In March of 2019, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “Daisy Jones & The Six” hit bookshelves across the country, topping the New York Times best-seller list and leaving each of its readers aching with a little ‘70s nostalgia. Now, nearly four years later, Amazon Prime Video has released its own official mini-series adaptation of Reid’s novel.

The series, directed by James Ponsoldt and Nzingha Stewart, follows the rise, fall, and intricate love triangles of fictional 1970s rock band, The Six. Starring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin as Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, “Daisy Jones & The Six” recounts the band members’ rugged rockstar experiences through a mockumentary, flashing back and forth between the present day and the 1970s. The series also features the completely original soundtrack, “Aurora,”(2023) written in part by Phoebe Bridgers and Marcus Mumford, and is the first soundtrack from a scripted series to reach No.1 on the Emerging Artists chart.

“Daisy Jones & The Six” is a series that is undeniably fun. It's dramatic, soapy, and filled to the brim with sparkling ‘70s glam. The casting is relatively impressive, with Suki Waterhouse’s Karen Sirko and Will Harrison’s Graham Dunne as two of the most engaging characters across its entire plot. Sam Claflin's Billy Dunne, despite being wildly unlikeable at times, depicts his character's turmoil in a manner that is both respectful and powerful, effectively portraying Dunne as someone that you simultaneously like and dislike.

Riley Keough’s performance as Daisy Jones is where things begin to enter a bit of a gray area. Keough, a talented vocalist and the grand-daughter of singer Elvis Presley, takes Daisy in a direction that feels more subdued than that of Reid’s novel, with the spunky singer almost feeling as if she lost a bit of her spark in the transition from the pages to the silver screen. This is not to say that Keough’s take on Daisy Jones is bad, just that it doesn’t quite match the fiery description of Reid’s novel.

Following this slight faux pas is the series’ critical reception. While adapting any successful novel for television is going to result in a fair amount of the only slightly condescending “the book was better than the movie” comments, the show’s critical response has been relatively dim in comparison to what fans had hoped for. While some have called attention to the slightly inauthentic feel the series emulates, others have pointed to its cliche takes on love, drugs, and rock n’ roll. There has also been some discussion of the series’ soundtrack, “Aurora,” and how it feels a bit too polished to be a product of the ‘70s. While this isn’t necessarily untrue, creating tracks that perfectly mimicked the rough edge of one of the most glamorous eras in all of music would not have been a simple task, and is not something that today’s technology would have easily allowed.

Ultimately, “Daisy Jones & The Six” is entertaining, but doesn’t quite reach the depth that it could have with Reid’s novel. In what feels like a 2023 mixture of Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” (2000) and Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 “Rumors” album, the series’ plotline will keep viewers returning for the next episode, however, also doesn’t miss a beat in terms of trite on-the-road party scenes or drunken pre-show drug usage. It's fine and it's fun, but put simply, it's not Fleetwood Mac.

Written by Emma Ehle, Photographer: Nicole Hinojosa, Social Media: Emily Hansen

Smash Hit or ‘70s Miss?