I love celebrity gossip and this was the perfect book to read for a behind the scenes look of a fictional TV cast. I know this book is being marketed as a 90s version of Daisy Jones which to me is a miss, because aside from flashbacks and some self-destructive behavior, the books are not really alike in my opinion and The Daydreams deserves to stand on its own.

Most of the story is told from Katherine’s “Kat” perspective, and I loved how the story and secrets unfolded between 2018 when the cast reunites for their reunion special and in flashbacks to 2004-2005 during the filming of seasons 1 and 2 of The Daydreams. The diary entries, news and social snippets at the end of some chapters were also great in helping to move the story along and at times sympathize with characters.

All of the characters are flawed and broken in their own way, and you would think that would make you dislike them, but it made me care for them more. I was rooting for Summer’s redemption throughout the book and I really enjoyed how her story unfolded as you learn more about her and how she was basically forced into becoming a child star statistic by those who pretended to have her best interests at heart.

Once I hit the halfway mark, I could not put the book down and flew through the final chapters as the characters started to get closure and get a take two on their live reunion special. For who these characters were, I thought the ending was perfect for them.

The Daydreams is a soapy, funny and surprisingly sweet novel about four kids who achieve teenage stardom and must now come together as adults to film a reunion show and confront their past issues.

The novel follows Kat, Summer, Liana and Noah the stars of the teenage soap opera where they also dance and sing original songs. Each character fits an archetype: Kat is the mean girl, Summer is the sweet, talented innocent, Noah is the love interest, and Liana (the only Black character) is the token black friend. The four are poised for super stardom until their disastrous season 2 live finale special destroys everything. While Noah and Liana seem to make it out mostly unscathed (though with various degrees of post-show success) Summer and Kat both leave Hollywood albeit for very different reasons. Summer is a trainwreck and Kat is a lawyer in D.C. However the foursome is pulled back into the spotlight and into creator Atlas's orbit with a reunion special set to revitalize their careers. The novel is told from Kat's first person pov and jumps back and forth in time slowly teasing out what exactly went wrong.

This book was definitely entertaining and a fast read but I'm not sure I loved it. It was just kind of meh. I did like that we got chapters from other characters pov to really flesh out their stories. I also enjoyed Kat's perspective on everything and though she was kind of the villain she was also sympathetic and likeable. If you're looking for a light, fun read I would highly recommend.

I was provided a free copy of this book from NetGalley

SYNOPSIS: A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s-and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout; that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.

🎤REVIEW: Yall, I am a Laura Hankin FAN. I just seem to absolutely LOVE her books, so when I saw she had a new one, I KNEW I had to have it. Add a dose of music and a little reality tv - ummm hello?! SIGN ME UP!!

This was such a fun book to read. I loved reading about the reality singing groups’ past, where they were in the present, and where they intended to be. Their lives in the past were SO complex looking back, being child stars, and it was, as the synopsis states - deliciously entertaining. The reunion special was no less delightfully fun to dive into, and the absolute perfect plot setting. I 100% FLEW through the pages of this book!

My only critiques: there is an addict/alcoholic who engages in drinking behavior which is “acceptable” in the circumstances, which I found odd; the ending felt a bit too long and drawn out, but nevertheless, I loved it.

🎤VERDICT: 4 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎵SONG REC: “Let Me Down Easy” - Daisy Jones and the Six

This publishes 5/2 and you’re going to want to preorder! In the meantime, check out @laurahankin ‘s backlist.. you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing their hearts out, amazing ratings, and a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that steamed up fan fiction forums. Then, during the live season two finale, it all imploded, leaving everyone scrambling to understand why. Thirteen years later, fans are demanding a reunion special, and the cast comes back together for the first time.

THE DAYDREAMS by Laura Hankin was such a fun read that takes the reader behind the scenes of a big LA production company and their ultimate treatment of child stars. With the emergence of so many recent celebrity memoirs, this book felt true to life and the rawness of the characters really shone through.

This book alternates between timelines - present day and, the start of it all, thirteen years ago (2004), which had me gobbling up the story even faster.

The characters were all unique and it was easy to feel their chemistry when they occupied the same space.

I think a lot of readers (and TJR fans especially) are going to really love THE DAYDREAMS!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

The Daydreams. The teenage show to watch. The stars had it all until the disaster of a season finale in season two. It been years, and the four stars have each gone down their own paths, but when one says they would be willing to do a reunion show in an interview, the others are forced to agree. Will all their old secrets come out?

Ok who hasn’t wished for a reunion from their favorite teenage shows? This book was such an amazing fictional look at young stars, and the ways being on a famous show can affect them. From the first page I was fully invested and could not wait to find out what would happen. I have been listening the the Drama Queens podcast and there were so many pieces of the story that felt like what the girls talk about dealing with on One Tree Hill. I really enjoyed this one. Laura Hankin giving us a fantastic read again!

In 2004, The Daydreams were the hottest teen show around. The fans were hooked, the reviews were great and life couldn’t be better. But now they’re chance to tell the story of behind the scenes. For these teens that had it all, what happened when it all fell apart?
This was good!

"A deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s - and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.

Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing their hearts out, amazing ratings, and a will-they-or-won't-they romance that steamed up fan fiction forums. Then, during the live season two finale, it all imploded, leaving everyone scrambling to understand why.

Afterward, the four stars went down very different paths. Kat is now a lawyer in Washington, DC. Liana is the bored wife of a famous athlete. Noah, the show's golden boy, emerged unscathed and is poised to become a household name. And Summer, the object of Noah's fictional (and maybe real-life) affections, is the cautionary tale.

But now the fans are demanding a reunion special. The stars all have private reasons to come back: forgiveness, revenge, a second chance with a first love. But as they tentatively rediscover the magic of the original show, old secrets threaten to resurface - including the real reason behind their downfall.

Will this reunion be a chance to make things right? Or will it be the biggest mess the world has ever seen? No matter what, the ratings will be wild."

We all still hunger for details from old shows, especially those on Disney or Nickelodeon, view this as the next best thing.

Laura Hankin can write a book well. She gives you an interesting story with a couple twists along the way. This one had a great storyline. I love a reunion and the pop culture fit very well for us millennials. However, I didn't love the characters. There were bits and pieces I liked, but it felt very expected during the start of the book.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

For anyone who wants a book reminiscent of Daisy Jones & The Six, this is perfect. Filled with drama, scandal, and early aughts nostalgia.

This was a fun story with a mystery in the form of a secret that the main character has imbedded in it. Wanting to know the secret kept me reading.

There was clear inspiration drawn from the Disney and Nickelodeon TV stars of the 2000’s. I got High School Musical vibe and it brought to mind child stars like Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Lyndsey Lohan, Christina Aguilera, Amanda Bynes, etc.

So, it was interesting. I always enjoy this author’s writing style. I really liked her previous books (A Spacial Place for Women, Happy & You Know It) and this was also good but felt a little slow and for a younger audience at times.

Overall, it was engaging and thought provoking at times about how the media damages young celebrities and the resilience these young performers must have to tolerate it all.

I had hoped that The Daydreams would have the same spark of Daisy Jones and the Six; a look back at a group that blew up. I found the first half pretty average, but there was a big twist in the second half I didn’t see coming. I alternated between really enjoying bits of the story and then getting upset at the predictability of the plot.
The premise is that the cast from a popular teen show has reunited for a reunion thirteen years later. The show had gone down in flames after an incident during the live finale of the second season. Since then, the male lead remained an actor, the narrator has become a lawyer, one female member has married a well known sports figure and the female star has never recovered. The narrator, who had played the “bad girl”, regretted something she did all those years ago and agreed to the reunion to make sure what she did doesn’t come out.
Hankin uses a mixed media approach. While most of the story is told from Kat’s POV, we also get snippets from Summer’s journal back in the day along with blog posts and “soliloquies" from the other main characters.
I thought the premise of the book was good but I wanted more. The characters were never fully developed. I guess I wanted the author to go deeper and instead, it comes across more as a beach read. Depending on what you’re looking for will determine how much you enjoy it.
My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Books for an advance copy of this book.

Reading this book helped fill the Daisy Jones void of dramatic music focused fiction in my life, not sure of how big it will become but I'll be surprised if it's not adapted.

If you love books with Hollywood drama, reunion stories, and early 2000’s nostalgia - this is the book for you!

The Daydreams was a cult classic TV show in the early 2000’s about four best friends forming a band and living their dreams. After their disastrous live season two finale, the show was cancelled and the actors each took their own path. Now, all these years later, they’re reuniting for a one night only special: will it be a cathartic chance to make things right? Or will it all just end up as a huge mess?

I have loved every Laura Hankin book I’ve read and this is no exception! I binge read this book in one sitting because I truly could not get myself to put it down - the drama just KEPT COMING!

This story is mostly told through the perspective of Katherine, now a lawyer in DC, who played the mean girl in the band. She is the one who’s strayed the furthest from Hollywood, but she can’t resist coming back for the reunion special. I loved the switches in perspective and timeline and the ways all of the groups secrets came to light, but I also loved hearing Kat’s POV on it all as someone who wasn’t involved in the industry anymore. I thought it was such an interesting way to frame the story!

This book did a great job of uncovering the ugly truth of the way women and girls are treated in Hollywood, but especially the way female child stars were treated back in the aughts. If you’ve ever wanted to get inside the head of Amanda Bynes, Lindsey Lohan, or Britney Spears and see what they went through, this book is for you.

Overall this story is filled with drama and is incredibly fast-paced, but it’s also filled characters you’ll want to root for, nostalgic references, and heartbreaking insights into a male-dominated industry. I couldn’t recommend this more!!

Sadly, I just couldn’t get into this one. However, I suspect that I am far older than the target demographic. This may well appeal to those who came of age during the early 2000’s and can relate to the characters better than I can. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Laura Hankin's books. Her books are all so different yet they stand out. This is how you know you have a talented writer on your hands!

3.25 ⭐️

Since the success of fictional biographies, like Daisy Jones and the Six, I’ve seen a lot of stories in the same vein pop up. The Daydreams promised to hit a sweet spot as well, especially for the millennial or upper gen-z audience.

The Daydreams is the story of a fictional TV show that premiered in the early 2000s. The similarities to both Disney and Nickelodeon shows as well as show-runners are easy to spot. And with a healthy dose of nostalgia, we jump from present day, on the verge of a reunion show, to the very beginning of the show and its casting.

Kat is our main narrator, and she played The Mean Girl on The Daydreams. Liana was The Best Friend, Summer was The Starlet and Noah was The Heartthrob, essentially.

There is an air of mystery around the show's ending. All the reader is initially told is that something terrible happened during the season two live finale, and that Summer went off the rails.

While quite a few aspects of the plot were predictable, I did really appreciate that certain tropes are being left behind in the year 2023. It was refreshing to see the man that Kat ended up with.

This is also a mixed media book, and I loved the inclusion of a piece of fanfiction about the show (and comments). The Daydreams kept me fairly engaged, but at the end of the day, it was just alright to me. Not a book I’ll reread nor a particularly inspiring one. If you’re looking for a fun and quick read, it is great for that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you were expecting Daisy Jones and the Six, adjust your expectations. This is more along the lines of Daisy Jones’ little sister novel. Expect: drama and scandals from the 2010s Nickelodeon or Disney Channel stars. Y’all remember how Zoey 101 was cancelled? Like that. It reminds me viciously of Victorious and I don’t believe I ever watched it.

Through the whole narrative, the main character Kat, the bitchy mean girl supporting character-type, turned real life lawyer, is harbouring a deep dark secret about how she is the reason for her tv show The Daydreams downfall. It looked like a promising reveal, but it didn’t pan out. It sets her up to be the villain behind the curtain, the reason why the star and main attraction, Summer, had a breakdown during the live season two finale. The big reveal is that she in a round about way had some responsibility. Not really. Only partially.

The entire time, I kept thinking, why is this the person telling me the story? It really feels like Summer’s story. I would read Summer’s story, but Kat (who is kind of boring by contrast) is the narrator because she’s the one with the big secret. And then it turns out it’s not really even her secret, it’s someone else’s. So I circle back to… Why is Kat narrating?

I liked Kat when I thought she was really leaning into her Archtype and I found myself wishing that she had done something truly evil. I found myself disappointed.

I would have liked to see more details about the show they worked on together, and why it had such an impact on pop culture. Because I’m reading this imagining people shoving each other for tickets to an iCarley reunion and I simply cannot fathom it.

Vibes…
Art Stuff glitter collection from Bath & Body Works
Teen Beat spread
Mini Astro turf backpacks
A showing of High School Musical
Pink razor flip phones

…nostalgic

I’m always on the look out for a good reunion story… taking it back to 2004 made it this one even more impactful seeing as it’s relatable and almost comforting to read about. I think there is going to be a large audience that will go GAGA for this one based on nostalgia alone. Loved the characters, the plot and research shared on such a crazy time in Hollywood for young stars. It makes you take a look at how so much was kept behind closed doors making the reality look like a dream instead of what seems to be a nightmare. I love Laura Hankin‘s books and I can’t see what she plots next!

Kat is the main narrator of this novel, and I liked her—she seems to have turned out the best of the group of kids she once did a fan-favorite TV show about singing teenagers. She’s now a lawyer in DC, but she can’t commit to the man she loves. When the opportunity to do a reunion special arises, Kat takes the chance to see if she can find redemption.

Fourteen years earlier, Kat, Noah, Liana, and Summer were on a popular TV show, but on the finale of the second season, everything went wrong. Since then, Noah has done well for himself as an actor and might be on the verge of actual stardom. Liana married a famous athlete. Summer, however, hasn’t fared as well as her former castmates.

This has a breezy, fun feel to it even as secrets are revealed.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES MAY 2, 2023.

Such a fun story! This one sucked me in right away. I love that the narrator wasn't necessarily the main character and was super gritty. I flip flopped so many times decided whether I liked her or not, and whether or not I thought she was the villain or the hero.

Every book by Laura Hankin is completely unique and so much fun!