Book Review and Guest Blogger: Wanda Hartman Oehrli

By heatherzhutchinswrites, April 24, 2020

Daisy Jones and the Six Book Review by Wanda Hartman Oehrli

Billy , Camila and Daisy: A Tangled Mess of Three Characters from “Daisy Jones and the Six”

I am not a child of the 70s, but books like “Daisy Jones and the Six” and movies like “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” bring you back to that era. The book is broken up into years, albums and songs. If this book were a movie it would be similar to “A Star is Born.”

The novel is about how Daisy joins the band The Six and the turmoil it creates within the band, as well as the relationships between the band members, the lead singer Billy and his wife Camila. Music is a character as well.

Daisy is a beautiful headstrong woman who grows up in a wealthy family but is ignored by her parents and has excessive freedom. She starts the novel as a groupie staying up all hours of the night and getting addicted to drugs and alcohol. She also shows weakness. Soul searching is part of her character. Without the help of other characters like her best friend Simone and Billy, she would be lost.

“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse.

I am not a muse.

I am the somebody.

End of fucking story.”

― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six

Billy is the lead character of the band and as stubborn as Daisy. At the start of the book he marries pregnant Camila, but then cheats on her and also becomes an addict. Camila takes him back but gives him an ultimatum. The difference between Daisy and Bill is that he goes to rehab for his family and kids, whereas Daisy falls farther into her addiction, until one day she realizes she has to change because only she can save herself.

With Camila you wonder why she holds on to Billy because she is always questioning if he will cheat or relapse and become and addict, but she believes in him and trying loves him.

One aspect of the story that I enjoyed were the songs that the author wove into the story arc. It made me feel like I was in the room with the band, Daisy and Billy, writing the songs, going on the tours. The love triangle for me between Daisy, Billy and Camila were what made me want to read to the end of the story. You kept wondering if Billy would leave Camila for Daisy. There was so much tension between Billy and Daisy, but the way they sang together made it feel like they would be together in the end.

I also read the “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by the same author. I could see the similar pattern of the way the author write these books.

Depending of if you have read Taylor Jenkins Reid before, the ending of this book will surprise you!

Wanda Hartmann Oehrli, has always been interested in science, reading and writing. Raised in a bilingual family, Wanda wanted to be a high school Spanish teacher as one of her first career ambitions.

After losing her mother at the age of seven she has always been interested in helping people, what defines who we are and how do you describe a person’s personality. Her main question in life has always been, “What was my Mother like?”

“Personality is like DNA, each person has one fingerprint.”

Wanda went on to study chemistry, biotechnology, biopharmaceutical development, horticulture and diagnostics. These themes and many others are featured in her debut novel, “The Seeds of Sand.”