Daydream

Darci's Review 

Daydream by Hannah Grace is in my opinion, the best book of the Maple Hills series. It features not only a beautiful look into the complexities of human condition, but also intrapersonal relationships, boundaries, and human connection with respect to divergent ways of thinking and processing.

Daydream is told from the perspective of Henry, a direct and sensitive man now captain of the Hockey Team, and Halle, a perfectionist reader who puts others’ needs above her own. Grace writes a beautiful meet-cute in which Henry, a fan favourite character from the previous two books, woos Halle. What follows is an adorable and heart-warming exploration of what it means to care for another person, alongside an introspective look into genuine unconditional love of a person, their boundaries, flaws and socially acceptable traits. Grace also weaves a subplot of accepting neurodivergence, as Henry displays traits of ADHD and autism. Through this Grace explores a narrative of true friendship and the discovery of one’s own needs VS societal expectations. She also notes that not everyone’s journey with such traits ends in diagnosis, and familial and peer acceptance and support is for some people all they need.

If you were to judge Daydream by its cover, you would assume it to be a fun and fluffy, if not smutty, romance. But in usual Hannah Grace fashion, these qualities are combined with a story about how traumatic experience need not define us. An endearing and introspective novel, which I highly recommend. 

Publisher's Review 

The third installment in the bestselling Maple Hills series follows fan-favourite Henry and a bookish fellow student who come up with a plan to help each other in and out of the classroom.  
 
When 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 role as ice hockey captain – 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 when she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. But being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job and the novel she’s trying to write. New experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, though, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her.
 
They just need to stick to their rulebook. Oh, and not fall in love.

Note: Daydream contains 18+ content and is not suitable for younger readers.