Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Daisy Jones & The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

35 reviews

ptoridactyl30's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexism, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Vomit, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, and Eating disorder

lauriebee23's review

challenging emotional funny medium-paced

4.5

I read this after reading Evelyn Hugo last year and I adored this book almost as much. It deals with some complex themes and it has really rich character arcs. I didn’t think I would enjoy the fake biography style but it made the storytelling really rich and interesting and it felt real. 

My only gripe was i don’t like ambiguous endings so i would have liked a bit more of an air of resolution and finality BUT i understand the writing choice of leaving it as it was left.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

erynn223's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Self harm

lucypayne21's review

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Drug use, and Alcoholism

storieswithbee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

Genre: Adult Contemporary Fiction

Age range: 15+

Trope: Celebrity

Overall: 4/5

Content warning: *Abortion, Depictions of Mental Illness (Addiction, Anxiety, Depression), Cheating, Substance Abuse (Alcohol/Drugs), Eating Disorder, Unplanned Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Profanity, Sexual Themes, Self-harm, Parental Neglect*

I listened to this book in an audio format, and I highly recommend that everyone does this. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid's 'Daisy Jones & The Six' and 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' are extremely reminiscent of one another. If you liked one, then I can almost guarantee you'll like the other. 

Reading this book for the first time - not having read the blurb - and heading into this story blind, I was thrown off guard that we were delving into the life and the backstory of a singer and a rock and roll band from the seventies. We were introduced to so many characters very early on that played so many integral parts. And that came across as a little confronting, but that evoked confusion is deliberate. 

This book is written in a documentary-style format that takes you across the span of years with Daisy Jones and the band known as The Six. It features their rise to fame, their challenges across that time, and their eventual split. 

The characters were so well fleshed out already, and that was all the more satisfying with how well this book was narrated. Listening to how each character talked, the emotions in their voices, the pauses, the breathiness, and the laughter, gave the reader/listener this whole new depth in how they could submerge themselves into the story. I genuinely felt as if I was watching a proper interview with the characters, just without viewing it in front of me. I found it so incredibly fascinating. 

The main themes behind the book were thought-provoking, but also really genuine in their mundaneness. All the characters' struggles were real-life struggles. All the conflicts were valid to the main storyline, but they were also complimentary to the time, and to the characters themselves. Nothing felt out of place or too extreme, or too far-fetched. 

All in all, I think this book was a phenomenal read. However, for me, I found that I was comparing this book back to Evelyn Hugo a lot more than I wanted to. I loved that damn book, and because I loved that book, this one paled slightly in comparison. I think it will depend on what you read first. Should that turn you off this book? Absolutely not. Daisy Jones and The Six will be characters that I never let go of. 

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Misogyny, Addiction, Drug use, and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Vomit, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Abandonment, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Death of parent

archer_w27's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

honestly, i wasn't a fan of this book. i could go on for quite a bit about why, but i'll keep it short. TJR wrote this in a different format than (i believe) most of her books, and i think that's obvious. it was very difficult for me to develop any attachment to these characters. while i liked a few of them, i wasn't able to connect with most. when writing in a new format, you have to be sure you don't lose the characters or the plot, and i think that's exactly what happened. i wasn't really invested in this story, the relationships, the characters, etc. i think the issues in this book were never truly resolved or resolved too quick. i never found myself wanting to pick up this book. i also wish TJR would have better utilized the fact that this was in the 70's. you could have told me the events were set in present day and i would have believed you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Infidelity, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Abortion, and Self harm

redefiningrachel's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Abortion, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Self harm, and Domestic abuse

stockholmsara's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Self harm, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

harperhoney's review

adventurous reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Abortion, Addiction, Eating disorder, Grief, Self harm, Abandonment, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Cursing

Minor: Bullying, Violence, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual content, and Vomit

bandysbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Daisy Jones And The Six is a book about a fictional 1970s rock band told via interviews with the band members. It is a unique format for telling the story and creates a very interesting reading experience. It reminded me a bit of watching a docu-series that follows some old, famous band.

Daisy and Billy are the two main characters and I found them both equally irritating. Daisy grew up in questionable ways and is just a mess. She's constantly drunk or high, in abusive relationships, and completely unreliable. Only her incredible, innate ability to sing keeps her around. Billy is super pious and sanctimonious, acting like the group mother hen. Obviously, with such different personalities, there is quite a bit of conflict between the two of them. While I did mostly enjoy the conflict between the two of them, at times I also found it a bit exhausting. It's just such a dysfunctional relationship that you want to shake them both. 

The other band members are part of the story too, but to a lesser extent. While they have some good side plot lines, I felt like I actually would've liked a bit more about them. They were a nice break from Daisy and Billy.

I will say that I think TJR really nailed the 70s rock aesthetic with this book. It felt super authentic and even though I knew it was fictional, I could've almost believed that Daisy Jones And The Six was a real band. Clearly, she did her research for this one! 

All in all, I thought this was an enjoyable read that really nails the 70s rock and roll vibe. If you like music and personal drama, you'll enjoy this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Violence, Drug use, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, and Sexism