I am a huge fan of the Off-campus series by Elle Kennedy and I gave all those stories 5 stars, with the exception of the last one, but it was still 4,5 stars for me š so when I heard that we will get a spin-off / sequel-ish series set at the same university I was thrilled š especially since we met both Summer and Fitzy in that original series and I wanted to see how the romance between them will goā¦ so trust meā¦ no one is more disappointed that me that this was only a 2 stars story for meā¦ I had several issues with this book, but explaining all of them will include talking spoilers, so I will have the next part of my review totally spoiler free when I will be a bit more vague but will still try to communicate my feelings, and then the last part will be filled with spoilers and concrete reasons why I ended up with only 2 stars for this ratingā¦
The main reason why I didnāt enjoy this book as much as I wanted and hoped I would, was actually the main coupleā¦ and I mean both of them individually as characters and the romance between themā¦ I found Summer annoying and just a little bit too much and Fitzy was a jerkā¦ I definitely didnāt see them together, and not because I have something against opposites attract themeā¦ Iāve read some really great books with couples like that š nope, the problem here is that thereās no build up to them becoming closerā¦ they basically donāt have any interactions in the first half of the storyā¦ itās more like he wants her but thinks sheās too much and donāt want the dramaā¦ she wants him and is a bit confused with his mixed signalsā¦ they donāt really talk about anything or spend any meaningful time together and then bam! they are togetherā¦ ughā¦ not to mention that there is the matter of them being roommates and her sort of going out with another one of their roommates and I justā¦ *throws hands in the air and sighs heavily* I just couldnāt with both of them…thatās all I can say while I stop myself from spoiling you stuff, so now I will jump into all my more detailed thoughtsā¦ fair warning, they will be in a totally random order, because even though itās been days since I finished it, I just canāt seem to gather them in any sort of logical way š ok, ready? š
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All my spoilery thoughts about this book:
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#1 Summer was all over the placeā¦ and I get that some part of it was because she has ADHD, but it was tiring to readā¦ she met Fitzy about a year before and he caught her eye immediately, but acted like heās not that interested in herā¦ yet she kept hanging on that infatuationā¦ at the beginning of the book during a New Years Eve party she overhears him talk about how he thinks sheās fluff and shallow and stuff like thatā¦ so she kisses Hunter at midnight…and even though she heard all those hurtful words, sheās still crushing on himā¦
#2 Fitzy is a jerkā¦ yeahā¦ that one was a surprise for me, cause I didnāt got those vibes beforeā¦ but how else can you explain his behaviour? heās attracted to her but decides that sheās too much drama so he wonāt make a moveā¦ and yet he keeps hanging around and acting like a douchebag towards herā¦
#3 there are basically no interactions between them throughout the first 50-60% of the storyā¦ #NoJokeā¦ there are a handful of short conversations, usually during a party or some other gathering with friends, but almost none when they actually talkā¦ that made it very hard to get on board with the romance between themā¦ I could understood the attraction, but nothing elseā¦ and then we get this very surprising sceneā¦ so like, after almost zero getting to know each other, ad her overhearing him talking stupid stuff about her, during one of the games he gets injured and Summer sneaks into the locker room to check up on himā¦ and them gives him a bjā¦ I meanā¦ what? huh? justā¦ why??? right after that, his teammates come back to the room, so she sneaks before they can see her and they donāt talk about itā¦ to make matters even worse, he basically disappears on her for like two days after thatā¦ and yet sheās still hung up on him!!! I mean, come on!!!
#4 the whole Hunter situationā¦ heās interested in Summer, especially after their midnight kissā¦ and like a good friend, he talks with Fitzy and declares his intentions, asking him if he has a problem with itā¦ and Fitzy being a stubborn idiot of course deny any attractionā¦ and yet heās pissed when Hunter flirts with Summerā¦ donāt even get me started how he reacts when Hunter takes her out on a dateā¦ which is after the bj I mentioned earlierā¦ I think… he barges into her room a few minutes before sheās going out saying she should stayā¦ but giving her no reasons whatsoever for thatā¦ ughā¦ and Summer is no betterā¦ she decides to pursue things with Hunter even though sheās still very much hung up on Fitzyā¦ which is so unfair to himā¦ because during said date Hunter of course sees that something is not rightā¦ it doesnāt take him a long time to figure out whatās going onā¦ he drops her off back home soon after and drives away and it doesnāt take her more than a few minutes to go to Fitzyās room and sleep with himā¦ at which point I was like āHunter, you deserve soooo much betterā
#5 there was an iffy situation going on with one of Summerās professorsā¦ but it was.. I wasnāt the biggest fan of how it was handledā¦ it felt like a lot of slow build up to a big and what felt like a rushed endingā¦ I canāt quite put my finger on the specifics, but I didnāt like it…
#6 again, the whole romance between Fitzy and Summerā¦ I donāt get itā¦ there was no real build up, itās like at some point they just decided to give into the attraction and become sort of a couple but not exactlyā¦ it was more like Summer finally convinced him to give them a chance, but he never really changed the way he acts around herā¦ closer to the end they sort of have a talk about why he acts the way he does, but againā¦ I didnāt really see any change in himā¦ and because they didnāt really talk, I canāt seem to get behind of them being togetherā¦
Honestly, if it wasnāt for the fact that we meet characters who will get their own stories further in the series, and I didnāt want to miss scenes with them, I would DNF this bookā¦ but I had to persevere because of Brenna š sheās the heroine of the second story and my favourite part about this novelā¦ not to mention that I am looking forward to book #3 which is gonna be published next month, to see who will Hunter end up with š
Hey, can you upload THE PLAY, another book by Elle Kennedy of this series?
Thank you very much!
Hi can you upload the rest of the book. Thank you