The Daydreams

By: Laura Hankin

Narrated by: Laura Hankin, Tyla Collier, Elena Rey, Briggon Snow, James Fouhey, Stephanie Sheh

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2023 Laura Hankin (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Once again, Laura Hankin has blessed us with a book so riveting that I emerged on the other side sweaty, exhilarated, and fully needing this to be real life.”—Samantha Bee, comedian and host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

“Catnip for anyone who feels deeply about the private lives of popstars. If you wanted Britney free, read this book. If you wanted Justin Timberlake to pay for his crimes, read this book. Juicy and heartfelt. I couldn't put it down.”—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow

"A delicious behind-the-scenes look at stardom and the scars it leaves behind. Part mystery, part soap opera, all fun–this delightful book will give you a jolt of nostalgia while dispensing insightful commentary about being a young woman in the spotlight."—Elissa Sussman, bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask

Such a fun read!!

I had so much fun listening to this book! I enjoyed all of the narrators, which is hard to do when you have different voices for each character.
If you enjoy Daisy Jones, you will probably like this book!

Perfect Nostalgic Page Turner

Couldn’t stop listening to this book. Part mystery, part early 00s period piece, this was delicious and very well performed by the cast of readers.

Loved it

Captured my attention quickly and made a road trip and running errands enjoyable because I got to listen to this audible.

Fun, heartwarming, smart—with great narration

This audiobook is excellent. Fast-paced, smart, and touching. The author is the main narrator, but, unlike some other author-narrators, she reads it as well as a pro— better, even.

don't bother!

Pitching this as a way to scratch the “Daisy Jones and the Six” itch…was not the way to go about this book. At all. The tone, characters and relationships simply pale in comparison. While I was entertained, I didn’t find myself siding with Kat (the narrator), so it was hard to find her POV relatable... and her POV is about 90% of the book. I also couldn’t help but feel disgust over how every single character decided to fuck Summer over for no good reason. They had their motives but I didn’t find them justifiable given that she was a teenager, the youngest among them, already emotionally drowning and she was their supposed “best friend”. Was this book horrendous? No. Was it good? No. Was I entertained? Yes. Was I pissed off? Yes.


I wouldn’t recommend it because there’s far better stories to get lost in.

Genuinely kept me engaged and surprised me

I found myself not trying to think ahead too much because I was so engaged in the present which I loved!! I thought it was a unique story line and well done and had good character development and actualization. Would recommend!

Writing is hard

And this writer did write a book, so that’s an accomplishment. Performance was tedious. Is it too late to return?