Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Daisy Jones & The Six

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

45 reviews

bookaholiz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I respect Taylor Jenkins Reid's ability to write characters I absolutely cannot stand but at the same time can't help being captivated by. She really found her sweet spot writing about Hollywood drama, how she set up the atmosphere to make it felt right out of the silver screen. The format is similar to Evelyn Hugo - a biography/tell-all book, but this one is formatted like a collection of interviews. It is unique, for sure, how she combined every single POV in every chapter at all given points to show the big picture and still made it distinctive and coherent at the same time. The fact that she was juggling with so many characters at once and still managed to give them enough room to develop on their own is what made the book work.

Daisy Jones is definitely the focal point of the book, and she was a challenging protagonist. She was always standing on the edge for me, tipping either to lovable or unbearable that by the end of the book, I am still on that edge deciding, and part of me feel like that's exactly what TJR wanted. For Daisy to be so vulnerable but clueless and an enigma at the same time. It is abundantly clear that the female characters are the ones to be celebrated in this book. Karen is probably the only person in the book I might want to be friends with, and Camila is another complex character that I am on the edge with. She is so different from who I am as a person that I don't think I could never understand her, but her philosophy of love as something you choose and work for and put your faith in despite it all, is certainly something to contemplate about.

Unfortunately, I could not care less about all the male characters. Even Billy Dunne, our male lead. Though I did like the fact that he made the effort to rise above his instinct and made the sane choices - again, that made for a more nuance and interesting character than the usual go-after-your-heart trope. But maybe that's just me.

I did not think this was better than Evelyn Hugo, simply for the fact that I did not root for any of these characters. There's a bit of an ick I have with TJR's books is that she put these "gotcha!" moments in the book where it's supposed to be a plot twist and then it just fell flat. The reveal of the "interviewer" was probably supposed to be that moment for this book, but it honestly kinda ruined the magic a bit with the book - like was it necessary? It is not nearly as shocking as the moment when

Pete announced he was gonna leave the band

, and it did not serve any particular purpose, like putting the puzzle together or whatever. The rising tension during the book was gripping, then the resolution was just... not on par I guess.

I'm looking forward to the adaptation though. I think with the right music, it would serve to fill in the gap that I am not currently feeling with the book.

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keysmashhh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Plot: 4/5
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 4.5/5
Genre: 4.5/5

Plot: The actual story of Daisy Jones and the Six was told in a really logical way - focusing on Daisy's childhood and then working chronologically - I liked the breaks between large chunks of the story which helped to identify different phases in the band's life. The "reveal" at the end of who was the interviewer didn't really have any dramatic impact on me - to be honest, the interviewer was not the focus of my attention but I liked that it had some sort of link to the present. The last bit was really sweet and I liked the reflective quality of the last couple of pages
Character: Some of the characters were stand out to me, Daisy (of course) stole the show for me - her perspective was fascinating to read and I found her the character I cared most deeply about. Billy had an interesting personality but I wasn't too attached. Karen was probably my favourite other than Daisy - she was the most relatable and I felt aligned with her throughout the book. Honestly, the rest of the characters were too bland for me - sure they were rock stars but they all blended into one another, the rest of the band felt so boring compared to the wild stories of Daisy and Billy. I have to say I really liked Rod - I really wish we had heard more from him as I felt the story of the manager behind the band would have been just as interesting as the band itself - the little snippets were got from him were really insightful especially when he talked about how hands-on he felt he should be with the band's drug use.
Relationships: The relationships in this book were not the central focus to me - in fact, I didn't really care about the romance at all. Billy and Camilla were... complicated but I never really found that to be interesting. Karen and Graham were ... meh and Daisy's relationship was just toxic. For me the friendships in the book interested me far more than the romance - I would have loved to have seen more of Karen and Daisy as I felt they really had an interesting dynamic, the complexity of all of the loyalties and rivalries in the band was a lot more interesting than any romance plotline for me.
World-Building: The world was believable to me, admittedly I don't have a ton of experience with the world of 70s rock bands but the descriptions of the chaos of touring, the cramped environment of a recording studio and the wildness of an LA party all felt authentic and real - although the format of the interview hindered detailed world-building Taylor Jenkins-Reid still managed to create a sensory experience
Genre: I've never read a book fully in the interview format and honestly I loved it! It felt like a combination of a newspaper article and a screenplay but it flowed so well. The world of 70s rock bands was such an excellent choice for this format - it fitted in with the aesthetic of the old rock magazine interviews. I LOVED HAVING THE LYRICS AT THE END OF THE BOOK - IT WAS SUCH A WELCOME SURPRISE - THAT WAS AN AMAZING IDEA FROM THE AUTHO

Content Warnings