Daisy Jones and The Six
“We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn’t get much more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than Daisy Jones.”
Hi, friend!
We’re here to chat about Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
I want to start by saying that I understand this book came out over a year ago. In my defense, I didn’t think I would read it when it came out—not sure why now that I think about it—and I heard a major spoiler in a podcast review of it. Then, I realized that I had to read it because it’s right up my alley, but I’d already heard that damn spoiler. I decided I needed to wait a year to give my brain some time to forget said spoiler, and here we are. Does this happen to anyone else or just me?
That said, I also want to say upfront that I tried my best to limit potential spoilers. I designed this post to be my response to a friend asking me to recommend the ideal late-summer read. In my opinion, this is the book you should read on your porch with a whiskey sour in hand. Ideally, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors is playing on a record player in the background as the late afternoon heat begins to settle.
Daisy Jones and The Six centers around a fictional 1970s rock band, and the story is told through various interviews with the band members and people closest to them. While every character has an interesting perspective, there are three main stories that make up the bulk of the plot.
We begin the story when Daisy Jones is a teenager, and she is the definition of a wild child. Her parents are simply not around, and she is absolutely gorgeous, so her popularity in Los Angeles rises pretty quickly as she bounces from party to party every night. As the book continues on, we see that despite her popularity, Daisy is painfully lonely, and she’s constantly trying to drown out her feelings by surrounding herself with people and numbing her pain with drugs and alcohol.
Meanwhile, Billy Dunne is trying to get his band off the ground, and as they start to gain traction, he finds himself a victim of the classic sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll mentality of this time period. His wife, Camilla, refuses to accept this behavior as they start a family, prompting Billy get clean. Coming out of rehab, a sober Billy shifts all of his attention to his family and his music, more out of survival than as an active choice. As the book continues, we learn that the temptation of his former lifestyle proves to be an ongoing struggle.
And then there’s the rest of The Six, Graham Dunne, Karen Sirko, Warren Rhodes, brothers Eddie and Pete Loving. Music is their priority, and they know they are incredibly talented. But, they also can’t shake the fact that their group is always treated as Billy’s band. When Daisy and The Six intersect to create a hit album, it creates a wealth of problems for the band, especially as Daisy and Billy wrestle between hating each other and an undeniable attraction.
“No matter who you choose to go down the road with, you’re gonna get hurt. That’s just the nature of caring about someone. No matter who you love, they will break your heart along the way.”
My favorite aspect of this book was the music, which is ironic because there’s no actual music in it, though I’ll get to that later. All of these people’s lives are so broken—well, okay maybe not Pete’s—and their true feelings and struggles always came to the surface in the songs. I loved Daisy and Billy’s songwriting sessions, usually spent fighting over what various songs should be about before discovering an incredible lyric that brings them together. The songwriting and recording sessions really brought out the best of the group musically but the worst personally, highlighting the tension between Billy and the rest of the Six, Billy’s resistance to Daisy as she begins to eclipse his role in the band, the growing connection between Billy and Daisy and the fuming jealousy Eddie felt towards Billy. Not to mention Daisy’s and Billy’s individual struggles with substance abuse. Witnessing the push and pull of the power dynamics throughout this story was so interesting to me.
This is a small thing, but my biggest complaint with Daisy Jones and The Six is that I really got into the songwriting scenes and the lyrics Reid included, and there’s no music to listen to. It really bummed me out! Thankfully, there’s a TV show in the works, so hopefully I’ll have my fix relatively soon. Knowing that this book is rumored to be inspired by Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac helped me to at least select a good soundtrack for my reading experience.
Also, I thought the narrator’s story could’ve been better developed. I definitely feel this way because I read Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo first, and the narrator in that book plays a vital role in that story. I was expecting something similar, but I didn’t quite get it. I appreciate that the narrator is connected to the characters, but I didn’t really feel the impact of their role when they intervened in the story. I wanted even more back story into why the narrator decided to write the book in the first place, so this aspect of it fell short for me. That said, it didn’t take too much away from the story itself. I won’t go into more detail about this because I consider the narrator’s identity to be a spoiler, but I think those who have read the book will understand where I’m coming from.
Finally, I love how Reid is able to break a very important rule when writing fiction and execute it so beautifully. Writers are told all the time that they need to show not tell. This entire book is the characters telling a story, but the way the interviews are woven together provides plenty of subtext and color. It’s still easy to picture every scene, and the things that aren’t said are just as important as what is said, especially when it comes to Daisy and Billy. The characters constantly contradict each other when talking about the same events throughout the interview, which both adds a touch of humor and reveals each character’s intentions. I also cannot finish this review without acknowledging how much I appreciate Daisy, Karen and Camilla. They are each incredibly strong and vivid female characters, but in their unique and equally satisfying ways.
At the end of the day, I loved this book, and I definitely recommend it. In fact, since I finished it a week ago, my mom has already borrowed my copy, and she loved it even more than I did. I would recommend this book for people who love Fleetwood Mac, both their music and the drama that came with it. If you enjoy a more character-driven book and don’t mind if the setting and the plot are not as detailed, then this is a good option for you. That said, if you’re really not interested in a story that includes adultery, poor decision-making and lots of recreational drug use, then maybe skip this one.
What To Read Next:
Of course, if you liked Daisy Jones and The Six, you’ll love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, also by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
For a while, I read Daisy Jones and the Six at the same time I was reading Me by Elton John, and it was an experience. If your favorite part of Daisy Jones was reminiscing on the music of that decade, I highly recommend his memoir.
Daisy Jones and the Six is all about the heart, and if you’re looking for another book that will give you a sucker punch in the stomach, try The Idea of You by Robinne Lee. It’s a very different story, with considerably less substance abuse, but the pull between Daisy and Billy reminded me of this book.
