"We only look like young stars because you can't see old scars.”
How I wish this was a true story based on a real band in the 70s (secretly still hoping it is) just to hear those beautiful, heart-breaking songs if nothing else. Throughout the entire book, it felt like I was watching a Netflix documentary, where the members of Daisy Jones & The Six unfolded each layer of their memory as they reflect back on how they got the band together and their all time highs and lows. And the whole time you feel like you were present in the era, where musical history was made and witnessed it all coming apart.
Set in the 70s, this story takes us through the infamous lives of one of the record breaking rock n roll band of their time, and how Daisy Jones and The Six came together. Daisy, grew up in LA with famous parents, who were just busy enough in their elite socialite lifestyle to notice Daisy at all. This lack of affection and the human connect she always craved, drove Daisy into the phase of drugs at a very early stage in her life. But one thing she always had intact was her raw talent, which no one could take away from her. She was a born singer and wrote all her songs from a place of deep pain and loneliness.
“We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn’t get much more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than Daisy Jones.”
‘The Six’ were already making the rounds, had an album out and were on their first tour. The rock n roll fame did really get to them and especially Billy, the lead singer of ‘The Six’. Billy was the silent leader of the band. He had just gotten married to Camilla and he was off the rails completely with sex, drugs and everything in the mix. He made all the decisions and no one could argue with him.
That was until Daisy Jones joined the band, with her own opinionated mind and together, Daisy and Billy were unstoppable. They wrote one amazing song after the other and changed the trajectory of the band completely. Everyone knew them, everyone loved them and everyone was singing their songs with them, what else could they ask for? Their music was only climbing the billboard charts with every song. People were loving the magic Billy and Daisy were creating. They were on fire. But the high rising fire was bound to catch up and slowly burn them all apart.
“Passion is...it's fire. And fire is great, man. But we're made of water. Water is how we keep living. Water is what we need to survive.”
The portrayal of the women in this book is unabashedly honest, women who are not apologetic of simply being their selves. They are independent, stubborn and hella' strong, never giving up, yet don’t shy away from showing their vulnerable sides. The different bonds they all share with each other is shown with such ease and so beautifully.
This was my first book by Taylor and I loved every bit of it. The format the story was told in was brilliant, it made the whole book so much more intriguing and so hard to put down. She gave each character their own unique voice, which made them stand out in their own crazy way. Taylor was able to tap into the hearts of each one of them and bring out their true feelings and honest emotions, which only humanised each one of them more. You will end up rooting for a couple of them if not all. I started the audiobook (because how could I not?) And hearing these characters narrate this story gives it a whole new experience to the book.
“I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise it's not faith, right?”