Daisy Jones & The Six

Taylor Jenkins Reid is not the first or only person to adapt the nonfiction oral history format into a work of fiction, but she does it with the most panache.

Loosely based on the mid-seventies romance between Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, Daisy Jones & the Six offers a nonstop procession of drama and conflict, but there’s a tender heart beating at its center and a heartbreaking reveal at the end.

This is a novel about the evolution of a 1970s rock band, that is told primarily in flashbacks. Musical groups thriving and breaking up is a common story plot, and you forget this is fiction (although many have drawn parallels to Fleetwood Mac).

Because the story seems real, you feel like you are privy to inside scoop about their personalities, interpersonal relationships, and the music industry. This is a juicy story and you are sad when it ends, not because it’s a sad story but because it’s so good you want more.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has produced a novel with multiple characters where everyone gets a first-person voice, putting the listener smack in the head of each character. 

Then, there’s Reid’s talent with dialogue. Like all skilled authors, she uses it to set the scene, the mood, to reveal the past—for everything that makes this such a good book. 

Finally, she does something I haven’t encountered in an audiobook. Remember the scene in the latest A Star Is Born remake where Ally (Lady Gaga) steps on stage for the first time? When she hit the line, "I’m off the deep end, watch… show more.

I love books with characters that feel so real, so human – and that’s why I adored Daisy Jones.

Reid is a master at revealing what makes her characters tick, showing through their actions and their thoughts all kinds of insight into each and every one. I love a book that sticks with me for a long time, driving me to think deeply about the choices each character made, the origins of that choice, and the consequences that resulted.

Daisy and Billy were passionate, relatable, and flawed. Their fates were both surprising and yet somehow totally predictable.… show more.

Daisy Jones & The Six transported me back to the electrifying '70s music scene. The heart of the story beats to the rhythm of rock 'n' roll, a genre that holds a special place in my own musical journey.

Daisy Jones, the wild child of LA in the late '60s, embodied the spirit of rebellion and freedom that drew me in from the very first page. Her adventures sneaking into Sunset Strip clubs, entangled with rock stars, and dreaming of gracing the stage at the iconic Whisky-a-Go-Go were a thrilling ride.

But beneath the sex and drugs, it was her… show more.

This book is an unconventional take on the Hero’s Journey.

It’s the fictional story of an iconic 70s rock band, told in the style of a “Behind the scenes” music documentary. The story is revealed bit by bit, with small, rotating excerpts of interviews with each of the characters.

Reading this drama-filled book feels like listening to celebrities gossiping about one another. Perfect for shy people who love to peek into other people’s lives! The audiobook is especially captivating. Daisy is a complex and interesting hero, and her journey is inspiring and unexpected.

At times I felt my heart pulling… show more.

The story is told in sound bytes, like the transcript to a documentary film. For me, the pull of this book is that its format allows the reader to experience firsthand the extreme highs and lows of being a 1970s rock star. Yeah, there are drugs. And sex. A lot of drugs and sex. But lead singer Daisy Jones and the band she’s paired with have messy lives with real, off-stage problems that will draw you in: two surprise pregnancies, ambivalent parents, an accidental marriage to a European prince, shit-faced mistakes, and necessary sobriety. Sometimes, music is the answer. And—as… show more.

Part of me has always wanted to be a girl like Daisy, one who will walk barefoot through the streets of LA and just trust that she won’t get tetanus. Alas, I keep my shoes on. But that’s why reading about Daisy Jones is so much fun. Her innate talent, beauty, and powerful charisma might be enough to propel her to stardom anyway, but she does not settle for being just another pretty singer, pushing her writing, ambition, and her voice to their scratchy, stretched-out limits. I could read this again and again.

Cue the music. That’s what you’ll want to do after reading this book. Then, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Daisy Jones and The Six is a fictional 1970s rock band. Yep, that’s how good the writing feels. Structured like a music documentary transcript, the most compelling parts of the story come from the personal accounts of the bandmates. Although the book has a love story at its center, this introspective inside view of the side characters gives this novel its true rock and roll heart and soul.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel is so brilliantly crafted that I had to keep reminding myself it was fiction, not fact. Written as a collection of interviews of a 1970s band, this story is propulsive and complex and filled with such fascinating details of the music business and the interpersonal band relationships. Come for the music, stay for the passion—and the phenomenal writing.