By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Multiple Narrators
9 Hours 3 Minutes
Released March 2019
Considering its adaptation on Amazon, I think most people probably know about this novel. It tracks the meteoric rise of the fictional rock band, The Six, in the 1970s and the relationship between lead singer Billy Dunne and Daisy Jones. According to author interviews, the story is based loosely on Fleetwood Mac.
What can I say about the audiobook? It is brilliant. That’s it, end of review.
I could leave it there but in case you’ve only read the book or seen the Amazon series, I’ll go into a little more detail about why I think the audiobook is that way to go with this one. This is audio so flawless that about halfway through, I asked myself, “This is fiction, right?” A quick Google search revealed I’m not the only one who thought that.
I’m indebted to my friend who advised me to listen to the audiobook rather than read the novel. The story is told through a series of interviews with the band members, their managers, and others involved in their lives from the time the band was formed until its spectacular dissolution in the middle of a tour. Despite being all first person interviews, these characters jump off the page. Without coming out and telling me anything specific about most of the interviewees, their personalities shone through and the chemistry between some of them was electric. There was no scene setting, nothing to detract from the relationship between the band members. While Billy was a bit of a blowhard, I did love Warren the most. Possibly because he was so oblivious. The interspersion of conflicting memories was brilliant and the vision for crafting a novel in this format is nothing short of genius.
If you haven’t listened to this book yet, do so. You’ll thank me, even if you have no interest in the subject matter. It’s that good. In fact, I probably won’t watch the Amazon series because I doubt I’ll like it as much (if someone thinks I will, please comment and I’ll give it a shot.)
Quick subject matter warning – there’s a lot of drug talk in this book. I mean, this is the story of a rock band in the 1970s so that should go without saying, but it’s worth mentioning.
5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Until next time, thank you for visiting.
Ann Dudzinski 