Welcome to amateur book reviews with Ionna! may contain spoilers
Since I was young, I’ve always been an avid reader. Although naturally, due to the hustle and bustle of life, I can no longer dedicate a lot of my time to it anymore. First up in this book review series, Daisy Jones and The Six. I believe I read this book a year or two years ago. This was the novel that got me out of my reading slump. I’ve never been one to highlight or annotate my novels either—because, to me, those pages are precious and not meant to be tainted with any sort of ink. But, this one specific book captivated me and I needed to be able to read certain quotes back.
Love, sex, and drugs. If I were to summarize this book in three words, that’s what it would be in a nutshell. Except, it’s so much more than that. For some, those three words are enough to catch a readers’ attention. But for others, they need more convincing. I guess that’s where I come in. In my personal opinion, Taylor Jenkins Reid has a way with her words that will keep you engaged and sitting at the edge of your seat the entire time—and that goes for most of her work. Interestingly enough, Daisy Jones and The Six was written in a series of interviews of a famous rock n’ roll band from the 70s. The most painful part? They were a beautifully written fictional band. Although I knew that the band, the plot, and the relationships were fictional going into the book — the way it was written really entranced me to the point I forgot they weren’t real.
What Makes This Book Special?
“Daisy Jones takes a very different look at female art, and how important it is for women to have their own voice,” says author Taylor Jenkins Reid. In recent years, creatives have revisited this type of “trope” per se, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. Daisy Jones was told as an oral history, we got to see how she joined the biggest rock band of the 70s and how/why she left. It tells the story of how the group fell apart. Even though I will admit, each character had their own toxic tendencies, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of Daisy herself; I understood their reasons and motivations. There was a lot of depth to the characters because it was told as an oral history. It allowed us to unravel the story from their point of view. It was easy to get lost in their ambitions and their egos. And yes, the sex drugs and rock-and-roll trope has been done many times before—I wouldn’t blame anyone if they thought the book was overrated. But at the end of the day, the types of books you read and whether you enjoy them are up to you. My feelings towards this novel in particular are subjective, and it wasn’t the typical book I would usually pick up in a store. I took a chance on it because of the book reviews I watched on YouTube and never regretted it.
Honest Review
The documentary style of writing is not necessarily for everyone, but I do recommend this book for those who crave drama and build-up. The novel’s narrative was very fluid and easy-going; I ate it up in a single day. Ultimately, the overall plot explains how Daisy’s arrival in the group, put a huge dent in the band’s already-existing chemistry. I will truthfully say the final reason the band broke up was a bit underwhelming especially since the build-up towards it was amazing. However, I won’t lie, my mindset [swung] from wanting to read slowly to savor the story to reading as fast as I could. Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote about a free-spirited songwriter who refused to let herself become the side character to a man’s narrative in a way that only she could pull off. And that to me, was worth it. You know what they say — it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, and this journey emotionally reeled me in like no other novel I’ve read.
