Daisy Jones and the Six: Novel Review

Rock N' Roll is a Vicious Game.

I came over Daisy Jones and the Six thanks to a write up in Entertainment Weekly, and I figured it was up my alley so I gave it a try. I've read countless biographies of movie and music legends, to the point where it seems like no artist has a new story to tell. So how about a rock biography that is complete fiction? I figured it was worth a shot.

Daisy Jones and the Six is written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, who I was completely unfamiliar with prior to reading the book. The book is formatted very much like an episode of the old VH1 series Behind the Music where musicians from a popular group come together and give out all the details on their career whether its the good, the bad or the ugly. The format will either turn you off immediately, or completely lock you in. The book primary characters are the members of the band itself, but also friends of the band, their loved ones and their managers.

Daisy Jones and the Six are a band that basically disintegrated when they were the biggest band in the world. These interviews give some insight into how it happened. Daisy Jones was a promising young singer and The Six was a promising band on their own, but when they came together they reached a whole other level.

If the band resembles any real group I'd say its closest to Fleetwood Mac. Daisy Jones is very much like Stevie Nicks and there is conflict among the members that is very reminiscent of that band.

Taylor Jenkins Reid uses a format that is genius in many ways, but it also may get her some criticism. Since this book is just a series of interviews with the band members its set up to do a lot of showing and not telling. The band mates don't leave any of their emotions to the imagination. That makes for this book being a very satisfying read if you can get over it, but if you can't then it'll probably never work for you.

Sure, the book plays into some rock n' roll clichés from time to time, but I found this to be a pretty breezy read from start to finish. Its hard to say much more about this novel without getting into spoilers, but if you like classic rock and 1970s then this is probably going to be a fun read for you. If you like it and you're thirsty for more you'll be happy to hear that Reese Witherspoon has acquired the rights to the book and plans to make a series out of it.