I will read anything Taylor Jenkins Reid writes because she does so beautifully. Her words resonate on a different level. I generally use sticky notes to mark pages in books so that I can flip to that place and feel that emotion all over again when the mood strikes but I’d have to mark entire chapters in Reid’s books, so I don’t even bother. She understands people and their complex emotions, and she writes with so much empathy that you find yourself feeling bad for even the most unlikeable of characters.

I absolutely loved ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ which was the first Reid book I ever read. Since then, I’ve read a few of her other works and they have all been equally good. I recently read ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’, one of her most popular and hyped books, and I was completely hooked and overwhelmed. I wanted to get to the end but didn’t want the story to finish.

Daisy Jones & The Six is a novel about the rise and fall of a fictional 70s rock band so there’s a lot of sex, drugs, music, travel, heartache, pain and love to deal with. Apparently, Reid only researched for about six weeks but she’s written about the lives of rock and roll artists as if she’s lived it. She’s even written lyrics to songs that you want to sing along to. Your heart breaks a little when you remember Daisy Jones & The Six and their albums don’t actually exist. On a hopeful note, Reese Witherspoon is planning a limited series based on the book so the songs might actually get made.

Also read: ‘Watch Over Me’ book review: Slow but stunning

The story is told in a transcript format as the band members are being interviewed for a book. I liked this interactive style. You feel you are a part of the conversation, that the characters are talking to you, telling you their deepest secrets and sharing their fears and frustrations. There are basically two stories: that of Daisy Jones, the barefoot bangle-wearing singer-songwriter who is stunning with a voice to match, and that of Billy Dunne, the denim-wearing guitarist and frontman for the rock band The Six.

When Daisy and the band team up, they become an overnight sensation. But not all is well within the band where rivalries run deep and love runs deeper. Though Daisy and Billy have all your attention, there are others like Camila, Billy’s wife; band members Graham and Karen; and manager Rod who you enjoy getting to know. And then there is the nagging question at the back of your head: who is taking the interview, telling the story? When you sort of figure that out along the way and eventually find out why, it makes for a very emotional moment and a mind-blowingly satisfying end.

Daisy Jones & The Six

Five stars 
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: 2019
Publisher: Arrow Books
​Pages: 401, Paperbac