Overall I liked the book. I think the format is where I struggled. While I liked the idea of interview format, and I liked the differing views of the same event/time period, I felt it left a lot to be desired for the secondary characters. The main characters I really got to know, but unfortunately with the secondary characters I was half way through and still trying to figure out who was who. Despite that Daisy Jones & the Six kept me reading.

In this novelized version of VH1's "Behind the Music", we get a peek at a rock phenomenon -- a best-selling rock and roll band. The storyline and characterizations were so real, I had to take a closer look to realize it was a novel, not a biography.

Told in an interview format, alternating voices of Daisy and the rest of the band members, readers get a look inside life in the early to mid 1970s in LA, Hollywood, and Laurel Canyon which was a breeding ground for the "sex, drugs, and rock & roll" culture. Although it's pretty clear that Daisy and the band will implode at some point, the well constructed storyline (revealed in brief comments from the participants) is so captivating and so carefully and slowly uncovered I could not put it down.

A fun book for teen and young adult readers who want to learn something about the rock & roll culture and for older readers who remember The Doors and Janis Joplin and want to relive those "glory days". Well-written and intriguing. Very enjoyable.

BTW: I was amazed that despite the topic and time period there was not more profanity and sexual content. It's not glossed over, just not over the top. This would certainly be suitable for teens and YA readers.

Couldn't put this book down. Read it in two days. Characters bright me into the seventies. Fell in love with daisy. Almost a love story

I think this book will be hugely appealing for a lot of people-I have friends who follow bands and I think this book will be a huge hit with them. That said, I am not a huge music fan and this book just didn't capture my interest. I loved her previous work about the fictional actress Evelyn Hugo, and the writing is just as sharp in this book but I just wasn't that interested in Daisy Jones and her band. The format of the book, told in interviews, was very clever.

"It was about drugs and sex and love and denial and a whole mess of stuff." That line describes a song in the book, but it's also a pretty accurate description of the book itself. While there were parts I found very interesting (the producing of the album and how it's changed from recording to editing), I, unfortunately, did not feel a connection with any of the characters.

Because, I absolutely loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I will continue picking up whatever Taylor Jenkins Reid writes.

This is simply a book not to be missed. I started Daisy Jones and The Six expecting another solid read, as a long time fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. My expectations were blown out of the water!

The story chronicles the rise to fame for The Six, a rock band in the 1970's. Already making a name in the music scene, the band partners with singer/songwriter Daisy Jones and rockets to the top of the charts. Beyond the music, there are parties, trysts, drugs and feuds. All the makings of a truly excellent tabloid material.

This is the most original work of fiction I have read in years. Written in a journalistic style, interviewing band members and other parties, I had to keep reminding myself this wasn't based on a real band.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to review an early copy of this spectacular novel. All opinions are my own.

I was unable to finish this title and thus will not be posting a full review on my blog. This book did not suck me in and was very difficult to read. I'm sure that the method in which this was written via interview/oral history will work for some but it just bored me and felt insubstantial. Thanks for considering me for review of this title.

Is there anyone in their 60s or older that doesn’t see the cover for this book, read the summary and doesn’t immediately think of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac?

Reid does a great job capturing that sense of stardom; the sex, drugs and rock n roll.

I love how this book is written, as if it is a history of an actual band, as if it’s a compilation of interviews with everyone involved. It was wild to see how different things said or done were misinterpreted or remembered differently by others. I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t based on a real group, the characters just seemed that real. It will be fascinating to see how the mini-series, being produced by Reese Witherspoon for Amazon plays out.

This is a super fast read and an engrossing one. I enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but I really loved this. Billy’s comment “Drinking, drugging, sleeping around, it’s all the same thing, you have this line you won’t cross. But then you cross them. And suddenly you possess the very dangerous information that you can break the rule and the world won’t instantly come to an end.” Reid really made me feel the different addiction problems that first Billy and then Daisy faced, including the fight to stay sober.

It also took me back to the sexual discrimination that was just accepted back in the day. We all felt we just had to deal with it. I loved that Daisy didn’t; how she was able to ignore the “rules”.

“I am not a muse.

I am a somebody.

End of fucking story.”

And yes, I realize I’m gushing, but… when Reid is writing about how Daisy and Billy wrote their songs together, it made me think of all the great songwriting duos, like McCartney and Lennon. And the dynamics of the band brought back to mind all the stories of band breakups from my youth. Reid really captured the egos and the tensions rubbing against the desire to be famous and rich. And kudos, TJR, for actually writing complete songs and including them in the back of the book.

Trust me, this is one you want to read. It’s going to be one of the most talked about books of the spring.

My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.



My Thoughts: There was something serendipitous about the joining of Billy Dunne and his band together with Daisy Jones, a Hollywood girl who seems undisciplined, but who has the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll coming out of her pores.

Mixing these two performers had its problems…they each wanted to do everything their own way. How they managed to make it all work was interesting. But would they keep going indefinitely, or would their basic differences split them apart?

Reading the tale of how the band came together, and how they made it all work—for a while—was fascinating, but also a little challenging, as the writing style of a series of interviews felt more like a play and I had to keep checking to see whose narrative I was reading. The flow felt awkward, but I kept going because the story was one I wanted to follow. I love the 70s and the music from that time.

Toward the end of Daisy Jones and the Six, the story smoothed out for me and I enjoyed discovering what happened to the band and its members. 4.0 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

3.5 stars

I've spent a long time considering what to say about this book. Maybe it was all the hype and 5-star reviews or the fact that I've loved all of TJR's other books, but this one didn't quite work for me. I enjoyed the interview format because it felt like a music documentary, but I think it left me feeling disconnected from some of the minor characters. TJR did an amazing job making the lead characters come to life and I constantly wanted to look them up to see pictures before I remembered they weren't real after all. Maybe this book wasn't for me or it was a case of the right book at the wrong time, but I'm still glad I read it.

Belated #finishedbookfriday DAISY JONES & THE SIX. It was one of those books that makes you wish you wrote it. It’s done completely in the style of a documentary with each character remembering and looking back on their wild ride to stardom in a 70s rock band. I listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac while reading, the rock n’ roll drama made me wish this was a real band. I hear it’s going to be made into an @amazonprimevideo mini-series (which it is perfect for!) thanks for a great read @tjenkinsreid and @randomhouse

I couldn't put Daisy Jones and the Six down! OMG !!! It's so good. I had to slow myself down from reading it because I wanted to savor it so much.

I wish that Daisy Jones and the Six were real. I want to go to one of their concerts, listen to their albums and just become a fangirl of Daisy. I did though become a fangirl of Taylor Jenkins Reid. :)

Well I really did become a fangirl of Daisy.

I loved how Taylor Jenkins Reid made it feel real. She takes you through a journey of people who knew Daisy Jones and the Six and made them up. Wow! I love the oral history transcript of the whole book. It kept my attention and I wanted more. Oh my goodness I wanted more. It's like going back to the VH1 Behind the Music and learning about Daisy Jones and the Six.

You get the love, sex and drugs. The triumphs, the heartbreaks and oh the drama. It well represents the 70s!

Let me preface this review with the fact that I am not a huge music fan. I listen to books, not songs. Yet this tale of a 1970's rock band is an obsessive page-turner. Reid pulls us in through her unique plot design - documentary style as she 'interviews' the band, family members, and managers to tell the tale of how this rock band hit it big. Her characters are shockingly well-developed, considering we only get to know them through their conversations with the documentarian asking the questions: the handsome hunk of a lead singer, his addictions and drive steering the wheel at all times; the young singer, wealthy, off-the-rails, driven; the sidekick brother who never gets the girl; the disgruntled bass player; the sassy drummer; the independent, knows-what-she wants key boardist; the supportive wife; the stressed-out manager. This cast of characters is unique and utterly fascinating. One can see the train wreck coming and it just does not matter. This book is a winner:)

DNF @ 44%

I wanted to love this one. The format takes some getting used to. It's told as if they pieced together everyone's interviews for this tell all about the band The Six. There was no dialogue between characters and it felt choppy at times. It didn't pull me in and I had to force myself to get as far as I did. The cover, though, is gorgeous.

Very unusual format in that it was only interviews! I figured out the slight “twist” pretty early on and honestly I don’t think was needed. It was a great look into being in a band, being a family and the ‘70s and ‘80s music scene. Highly recommend.

After reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I was ecstatic to read Daisy Jones & The Six. It spoke to my rock-and-roll loving heart and made me feel like I was on the road with one of the top 70’s rock bands. The interview style dialogue was fun and playful, it reminded me of watching a VH1 behind the music special. The characters were so well established, I felt very invested in them and their outcomes. There was a fun Easter egg from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo that any TJR fan will appreciate.

The one area of the book I found disappointing was the ending. I felt like it happened so fast and left me with so many questions. The rest of the story had such in-depth timelines and complexity, the ending was less than I expected for this beautiful depiction of 70s rock. There was however a clever twist that added a fun and unexpected dynamic to the story recovering a bit of redemption.

A big shout out to @booksparks and @randomhouse for the free advanced digital copy of DAISY JONES & THE SIX. This book drops March 5th!

Friends, I told you that I didn’t think that I was cool enough to LOVE this book but I’ve been proven wrong (shocking I know wink wink). Don’t get me wrong I adore music, listen to it every day, but I’m that person that NEVER remembers the name of an artist or the name of a song. All I know is that I liked it and how it made me feel when I listened to it. “It is what I have always loved about music. Not the sounds or the crowds or the good times as much as the words—the emotions, and the stories, the truth—that you can let flow right out of your mouth.”

TJR transports us to a world of sex, drugs and rock and roll in the 70’s and you become so emerged in it all that everything else disappears. The interview format was quite unique and very easy to follow along. It provides an intimacy to the story and is done quite seamlessly. Just like Evelyn, the author blurs the line between what is real life and what is fictional. You better believe I was googling Daisy Jones and the band after I finished. I sat scratching my head, wondering why I couldn’t find out anything about them other than the book details. What?!! These people aren’t real? I’ve been duped!! Lol.

The characters are complex and I couldn’t help but love them all. My favorite was definitely Camila. I just adored her. If a person like this exists, I must know her and become immediate BFF’s. She had so much faith in Billy and I really grew to admire her strength and faith. “I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise it’s not faith, right?”

Even as I write this review a week later, I’m in awe of TJR’s ability to craft a story. I adored The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and One True Loves, but this book knocked my socks off!! I hope I’ve convinced you to pick this one up, whether you’re a music fan or not. This book is entertaining, intimate and pretty darn ROCK N’ ROLL.
5 brilliant stars!

Daisy Jones and The Six is amazing!! I wasn't sure how the story would unfold told in interview style but the story flowed magically. I am a child of the 70's and loved all the rock icons. I felt as if I was being granted access to the intimate parts of the band's lives. I fell in love with all the characters especially Daisy, who in my head is a cross between Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin. I have been listening to the Daisy Jones Spotify playlist while reading and wish I could hear the songs from the book!

First off, I want to say that I desperately need Aurora produced into a real album. Reese Witherspoon, if you’re reading this – seriously – for the show that you are producing, you have to do this. Oh wait, hold on. Upon pulling up some articles to check out for reference as I write this, I see you are indeed doing this. I would like you to know I fully support this decision. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Ok, on to my review. I adored this book. Adored it. I loved the characters and all of their very many faults. I loved the format. I loved the ending.

I honestly don’t know what else to say. The book kept my attention from the very first lines of the first chapter. That attention never wavered. There is a reason this was picked up for a series so quickly. The writing is phenomenal. You can see, truly see, this story playing out in your mind. These characters were so very real to me and even with their questionable morals and life decisions, you cared about them. Daisy Jones and the Six could’ve been the story for many a band back then. Reid brought these characters to life.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has chosen an interesting way to tell a story. But does it work?

Daisy Jones is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties. By the time she’s twenty, her voice and beauty are getting noticed. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by Billy Dunne. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity.

The format of this book takes some getting used to and is one of the reasons I’ve given it a 3.5-star rating instead of a 4-star. But once I got used to the rhythm, (Ha! I made a music joke in the review of a musical book) I thought the formatting worked really well. The band and other cast of characters felt real. So much so, that I Googled the band to make they weren’t real! 

Another reason for the 3.5-star rating was the ending. This is all on me, but I wanted more. While I feel the author closed all the story doors, she left a pretty big door open too, in my opinion. I would like to see how that door would have closed. Or if it would have been opened at all?! Other readers will be perfectly happy with the ending and that’s fine, but I’ve always been the reader who wanted it all spelled out for me.

There was a bit of surprise when I realized who the author of the book within this book was. It brought a little smile to my face. I won’t say more because that would be spoiling it for you!

If sex, drugs and rock and roll are not your thing, then this book isn’t for you. But if music and bands are your thing, give this book a try. I dare you not to Google the band!