This is the second Taylor Jenkins Reid book I’ve read in about 3 weeks and she has quickly become a must read author for me.  This book didn’t grab me as quickly as Evelyn Hugo did but once I got into the story, I couldn’t put it down.  This is another great book that I would highly recommend.

It’s the late sixties in L.A. and Daisy Jones dreams of being a song writer.  She spends her nights partying with rock stars, doing drugs, and trying to be famous.  The Six is an up and coming band that is starting to get recognized for their raw talent.  When a producer puts Daisy and the band together to record an album, they are heralded as the next big thing.  Everything is going great until a concert in Chicago in 1979 when the band breaks up and they never play another song together again.  For the first time since, the band agrees to sit down to tell their story and what happened that fateful night in Chicago.

The format of this book is interesting as it is written as an oral history, with each band member and others that were around them at the time being interviewed.   I was worried that this would make it hard to read but I got used to it very quickly and ended up not even noticing the format as the book went on.   I don’t know how she did it but Jenkins Reid managed to make every character interesting, even the side ones that didn’t have much to say.  I went back and forth between liking and hating each character equally which I didn’t expect.  At times, I found Daisy to be annoying and a brat. Other times, I saw her as admirable and interesting.  Was Billy a tortured soul or just a jerk and addict? There is a particular story line involving 2 of the band members that was very emotional and I found myself understanding how both felt.   No one was perfect and it was refreshing to read.  There weren’t as many surprises in this book that I thought there would be and the end was somewhat what I expected but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every single page.  I didn’t need unnecessary angst or obstacles from out of nowhere to be engrossed in the characters and the story and I appreciate that Jenkins Reid didn’t pile on the melodrama or come up with twists that didn’t feel as though they fit into the story.  There were moments that made me laugh and others that made me want to cry which seems to be what Jenkins Reid is good at.   In the end, the story is one that I very much enjoyed and will remember for a while.

I would recommend this book to everyone but especially people who love rock and roll.   It felt like a true story told as fiction and I enjoyed it very much.  I can’t wait to read another book by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Favorite Quote:  “All I will say is that you show up for your friends on their hardest days. And you hold their hand through the roughest parts. Life is about who is holding your hand and, I think, whose hand you commit to holding.”

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published: 2019

Rating: 4 Stars