May 10, 2023 by Heather Flow (‘25)
For any 70s music lovers or Fleetwood Mac fans, Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins is the perfect book to read and show to watch. Daisy Jones will capture your heart, and the music will blow you away. Taylor Jenkins Reid based her book on the wonderful band, Fleetwood Mac. The music is perfectly described to the point where you can clearly imagine it in your head, and can see how it relates to Fleetwood Mac. The book’s plot displays the truth of what occurs behind the scenes in bands, and shows how people who seem to have it all don’t necessarily feel that way.
The drama that goes down within the fictional band is similar to that seen with the real one–Fleetwood Mac. The drugs, drinking, betrayal, and affairs give an insight on how the most beloved of bands actually operate. Many bands we love eventually break apart due to these issues. One major reason for these break ups is jealousy. There isn’t exactly much equality within a band. Lead singers typically get the most attention, and the instrumentalists don’t always get to do what they want. All these topics played a role in the eventual fall of Daisy Jones & The Six, after their dramatic rising to the top and chart-topping #1 song.
Reid describes Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne as astonishing when singing together. Their voices complement one another, and they have a fiery connection onstage, even while despising each other for most of their time in the band. Billy is married to the sweet Camila, and he has already let her down once before. But it’s hard to not fall in love with Daisy, which causes issues in Billy and Camila’s relationship once again. Reid beautifully developed the characters, creating feelings of both love and hate towards many of them.
The songs in the show were perfect for the descriptions in the book. A better match couldn’t have been picked for Daisy’s role. Riley Keough, Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, outstandingly portrayed Daisy’s dynamic personality. A major concern with Daisy is that her mix of being beautiful, talented and enigmatic could cause people to falsely romanticize her behavior and use of drugs. As described in the show, girls would claim they wanted to be like Daisy Jones when they grew up, but underneath it all she’s not exactly the perfect person. Both the show and the book will break your heart, and make it swell. The ending will leave you in tears, but also fill you with hope and happiness. It’ll leave you obsessed and dancing and singing around your room to all of the songs. I highly recommend reading this book and watching the show. I’m thankful that in Barnes & Noble I chose to get this book when I almost didn’t, and I hope that people will enjoy the story as much as I did.