Is Daisy Jones & the Six fiction? Book review + ending explained
Warning: This entire article is filled with spoilers for the book Daisy Jones and the Six. If you haven’t read the book and don’t like finding out the ending before you’ve read it yourself, it’d be a good idea to stop reading here.
Otherwise, if you’re seeking an honest book review, plus the Daisy Jones and the Six ending explained, go forth and enjoy!
Daisy Jones and the Six book synopsis/summary.
A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity...until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Is Daisy Jones and the Six fiction?
Yes, Daisy Jones and the Six is fiction. However, if you were confused and thought it was a true account of a real band, no one blames you. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes in an interview-style format giving it a documentary-style feel.
Furthermore, there are a few uncanny parallels between Stevie Nicks and Daisy Jones, as well as Lindsey Buckingham and Billy Dunne, leaving no room for doubt about TJR’s inspiration for the novel. In case their names didn't strike a chord, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham were the front liners behind Fleetwood Mac. It was in 2019 when TJR came clean, confirming that these rock legends were indeed her biggest source material.
If you’ve read Daisy Jones & the Six, you’ll remember the iconic moment when Billy and Daisy perform “A Hope Like You,” just the two of them on SNL.
Daisy narrates, “It seemed so obvious, so painfully embarrassingly obvious… That I was in love with him.”
Billy narrates, “How could I be around Daisy Jones and not be mesmerized by her? Not fall in love with her? I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.”
Rod narrates, “It was electric, that performance. The two of them together, performing to each other. It felt like they were ripping their hearts out on national TV.”
Now, watch this performance of Landslide by Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham in 1997, and see if you can identify TJR’s inspiration. It’s not hard to identify, trust me.
So no, Daisy Jones and the Six is not a true story, however, yes it is inspired by a real-life band, or a combination of singers and bands, the biggest being Fleetwood Mac.
Daisy Jones and the Six characters.
The main characters are Daisy Jones, Billy Dunne, Graham Dunne, Karen Sirko, Warren Rojas, Eddie Loving and Peter Loving, who form the band members of The Six. Below is a list of all the characters that play a decent or minor part:
Daisy Jones
Billy Dunne
Simone Jackson
Camila Dunne
Niccolo Argento
Teddy Price
Rod Reyes
Graham Dunne
Karen Sirko
Eddie Loving
Pete Loving
Chuck Williams
Warren Rojas
Julia Dunne
Susana Dunne
Maria Dunne
Mick Riva
Daisy Jones and the Six book review.
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
2.5/5
I experienced a different book to everyone: Sadly, this was an underwhelming 2.5 stars.
Someone insisted I watch the Daisy Jones series, but as a purist, I read the book first. I appreciate TJR's effort and research, the backstory behind each song (though the lyrics.. questionable), the interview-documentary format worked for me, and the Stevie Nicks inspiration was cool. Let’s talk about what was problematic.
The inauthentic music.
That is probably the biggest problem I had with this book. While I can see TJR did some research, you can tell she’s not really a musician or has never learned to play an instrument. Her musical descriptions seem forced, and I am a person who has grown up classically trained playing keys, guitar and singing, as well as having a lot of musician friends. The music side was counterfeit.
2. Didn’t believe the relationships.
Getting through the book was difficult. I had trouble understanding and believing the relationships. I have been trying to pin down why. My first thoughts are about the relationship that TJR created between Billy and Camila, I did not understand.
Moreover, it seems like a forced plot point to create tension between Billy and Daisy. I found myself cringing and eye-rolling at some of the dialogue and quotes that try to be meaningful but are just pretentious and contrived.
Billy was caught with his appendage in another girl's mouth, up to his eyeballs on drugs, and pregnant Camila says, “I think you have to have faith in people before they earn it. Otherwise, it’s not faith, right?” I’m absolutely bamboozled by this.
3. The diversity card.
Can we talk about Simone? I’m not trying to be the woke police but come on. I only witnessed Simone in there as a minor character to support Daisy, with no real story of her own. This was problematic for me.
Simone should have had more justice done to her as a character, and I would have liked to know more about her. Thankfully, I understand the TV series has given Simone her own individual story, which I support.
4. Didn’t care.
I couldn't care less about the fictional band or the individual band members, including Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. Some of the reveals towards the end that I suppose were meant to make me feel all the emotions made me feel nothing. And you can usually always count on me for a good bawl in a movie or book.
Anyway, I'm in the minority with my opinion here, so don't let my taste in books deter you from TJR. It’s still readable — just — but I recommend reading the 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo instead. While it’s still set in gimmicky Hollywood, Evelyn is a fully fleshed-out three-dimensional character who I cared about a lot more.
Daisy Jones and the Six ending.
What was that ending of Daisy Jones and the Six all about, you ask?
WARNING: Spoilers below!
The culmination of events takes place during the group's highly anticipated Chicago concert on July 12, 1979. Following the concert at the hotel, Camila finds Daisy and helps her into her hotel room, which brings forth a moment of frank conversation between the two. So why and how did Daisy Jones and the Six break up following this conversation?
During this frank and forthcoming conversation with Daisy, Camila acknowledges the love shared between Billy and Daisy, but she firmly points out Billy's unwavering loyalty to his family, which includes their beloved daughters Julia, Maria, and Susana. Camila makes it clear that Billy will never ever choose Daisy over their family unit, and encourages Daisy to get sober and quit the band because staying would only lead to further heartache, heartbreak and self-destruction.
At this pivotal juncture, the author/interviewer, discloses her true identity as Julia Dunne, the daughter of Billy and Camila. Next, we learn:
Daisy flies home, leaving a note for her bandmates that she’s out.
Billy simultaneously also decides to quit the band, battling his own addiction demons, and choosing his family, rather than falling off the bandwagon.
Karen gets an abortion, which Graham had wanted to keep as the father of the child, leading to irreconcilable differences where they can’t play together in the band anymore.
Basically, everyone quits the band and goes on their own separate life paths:
Daisy published books, travelled, and adopted sons after getting clean.
Billy writes songs for pop stars.
Pete Loving lives in Arizona with his wife Jenny and owns an artificial turf company.
Graham marries Jeanie and has his own hot sauce brand.
Eddie becomes a record producer.
Simone gets married, has a daughter, gets divorced. Her daughter Trina is a famous music video persona.
Karen moves to a house in the mountains and lives alone.
Rod split with his partner Chris, and later met Frank. He sells real estate.
Following this crest of events, we get to understand that Camila Dunne passed away, aged 63, due to Lupus health complications. However, the book ends on a hopeful note with an open-ended letter from Camila Dunne to her daughters:
From: Camila Dunne
To: Julia Dunne Rodriguez, Susana Dunne, Maria Dunne
Date: November 5, 2012 11.41PM
Subject: Your Dad
Hi Girls,
I need your help.
After I’m gone, please give your dad some time. And then please tell him to call Daisy Jones. Her number is in my date book in the second drawer of my nightstand.
Tell your father I said, at the very least, the two of them owe me a song.
Love,
Mom
