Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Five out of five, can’t believe it took me this long to finally read Daisy Jones & The Six! I also can't believe it took me this long to try audiobooks — if there are more like this one, then consider me an audiobook fan!

WOW! Taylor Jenkins Reid did it again, along with wholly capturing my attention she also broke my heart and made me ache for characters who felt so real I had to remind myself I wasn’t listening to a REAL documentary.

TLDR: This is a captivating, entertaining, heart-wrenching story about healing, addiction, vulnerability, pursuing your dreams, love/relationships, and control. If you want to be immersed in a unique story and go through the full gauntlet of human emotions, listen to the Daisy Jones & The Six audiobook.

Full Review:

This is a beautifully written book and I love the creative format through which it’s told (a documentary with several interviewees.) It’s because of this format that I chose to enjoy this book as an audiobook, and I’m so glad I did. Big kudos to all the voice characters, this is by far the best audiobook I’ve ever heard.

I really enjoyed getting characters’ different sides of the story; it allows the reader to come to their own conclusion of what’s true. Many times, all sides of the story were true. The characters all felt very real and all had their own motivations, struggles, faults, and likable qualities. There were so many poignant lines and metaphors throughout the book too that will stay with me for a long time. Not a single character felt flat, not even the ones that I would consider minor characters.

Daisy is a stand-out character, of course, and I love that she’s a likable character but still has a lot of faults and qualities that aren’t great. I think part of what I loved about her is that she owned up to her mistakes and selfishness.

For me, and I think probably for many, another stand out was Camilla. I went into the book not expecting her to play as big of a role in the overall story as much as she did but by the end of the book I was starting to think that a better title would’ve been “Camilla & The Seven”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone write a kind and loving character as well as Reid has. Camilla is warm and forgiving, but she demands respect, she sets expectations, and she does not allow herself to be moved once she makes up her mind. And she maintains these qualities without ever losing her kindness. Yes, Daisy Jones is incredibly cool and I loved her, but I finished the book thinking, “Wow, I want to be like Camilla.”

As someone who loves music, sings on a stage every now and again, and has written songs with bandmates, I really enjoyed the deep dive into the music industry and what it’s like to be a touring, recording band. It was very entertaining.

One of my favorite aspects of Daisy Jones and The Six is Billy and Camilla’s marriage. Their thoughts and commentary about trusting each other and choosing each other even though they know they’ll hurt each other was so refreshing and real. Camilla consistently said that she had faith in Billy to do what was right and he talked a lot about putting her and his family first, and I just really admired the love, self-sacrifice, vulnerability, and trust these two consistently displayed.

I gasped, I cried, I laughed, I shook my head, I smiled and “awed”, I couldn’t stop listening for hours, and I thought about the characters and their words long after I’d heard them. What more could you want from a story?