Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Daydreams

This book suffers from expectation versus reality. It's a look into character relationships and how those change over time, and less about the Hollywood drama. I expected something a little more campy versus the serious tone the book took. Overall, it felt like it had too slow of a pace for the cadence of the story and plot. The character development is amazing and there's some great plot twists, though. The writing style incorporates multimedia (chat rooms, articles, etc.) which is really fun.

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oliviaja's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The perfect summer read!

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daphnemarie's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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.

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