do I like him as a person. Not one bit.
But that is kinda what I loved about it. All of the characters are flawed and real. They all have different goals and strategies to get where they want. Eddie just wants to be in a rock band. Billy wants to be the most famous musician and take care of his family. Graham wants love. Karen wants independence. Warren wants to get laid. Pete wants Jenny. And Daisy? She just wants to do drugs and write songs.
We get strong female presence in addition to Daisy. Karen and Camila are actually much stronger than Daisy from my opinion. Camila is going to have the family she wants, the way that she wants it and the girl NEVER backs down. Karen, the real hero of this story, wants to be independent and live her life on her own terms. She is fun and carefree and handles her shit the way that she wants. None of these women let a man push them around or back them into a corner. TJR did an excellent job of creating flawed, beautiful characters.
“Men often think they deserve a sticker for treating women like people.”
The band drama was filler. Necessary, I mean, bands and people fight, but it was background to the excitement of becoming the most popular band.
The romance… oh man. One story I loved and another just felt unnecessary. The kind of love triangle that develops I could have done without. It felt forced because of what they did for a living and not because of who they were.
The only thing that had me reaching for the four star instead of five was the very end. Finding out who the interviewer was made me question the validity of everything I had heard up until that point. I’m not convinced they could be unbiased. The email at the very end really angered me. Again, that felt forced and useless to me.
Overall, I loved this book. I will definitely be listening to it again. And reading through those songs was the greatest!
Have you read Daisy Jones & the Six? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
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I really need to check this out!
Lotte | http://www.lottelauv.blogspot.co.uk
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I feel like you and I are on the same page with this book! Everyone has been talking about how amazing it was and don’t get me wrong, it was a good story, but I had a few issues with it as well. I also felt that Karen and Camilla were the stronger women in this story, and the love triangle also felt very forced to me. The way I read it, (and I both physically read and listened to it) the triangle just didn’t make sense. I just never got those “feels” from those two characters, you know? I think though, I liked Billy more than I liked Daisy in this. I felt like he came off as the better person, or at least he felt that way to me.
Also also- SO MUCH DRUGS
Final comment- that first quote you used? It is one of my all time favorites. I use it for a lot of things :]
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Yes the love triangle annoyed me. It was forced. Overall I loved it, but there were a few misses.
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Agreed!
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My audio copy just came in at the library!!! I read the physical copy a couple weeks after it came out and I wanted to reread it right away again.
I feel as though Camilla was just tossed to the side after the kids came except when it was to tell Billy to straighten up. I think she should have been in there a lot more.
Karen is the best!
I liked the relationship that was prominent but not the love triangle. I still enjoyed the love triangle but you kind of knew what was going to happen with it. And the last email was definitely forced.
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I agree with all of this! I hated that it was forced and I hated that last email. Soooo much.
Camilla was tossed to the side because she was so much more fun as a character and I think because she was so strong TJR had to hide her so that all of the rest of the drama was to the forefront. The audio is amazing!
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I loved this book on audio! And I agree Billy was annoying.. And the romance.. But still I really liked it, and I hope she will write more books with this idea!
Great review!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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I loved the format and I loved the book. But the romance was bleh.
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Great review! I haven’t read this yet but It really sounds amazing! I’m glad you loved it! 🙂
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Thank you!
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[…] Daisy Jones & The Six | Taylor Jenkins Reid […]
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Fantastic review, and you had me at fullcast audio! Considering this is told in the interview format, I think that would work really well for audio — kind of like Sadie did for me. I wasn’t alive in the 70s either but I grew up listening to rock of the 70s thanks to my dad. Fleetwood Mac is one of my childhood faves and knowing a lot about the drama that band went through kind of lends some credibility to the realness of the era for me, I’d think? I will have to read to see!
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I think you will like this one. DO THE AUDIO.
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YES MA’AM
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I just finished this one and I agree, Camilla was the stronger female character in this book, but I think she fit perfectly on the side. Truly, she is what made the ending to the book! Great review!!
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
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