Author Taylor Jenkins Reid published one of her bestselling books “Daisy Jones and the Six” on March 5, 2019. The book takes readers through the rise and fall of a 1970s fictional band called Daisy Jones and the Six. The book is formatted in an interview style set to have taken place years after their initial fame.

Reid brings readers into the lives of her characters and their experiences with addiction, love and loss. While there are several supporting roles, the two main characters in the book are Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. Both characters bring their own unique levels of complexity, and Reid effortlessly shows their development throughout the book.

Due to the popularity of the book, actor Reese Witherspoon and her production company, Hello Sunshine, received rights to turn the book into a TV series on Amazon Prime. The cast and crew even went as far as turning the songs introduced in the story into a real album sung and performed by the characters. The album contains 11 original songs based on the lyrics and titles that were introduced in the book. This brought the lyrics written by Reid to life in a beautiful way. New episodes are set to release every Friday, but after just the first three, I was immediately impressed with the exceptional casting and beautiful way that the text was brought to life.

Witherspoon and her production team cast main character Daisy Jones perfectly. Jones is played by Riley Keough, an exceptional actress and the granddaughter of Elvis Presley. Keough brings fan images to life with her fiery red hair and unique fashion sense. The actress had to learn how to play guitar and took singing lessons in preparation for her role as a rock star. Keough is an amazing singer, and her role in the album embodies exactly the sound that I envisioned the band to have.

Keough’s character Daisy Jones is a beautiful young woman who was taken advantage of by men who stole her talent and used her as musical inspiration when she was young. Despite her challenges, Jones was determined to prove herself to those who doubted her undeniable musical and writing talent. When discovered by manager Teddy Price, her career finally begins, and she is brought into the band previously known as The Six. Jones struggles with drug addiction throughout her time with the band and gets involved in a complex relationship with bandmate Billy Dunne, who is played by Sam Claflin in the series.

Claflin has acted in several movie-book adaptations such as “Me Before You” and “The Hunger Games.” In order to prepare for the role Claflin also had to learn the guitar and take singing lessons.

In an interview for InStyle, Claflin said, “I’d wake up in the morning, go straight to the studio and learn guitar for an hour, then I’d go for a costume fitting.”

Claflin’s long hair and informal style of jeans and a flannel shirt given to him throughout the show embody the role perfectly. Claflin and Keough’s voice match up seamlessly and create a beautiful album full of deep story lines and intense musical breaks.

Claflin’s character Billy Dunne also struggles with drug addiction and as the story carries on, he enters into a love triangle with his wife Camilia and his bandmate Daisy Jones.

One thing that the series focused on more than the book, was the romantic relationship between main characters Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. While I think that this storyline is very important to the development of the story, I think that it may take away from the struggles that the characters face individually and all the separate storylines that are more focused on in the book. I personally would have enjoyed it if they stuck to only the details included about their relationship that were in the book, instead of taking focus away from the band and the other characters.

The other supporting characters in the show include Karen Siko, Camilia Alvarez, Graham Dunne, Warren Rhodes and Eddie Roundree. Every single character in the show was casted perfectly and brings the exact image that Reid created in the readers minds directly to the screen.

As the show takes place in the ‘70s, the crew did an amazing job incorporating fashion that was popular during the time–bell bottom jeans, leather jackets, crochet tops and high-heeled boots–transforming the audience back to that time period.

All in all, whether you have read the book or not, I highly recommend watching the new series on Amazon Prime and listening to the album on Spotify and Apple Music as well.