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A review by augustrogue
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Did not finish book.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
(DNF @ about 40%) Imagine you're watching one of those retrospective Behind The Music-type specials about a band's rise and fall, with interviews from the members and other people who knew or worked with them. It's certainly a unique framework for an entire novel to be written around.
Unfortunately, at least in my case, it's also a boring one.
The main problem for me is that in those retrospective specials, they typically also show parts of performances and behind the scene footage of the recording process, etc. With this novel being ONLY the people telling the story much later from their own perspectives, there is also an inherent level of distance and disconnect from the actual events. (Which, incidentally, may make it a better TV show than novel, so I might still check out the first episode of the Amazon Prime series.)
It's a shame, because this book has been raved about so much that I was really looking forward to reading it, but it just doesn't work for me. Unfortunately I didn't find the characters all that compelling or likable, either. Daisy feels a bit like a caricature of a manic-pixie rockstar, the men are mostly terrible, and the other female characters just didn't grab me. Karen was the only one who was kind of interesting to me, but not enough to stick with the rest of the book.
2 stars because the writing wasn't completely awful, I just didn't think it was that good or interesting, either. At the end of the day, I just wouldn't read hundreds of pages of interviews between members of a band I've never heard of, let alone one that doesn't actually exist.
Unfortunately, at least in my case, it's also a boring one.
The main problem for me is that in those retrospective specials, they typically also show parts of performances and behind the scene footage of the recording process, etc. With this novel being ONLY the people telling the story much later from their own perspectives, there is also an inherent level of distance and disconnect from the actual events. (Which, incidentally, may make it a better TV show than novel, so I might still check out the first episode of the Amazon Prime series.)
It's a shame, because this book has been raved about so much that I was really looking forward to reading it, but it just doesn't work for me. Unfortunately I didn't find the characters all that compelling or likable, either. Daisy feels a bit like a caricature of a manic-pixie rockstar, the men are mostly terrible, and the other female characters just didn't grab me. Karen was the only one who was kind of interesting to me, but not enough to stick with the rest of the book.
2 stars because the writing wasn't completely awful, I just didn't think it was that good or interesting, either. At the end of the day, I just wouldn't read hundreds of pages of interviews between members of a band I've never heard of, let alone one that doesn't actually exist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content