Review: “Daisy Jones and The Six”, book and adaptation

When I think back realizing that I didn’t want to read this book because it was a biography about a 70’s rock&roll band and I’m not the biggest fan of biographies, I mean, come on! I’m sure I am not the only one that believed this book was about a real band. Right?

So far, Hello Sunshine has produced very nice adaptations based on even nicer books. Started with the beautiful and mesmerizing Where the Crawdads Sing back in July 2022, and now presenting the most creative story I’ve ever read. When I tell you that the cover of the book, while randomly browsing through a store, has made me look into it again and buy it, I’m not lying. Firstly, the cover has beautiful sunset colours and the silhouette of a 70’s hippie girl, with her long her falling on her shoulders, plus Reese Whiterspoon‘s quote “I devoured this in a day!”. Still in the store, I took my phone out and Googled the book once again, more carefully. That’s when I realized that maybe it is fiction. I wasn’t convined exactly, but I gave it a go. And man, I’m so happy I did! It was such a crazy ride reading this book — so let’s talk about it.

Daisy Jones and The Six was written by Taylor Jenkins Read and published in 2019, winning lots of hearts and the Goodreads Choice Awards in the Best Historical Fiction category. The author has won this award three years in a row and, it goes without saying, I’m intrigued.

What will probably be one of the biggest shows for Amazon Prime Video this year, Daisy Jones and The Six premiered on Friday, 3rd of March 2023, and the first three episodes are available already on the streaming platform; while the rest of the episodes will be made available every Friday. As in the book, the show also revolves around the band’s debut album, Aurora. The album was actually written and produced as a real-life album which debuted at #1 on iTunes in the US becoming the first album of a fake band to reach the top.

The author of the book, Taylor Jenkins Read, was involved in the production of the series alongside the team from Hello Sunshine, Circle of Confusion, Half a Person, Big Indie Pictures, and Amazon Studios. If we’re going back to what made me buy the book, is because I wanted to have the original story develop in front of my eyes and picture everything with my own imagination, before watching the series. Why was I so invested in the series is not a secret, because the reason is called Sam Claflin. I was thinking, before I started working on this review, that maybe Sam is set on the path of bringing the most heartbreaking characters to life. I mean, I’m still not over what he did to us in Me Before You or as Finnick in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire or Richard Sharp in Adrift (should I even go on?!) 🤭 I love this actor, evidently. But alongside him, as the female counterpart, we have Riley Keough that I admired in (what still is for me) one of the best drama series out there from the last decade, The Girlfriend Experience (season 1). The last few weeks, while promoting the show, Riley gave a lot of interviews and it was so nice to see a beautiful succesful actress so calm and normal while talking either about her life or this very anticipated adaptation.

Love is forgiveness and patience and faith and every once in a while, it’s a gut punch.

In the cast, as the rest of The Six, we have Suki Waterhouse, Will Harrison, Josh Whitehouse, Sebastian Chacon, but the biggest surprise for me was indeed Camila Morrone (playing the role of Camila, Billy’s wife). Camila Morrone stole the show for me, she was so raw, so emotional and beautiful as the heartbroken wife. I cannot wait to watch more of her and her character development.

This article is not going to be just about a book, a show, or a band. This story is not just about one thing. It’s about love, drug misuse, the fashion of the 70’s, humour, fame, sex, music, and everything in between. It’s a recipe for success, in my eyes, and after watching the first three episodes I can say the audience is in for a treat. And the music is SO good! 🎸

Trailer:

Daisy Jones and The Six is now available on Amazon Prime Video.