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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
Listen to the audiobook version! It makes you feel like you are listening to the people get interviewed about their lives. They all did a wonderful job and I feel that each voice actor embodied their character well.
2/9/25: I just read the physical version and it is great as well.
2/9/25: I just read the physical version and it is great as well.
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Taylor Jenkins Reid DOES NOT MISS !! Favourite author. Loved this book.
So I mean, I read this in about a week, which has to be worth something. It is, in fact, compulsively readable - it goes by pretty fast.
But while it was fun in some respects, I really struggled to connect with most of the characters. I just wasn’t invested in most of them, in most of their challenges. The interview format made me feel very disconnected from the action. Fundamentally the characters are speaking through the haze of time, and therefore most of their emotional experiences felt very diluted. The thing they seem to experience the most in the present time of the book is ambivalence.
I never felt like I was “in the room” because we never WERE in the room- we were just getting mostly vague recollections of being in the room. It’s the difference between hearing about someone else’s crazy night out, and being there yourself. One is a lot more of a potent experience than the other.
I think this especially applies to most of the drug use. All of this, “I was so high, I was so drunk, I was on mescaline.” Like…ok? There are a lot of ways to experience those things- the state of inebriation is not the experience. Were they scared, paranoid, numb, euphoric, all of those things in succession?
The more I think about it the more I think that a retrospective interview with about a dozen people is maybe the least interesting way to experience this whole story. For a real band whose music I like, sure, but that’s necessitated by simple reality. For a fictional band, not so much- I could have been there with them, but I wasn’t. And the conclusion that relied on that narrative approach just didn’t pay off for me.
Speaking of the conclusion (kind of)… Camila’s attitude toward Billy kind of bothered me? It was a lot of “I can fix him”, which… I don’t know. It doesn’t strike me as good characteristic of a supposedly strong female character. I get that she believed in his ability to be better than his worst impulses. But her whole character was almost entirely built around her relationship to him - which might not have bothered me so much if I could see and experience her struggle with it. But it was almost all retrospective “I wasn’t giving up” which after 300 pages is just not that interesting, let alone admirable. And she was just one of many characters that I just couldn’t really give a shit about.
Idk. I loved Evelyn Hugo, but I also think that the story was a lot stronger. We got to hang out with and get to know just one narrator for the most part, and become invested in her story. This one felt a bit too scattered and disconnected, but was also not interesting enough to make up for it.
But while it was fun in some respects, I really struggled to connect with most of the characters. I just wasn’t invested in most of them, in most of their challenges. The interview format made me feel very disconnected from the action. Fundamentally the characters are speaking through the haze of time, and therefore most of their emotional experiences felt very diluted. The thing they seem to experience the most in the present time of the book is ambivalence.
I never felt like I was “in the room” because we never WERE in the room- we were just getting mostly vague recollections of being in the room. It’s the difference between hearing about someone else’s crazy night out, and being there yourself. One is a lot more of a potent experience than the other.
I think this especially applies to most of the drug use. All of this, “I was so high, I was so drunk, I was on mescaline.” Like…ok? There are a lot of ways to experience those things- the state of inebriation is not the experience. Were they scared, paranoid, numb, euphoric, all of those things in succession?
The more I think about it the more I think that a retrospective interview with about a dozen people is maybe the least interesting way to experience this whole story. For a real band whose music I like, sure, but that’s necessitated by simple reality. For a fictional band, not so much- I could have been there with them, but I wasn’t. And the conclusion that relied on that narrative approach just didn’t pay off for me.
Speaking of the conclusion (kind of)… Camila’s attitude toward Billy kind of bothered me? It was a lot of “I can fix him”, which… I don’t know. It doesn’t strike me as good characteristic of a supposedly strong female character. I get that she believed in his ability to be better than his worst impulses. But her whole character was almost entirely built around her relationship to him - which might not have bothered me so much if I could see and experience her struggle with it. But it was almost all retrospective “I wasn’t giving up” which after 300 pages is just not that interesting, let alone admirable. And she was just one of many characters that I just couldn’t really give a shit about.
Idk. I loved Evelyn Hugo, but I also think that the story was a lot stronger. We got to hang out with and get to know just one narrator for the most part, and become invested in her story. This one felt a bit too scattered and disconnected, but was also not interesting enough to make up for it.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
'I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else's muse.
I am not a muse.
I am the somebody.
End of fucking story'
I wanted to love this because of the hype is has accumulated online. However something just fell short. I can't say I wasn't hooked, because I was. I rapidly read this, wanting to find out what happened to the band, why did it all end. I did enjoy the ending but I think the main reason I didn't love this book is because it just felt anti climatic. Maybe it was the style of interview answers (which was a very cool unique idea!) that prevented me getting fully invested in any of the characters and the big moments in the story. Whilst Daisy Jones was iconic, I kind of lost all sympathy for her due to the constant drug abuse and therefore didn't feel the desire and longing her and Billy were feeling towards one another.
I would still recommend this book as it was a very fun, easy, fast paced read.
I am not a muse.
I am the somebody.
End of fucking story'
I wanted to love this because of the hype is has accumulated online. However something just fell short. I can't say I wasn't hooked, because I was. I rapidly read this, wanting to find out what happened to the band, why did it all end. I did enjoy the ending but I think the main reason I didn't love this book is because it just felt anti climatic. Maybe it was the style of interview answers (which was a very cool unique idea!) that prevented me getting fully invested in any of the characters and the big moments in the story. Whilst Daisy Jones was iconic, I kind of lost all sympathy for her due to the constant drug abuse and therefore didn't feel the desire and longing her and Billy were feeling towards one another.
I would still recommend this book as it was a very fun, easy, fast paced read.
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes