Hey everyone, welcome or welcome back to my blog. I run a book blog and yet you will rarely see properly formatted reviews on my blog… That being said, I’m switching it up today and going old-school! I’m posting a full series review of the Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy!
The books:
- The Deal
- The Mistake
- The Score
- The Goal
- The Legacy
I’ve read book 1 in this series a few times now because I’ve so often gone into this series with the intention of binge-reading all the books, only to completely fail and only read the first one 😅. But, I can finally say that I’ve successfully read the entire series now and I’ll be reviewing it today!
Also, kind of random, but I made a Pinterest board for The Deal (book one!) and you can find it here.
*There will be some spoilers in these reviews!*
The Deal | 🎧🔁 | ⭐⭐⭐
I’ve now read this book 3 times because that’s how many times I’ve told myself I’m going to actually go through with it and fully read this series! We’ll see if that happens this time or not… 😂
This was genuinely my favourite read through this time and I’m so glad about that! This was cheesy and had some darker moments (check TWs) but I really enjoyed it overall! I really liked Hannah and Garrett’s story, though it definitely took me until around the halfway point to actually start liking Garrett as a character (also what an awful name, who names someone Garrett??? No offence to the Garrattes of the world). I really appreciated his character development and how he reacted to Hannah and helped her throughout the book, and in turn how she helped him. I had a really positive experience reading this so it has me really excited to read book 2!
TW: past sexual assault (mc), childhood trauma (mc and love interest), abusive parents, parent being abused (witnessed by love interest), emotional abuse, physical abuse, roofing a drink (past, discussed in book)
The Mistake | 🎧🔁 | ⭐⭐⭐
Weirdly enough I think I actually enjoyed book one more this time around. Like with The Deal, I really enjoyed the second half much more than the first. I did really like Logan and Grace even though they absolutely felt like insta-lust and we never really saw them bond or connect over anything that wasn’t action movies. I am excited to read their story in The Legacy asap though!
Sadly, I have really no thoughts about this book which makes it very hard to review. The first half way boring, it was very insta-lovey and that’s really it. This was fun but, I really doubt I’ll ever re-read it again, unless I’m reading the entire series. It wasn’t memorable to me at all, I’m writing this review up quickly 5 minutes after I finished reading it and I’ve already forgotten the girl’s name (i looked it up and her name is Grace).
TW: alcoholic parent, addiction
The Score | 🎧 | ⭐⭐⭐
This was absolutely so chaotic from start to finish because honestly Dean is ridiculous and I actually think all of his friends and everyone who hangs out with him, must be stupid. He’s a law student and he’s one of the best players on the hockey team but just because he’s carefree everyone assumes he’s stupid??? HE’S LITERALLY A LAW STUDENT AND A GOOD ONE TOO. I really did like Allie as a character and I think Dean and Allie as a couple are my favourite so far. Really though, I would’ve loved a bit more development for the characters and the main couple. I also think that chucking on a death at the very end just so Dean could realise that life was hard was way too dramatic and not the best way to go about that. It felt like the ending was a bit too rushed but, overall, this was probably my favourite of all the books so far.
TW: alcohol and drug use, loss of a loved one (past, present), grief,
The Goal | 🎧 | ⭐⭐⭐
I really enjoyed Tucker and Sabrina together, even though we didn’t actually get to see them together on the page as often as with the other couples throughout their own books. Tucker might have to be my favourite of all the Off-Campus men that we got to read from. He was absolutely the good guy throughout the whole book which is a nice change of pace from a lot of other love interests we see in New Adult novels. Honestly, it was a bit boring in the first half because I felt like I’d just read everything that had just happened since it follows the same timeline as Dean’s book (The Score), but I really enjoyed the second half and seeing Tucker and Sabrina trying to figure out how they would survive, especially with her going through law school and him not totally knowing where his career was headed.
I’ve seen a lot of reviews calling Sabrina a drama queen or insecure and I think to a certain degree, those things are true but, I also think that unless you’ve lived in her situation then you probably don’t know how you would react either. I think most of her reactions were understandable and honestly, I probably would’ve done and said a lot of the same things as her. I loved how this one ended and now I’m really excited to catch up with them in The Legacy!
TW: sexual harassment, absentee parent, loss of a loved one, grief
The Legacy | 🎧 | ⭐⭐.75
The Pact | ⭐⭐.75
What do you do when your boyfriend is on the road all the time playing hockey and you’ve still got 5 months left in college but, you’re sick of being apart??? You elope! Because that makes perfect sense and solves absolutely everything! If someone could find the logic in this reasoning, I would greatly appreciate it.
This wasn’t my favourite story (I’m reading each story for each couple after I re-read the novels) because I think marriage as a solution to any relationship problem, is not actually a solution. But, I did really love seeing the group chat between all the girlfriends! I love that they all get along so well so reading their conversations was a lot of fun! Especially the one about Garrett and Logan getting together because I bet those two are at the forefront of a lot of fanfics! So yeah, this story just relied on miscommunication and the long-distance trope. Not my favourite, but I don’t have anything really against it, other than it just felt a bit pointless.
The Proposal | ⭐⭐⭐
Definitely my favourite story and my favourite couple of this bind up. This is the only story so far where the drama has felt in any way justified and where I actually enjoyed the entire story. I love Dean and Allie as a couple so I loved seeing them a few years down the line but, I have to say, now that I’m a few stories into this bind up, I just don’t understand the thing with the doll!
The Honeymoon | ⭐⭐⭐
The most chaotic honeymoon in history! This was definitely one of my favourite stories in this collection! I wish there’d been a little bit less chaos and drama and more couple time instead but, this was still a fun time. Honestly, I just don’t have much to say about this story. Despite all the chaos, this was a very quiet and quick story.
The Legacy | ⭐⭐.5
I won’t lie, after I read this originally, I did give it a 3 star rating because I .like the couple, but I’ve since changed my mind. I appreciate that this story (and all of the others) aren’t just straight fluffy romances but, as an ending to a series this feels a bit pointless. I feel like since this is the book in the series that I’ve re-read the most that I was most excited for this story out of all the couples, but, while it was a quick and easy read, it did feel a bit disappointing. The couple goes on and on about how perfect they are but miscommunicates throughout the entire story and there didn’t really feel like there was much of a resolution for them or their family in the end. I would’ve loved to see what life was like for them once the babies were actually born, especially since both H and G have such big time-sucking careers. Other than the sheer fact that this felt both pointless and like a cash grab, I did enjoy seeing these characters again.
Overall Thoughts on The Legacy
I can sort of see The Legacy having a point if this collection is a segway into a second series with these characters and their own families, but if that isn’t the case, this really just feels like Elle Kennedy was bored and needed some quick cash. The drama in each story was silly and easily resolved and I just didn’t appreciate it, unfortunately.
Book Ranking
- The Score
- The Deal
- The Goal
- The Mistake
- The Legacy
Couples Ranking
- Dean and Allie
- Tucker and Sabrina
- Garrett and Hannah
- Logan and Grace
Have you read the Off-Campus series?
Do you have a favourite couple/book in the series?
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