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daydaybookbay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There are so many characters involved in this novel, but they are all so distinctly different from one another, you have no problem keeping them straight. Warren is the comic hero of the story. With all the dark themes, his character lightens the mood.
I started flipping to the back of the book where the lyrics of the songs are printed. Each time they mention a new song, I go back and read the lyrics. I think it helps create a better understanding of Billy and Daisy's actual feelings and emotions.
I absolutely loved reading this book. It was fun and uplifting while also being dark and self-reflecting. I hate this feeling I have connecting with Simone. It makes me sad on a personal level, but I think that's why her quotes stick with me so much.
Check the TWs if you have concerns, but I definitely-100%-recommend this book.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
bgirl_jazz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
linneak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
jamiejanae_6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
mymylight52's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
paulwesterberg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Simone: . . . This was a girl that hadn't ever released a single piece of work. No album, no single. But she was in the magazines in photos with rock stars. Everybody loved her.
the oral history genre is really difficult even for historians to master. and the key part of building an oral history is to accrue hours and hours and hours of content, and then to go back and slash through it all; kill your darlings. you can’t necessarily do that with a fiction novel, without maybe feeling like you’re wasting a whole lot of time.
daisy jones & the six fell flat for me in large part because of how dishonest i perceived it to be to the craft of oral history. none of the conflicts felt real, few of the characters felt real, everything felt so contained in a way that real life rarely is. it feels unfair to critique a work of fiction for feeling like exactly that, but it was incredibly difficult for me to suspend my disbelief and read this as an oral history. but that's the challenge you take on by choosing such a distinct format for your story. i think i could've enjoyed this novel a lot more if it didn't mimic the oral history.
furthermore, moving beyond the key fact that none of the characters felt like real people—or, worse, like cardboard cutouts of real life musicians—taylor jenkins reid's greatest weakness as an author to me has always been her pacing. i noticed it in the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, and oh boy, did i notice it here; it was grotesque, at times. it's much harder to cover up any flaws in your pacing when your book is so hinged on its organization.
unfortunately, this book just wasn't it for me. i didn't like daisy, and the way i was told so many times that i should; i didn't like billy, and how he felt entirely one dimensional; in fact, i only liked karen, and sometimes eddie, i think. and if there was supposed to be a plot twist, color me unimpressed—an oral history is not necessarily a plot-oriented form for telling your story, is all i have to say on that front.
sigh. i wonder if the series is any better.
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
scmiller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Enjoyed the narrative technique of the novel — characters recounting events in an interview, engaging in dialogue with the interviewer.
I was impressed with how Jenkins Reid’s wrote her characters’ dialogue so conversationally. It was convincing and effortless.
I liked the stark discrepancies and contradictions between characters when recounting events. They were all unreliable in that way and I like how the story leaves the truth unclear.
I have a love/hate relationship with novels that are about music. It’s the same dissatisfaction I feel when watching cooking shows. You can describe it and show it to me all you want but it’s not in my mouth.
I consumed this novel via audiobook and really loved that there was a full cast. It was like I was listening to a play on the radio. It was so emotive and artistically done. Arguably one of the best audiobook narrations I’ve heard.
I found the ending of the band sudden. We all knew it was coming but yet I still found the way it was written anticlimactic and incomplete somehow, and not in a satisfying literary way.
I found the attempt at actually writing the band’s hit song “Honeycomb” and playing it at the end of the audiobook embarrassing??? You can’t write a novel and paint a picture about how extraordinary and talented and huge this band was and then expose my ears to whatever that was and expect me to say, yes, people definitely would have gone crazy over this song. It was cringey.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War
quinn24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, and Blood
tilde_c_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug use
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny and Pregnancy