Daydream (Maple Hills #3) - Hannah Grace

The third in the New York Times bestselling Maple Hills series follows fan-favorite Henry and a bookish fellow student who come up with a plan to help them both overcome their respective challenges in a difficult year.

When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team—which he didn’t even want—Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club.

Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and as soon as she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. Too bad being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job, book club, and the novel she’s trying to write. But new experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her. (link)

My review: 2/5

Remember how last week I read a timeless classic about hardship, family formed through hard times, financial and opportunity wasteland, and death that is mercy? We’re taking a HARD 180 to read some hockey smut… Don’t think I evolved too much, eh?

Daydream, oh daydream… where do I start? Daydream is the 3rd book in the Maple Hills series; the first book in the series being the infamous Icebreaker. Since Icebreaker, I feel the series has quickly gone downhill. To me, they’re similar to the STEMinist novels; the boys are all the same feminist, ice hockey, 6 ft, shy and brooding, yet fully empathetic and evolved men. The girl is always overly nice, lacks boundaries, people pleasing, and abounds with family issues. Do I get frustrated because “when is it my turn”? Yes.

In Icebreaker and Wildfire (the 2nd book in the series) I didn’t imagine Henry as he was written in this book, which I guess is my problem. He seemed quiet and underdeveloped, constantly needing to be herded by the main female characters in the first two novels. Out of nowhere, he’s the struggling captain of the hockey team, he’s in love with a girl where he traditionally only prefers hookups, and he’s… maybe on the spectrum? I guess I didn’t read between the lines enough to catch that before.

The romance plot in this book seemed too… friendly. There was a lack of fire for me, even though there were a few passionate scenes. I felt like this series is very “what a high schooler imagines college to be,” or maybe I just had a boring college experience in comparison. I also am tired of slow-burns that go on too long. And for me, too long is over three pages. What do you mean y’all know you’re in love with the other person and don’t tell them? I guess I have always been someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, so I’ve never felt the need to hide my feelings… two side notes on that:

1. I told my roommate in England that I liked him, just like almost every other crush I’ve had, and I’ve given my number to quite a few people I thought were cute… so I really am not talking big talk right now. What’s the big deal; you get rejected? Feel sad, learn your lesson, and move on to someone who will appreciate you in the way you want. Boom.

2. When in an exit interview for the worst boss I ever had (a position I held for a year and a half), she told me one of my faults is that I wear my heart on my sleeve… so that’s a direct quote!

Anyways, I didn’t love this book, nor did I hate it - the characters were hard for me to root for with a lack of romantic chemistry and I felt the “graduated but still in the friend group and on campus” trope for the previous characters was a little cheesy… Maybe I don’t understand because I don’t have a lot of friends from college I still talk to. This book was alright, I wouldn’t totally recommend it to a friend, but it’s an easy read and simple enough to digest if you need to get out of a slump or higher numbers for your Goodreads goal.

SO, just like this lackluster story, the playlist will be cheesy music that can often fall flat and be overplayed. Enjoy!

Spotify: LINK