“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody. End of fucking story.”
If you have not read and heard of Daisy Jones and the Six, you definitely have been living under a rock, especially if you love to read and love music as this precious novel will be your favourite thing ever. Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author who surprises you with every book that she writes and gives you stories that linger to you long after you have finished them.
Young Daisy Jones was born to be a star. He parents do not care much about her, so she starts to seek attention from somewhere else. She sneaks into clubs and gets in involved in sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. Music is her passion, but the rest seems to be a packaged deal, which later will break her before she will be able to drag herself out of it. Her voice, her attitude, and her beauty made her a star at the age of twenty.
At the same time, the band The Six – led by Billy Dunne – got their first contract and starting their very first tour. Finally, the six friends are able to live their dream, but fate has something else in store for Billy. After his girlfriend Camila tells him she is pregnant, Billy gets scared of the unplanned responsibility and almost destroys the tour and his relationship with Camila.
The Six and Daisy two well-known names in the novel, but when their producer has the idea to put them together, there is nothing stopping them. They became “Daisy Jones & the Six” and after their album “Aurora” is released, they made history.
Reid’s masterpiece is written as a documentary told by all key characters, switching from one to another during the whole story. You will forget that this book is fiction and that they all have not exist. However, you will keep wondering, what has happened that the band split up without warning.
“But loving somebody isn’t perfection and good times and laughing and making love. Love is forgiveness and patience and faith and every once in a while, it’s a gut punch. That’s why it’s a dangerous thing, when you go loving the wrong person. When you love somebody who doesn’t deserve it. You have to be with someone that deserves your faith and you have to be deserving of someone else’s. It’s sacred.”
When I first heard of this book, I got curious as to what makes this book so popular within the book community. When I read it, I knew it immediately. Reid created such a deep story and deeper characters which are far away from being perfect. Their flaws make this story so much more reliable.
To choose to write the book as an interview with the band members who retell their story was an amazing idea and it translates the story incredibly well. If you listen to the audiobook, every character is read by a different person and it was a joy for me when I’m not much of a fan of audiobooks.
You will start to bond to the characters and care for them, especially the two main females, Daisy and Camila. They are both fascinating in their behaviours and decisions and could not be more different.
Daisy is a rebel, she does not stop for anything or anyone, and acts on impulses. The only thing that is truly important to her is music. To cope with rejection – from her past and present – she finds herself using drugs. She is so desperate to feel loved that she marries the first guy who is kind to her, obviously for the wrong reasons.
Camila on the other hand is more mature and grounded. She takes whatever life is throwing at her and tries her best to deal with it. She unexpectedly ends up pregnant and decides to build a family with a musician who is far from settling down and giving up a life of adventure. Without giving too much away, the relationship between all characters – and especially these three – is kind of haunting.
I love how the book ends. The interviewer is revealed, and the reader learns the real reason as to why the band split up.
“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, the stories, the truth — that you can let flow right out of your mouth. Music can dig, you know? It can take a shovel to your chest and just start digging until you hit something.”
This book hadn’t even been published when the rights were sold. It was announced in July 2018 that it will be adapted into a TV series on Amazon Prime Video with it produced by Reese Witherspoon and the author herself. So far, we know that the miniseries will have thirteen episodes and we even know who has been cast to portray these characters on screen.
Riley Keough as Daisy Jones
Keough started her career at the age of 20 in the movie The Runaways, which is based on the 1970s all-girl rock band of the same name! From there on she starred alongside Orlando Bloom in The Good Doctor, Changing Tatum in Magic Mike, and Shia LaBeouf in American Honey, as well as a role in Mad Max: Fury Road. She also starred in an episode of Riverdale. But as active as she is in front the camera, she also founded her own production company in 2017.
Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne
Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Love, Rosie, Me Before You, Peaky Blinders, Love, Wedding, Repeat… There is no way that you do not know Sam Claflin, even if you will call him forever Finnick Odair!
Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne
The model made her debut 2013 in the movie Bukowski and after a long break, she appeared in Death Wish in 2018.
Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson
Unfortunately, there is not much known about the actress who will play Daisy’s best friend. So far, she had a small role in the MCU movie Black Panther.
Will Harrison as Graham Dunne
Will Harrison has had minor roles and starred in Venefica and Madam Secretary.
Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko
Waterhouse is a name that you have likely seen before. She was in the Divergent sequel Insurgent, The Bad Batch, and Billionaire Boys Club. She is best known for her role as Cecily of York in the miniseries The White Princess, which is based on the book by Philippa Gregory.
Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree
Whitehouse is best known for his role in the BBC series Poldark or from the Netflix movie The Knight Before Christmas.
Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rhodes
Chacon appeared in the Netflix series Tales of the City and Narcos.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, pre-production has been taking place online and several of the cast member have posted on their social media accounts about how they rehearse and bond with one another.
Unfortunately, as with every production, it is unsure when they will be able to start shooting and when we will be able to see the miniseries. Regardless, I am sure that it will be epic!
