Off Campus: The Mistake Review and Recap

And we’re back for another Off-Campus review and recap, but this time for The Mistake by Elle Kennedy, where we jump into the story of Logan and Grace. If you thought everything ended after The Deal, you are sorely mistaken. I think this one might be my favorite of the original four from Off-Campus (hot take, I know) because it truly is one big rom-com. I had to put the book down a number of times just so I could laugh. If you’re feeling a little behind and want to brush up on book one, check out last week’s blog post on The Deal. Ready for some more hockey romance vibes? Let’s get into it!

Non-SPoiler REview

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hot take: this book is actually my favorite in the Off-Campus series (sue me). Grace and Logan are elite, and I will accept nothing for them except high praise.

Logan is another hockey stud who also happens to be a massive player on campus. Yet, he struggles with a massive crush on Miss Hannah Wells. Case in point, the first line of the book is literally, “Lusting over your best friend’s girlfriend sucks.” Not going to lie, when I found out that was a plot point, I got pretty worried. I live, laugh, love Hannah and Garrett, but I really didn’t want some girl to come in and try to replace Hannah in Logan’s eye. I didn’t want a Hannah rip-off. Similarly, I was nervous when I learned that Grace was a freshman entering the chat. Like, oh no, I hope we don’t exploit this and play too much into her being extremely naive. Thankfully, this book turned all my concerns around. Grace is legit a FANTASTIC and RELATABLE character, and I LOVE HER. She is nervous and awkward (dude, same), but also a total boss and never backs down when standing her ground.

This book stays at four stars for me because, like The Deal, there were just a few comments that rubbed me the wrong way. Specifically, there is a line where Logan makes fun of Grace for only weighing like 90lbs, but she tosses back that she’s actually 120lbs. Personally, I just didn’t feel like this was necessary, and I don’t really like any situation that could encourage women to feel out of place or self conscious of if they weigh more or less than a fictional character.

However, I loved this book, and that one line ain’t gonna ruin it for me. Elle Kennedy is so ADDICTIVE, and I was always left wondering when our main pair would meet up next. She knows how to leverage a dual perspective to keep you reeled in. Grace and Logan are also my favorite couple in Off-Campus because both of their characters are very secure on their own, and when they enter into a relationship, I feel like we get to skip over a lot of the all-too-common miscommunication trope. I LOVE A COUPLE THAT COMMUNICATES. Anyway… If you want to feel like you are living in a 2000’s movie – this is the book for you. The amount of times I had to put the book down just to laugh was actually quite a lot.

View all my reviews

SPoiler Zone

As always, IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK, DON’T KEEP READING! You have been warned. 

John Logan has a massive crush on Hannah Wells, which makes life incredibly awkward because he is best friends with her boyfriend, Garrett Graham. Since Logan and Garrett live together, things can get awkward whenever Hannah is around (which is all the time). Logan avoids the couple every chance he gets, always rushing to his room, leaving to go party, and hooking up with random girls every night to distract himself. Logan doesn’t know how to move on from Hannah, and he feels incredibly guilty about it since Garrett is his number one. 

Logan realizes his mistake as Grace is surprised to see him in the hallway of her dorm, but since he doesn’t have his phone, Logan comes in to borrow Grace’s so he can call for a ride. But, at the same time, Logan doesn’t want to go home quite yet and face any of his confusing feelings about Hannah. Without much rhyme or reason, and since he has nowhere better to be, Logan ends up joining Grace and watching Die Hard Two while snacking on gummy bears.

After the movie ends, Grace can’t stop thinking about Logan and how nervous she is that he’s there. She admits that she likes him, just like half a million girls on campus, but she doesn’t have any idea what to do about it. When Logan says he wants to kiss her, Grace’s heart skips a beat because the famous John Logan wants to kiss her. Long story short, they make out and have a little hook-up, where Grace pretended she finished because she didn’t want to make things more awkward than they already were. And before they can even have a real conversation, Logan makes a mad dash out of there.

Logan knows he made the douche move by leaving. But he doesn’t know what to think of himself. Not when he knows he made all those decisions sober, and not when he was so embarrassed that she didn’t finish. Grace, on the other hand, is still trying to process everything, but when she tries to talk to Ramona about it, she can tell Ramona thinks she made it up. After all, she didn’t even get his number, so how could anything have happened?

After Logan comes back from a crappy weekend at home, Dean convinces Logan to go to a movie with him. At the theater, they run into Grace and Ramona, where Ramona kindly informs them that it’s Grace’s birthday while staring in awe at both of the hockey studs. Logan rearranges things so he can sit by Grace and ends up kissing her halfway through the movie.

Ramona told a few of her other friends about Grace meeting up with Logan at their dorm, and it was clear they didn’t believe her. Turns out, words travel fast, because now there’s a tweet going around, courtesy of mean college girls, calling Grace a big fat liar. While she tries to act like it doesn’t bother her, Grace is sitting at the dining hall with her friends, who pretend to believe her, as the rest of the dining hall talks behind her back. When Logan finds out about someone messing with Grace, he springs right into action mode. 

Logan tracks her down in an instant and makes sure to kiss her real good in the dining hall for everyone to see. Grace is happy to play along and let him whisk her away, especially since she was already on the verge of falling apart. She finally lets the tears fall when they get to the car, and Logan is a gentle reassurance and offers to show her something before he takes her back to her dorm. So he takes her to his hometown, the one next over, and they climb the water tower together to take in the views and have a heart-to-heart. 

Grace is realizing she is crushing on Logan and wants to take it to the next level. But Logan has a meeting with himself where he decides he has to break it off with Grace. He knows he can’t string her along because he is still getting over Hannah, and he doesn’t want to start something with Grace if he is still hung up on another girl. So when Grace invites him over enthusiastically, and Logan is trying to find a way to back out easily, it’s a recipe for disaster. The second Logan opens the door, Grace pulls him inside and starts making out with him. Grace intends to have sex with him and admits that she’s a virgin, and Logan fumbles in the moment and lets it slip that he’s getting over someone else. She gets mad that he was only using her as a distraction and that he basically rejected her the second she confessed she was a virgin. Grace kicks him out, and when Logan gets home, Hannah confronts him.

When Grace wakes up the next morning and sees what Ramona did, she is so done. She decides to take a step back from their friendship because what Ramona did sucked. In her confusion of feelings, Grace heads to Paris early to spend the summer with her mom, where she continues to dodge texts from both Ramona and Logan. Grace’s mom, being the queen she is, helps Grace establish some more confidence. They even go out and dye Grace’s hair and give her a bit of a makeover just for fun (and in my head, the opening song from Legally Blonde plays).

Logan’s summer is less than glamorous. He spends his days working in the shop as a mechanic alongside his brother and dreading that this will become his life after graduation. While on the clock, an older lady comes in and flirts a bit with Logan, trying to seduce him, and he almost caves. But Logan backs out before anything happens because he knows picking up another short-term fling will only make him feel emptier. Garrett eventually makes a pit stop to visit, where Logan finally confides in his best friend what his life is really like. Logan admits that his dad sucks, and that he can’t pursue the pros or get drafted, not because he doesn’t want to, but because he made a commitment to his family. Garrett helps him change his perspective and reminds him that he still has one year of college left, and that he doesn’t have to spend it sulking. So Logan decides he wants to clean up his act, and that the first thing on that priority list is getting Grace back. 

When school starts up again, Logan heads out for a run with Dean and Hannah and spots Grace reading in the park. His heart does somersaults, and I giggle into my pillow because he recognized her instantly, even after she changed her hair. Logan ditches the run in an instant and attempts right off the bat to smooth everything over with Grace. He, however, fails. Miserably. Even after Logan explains that he thought he wanted his best friend’s girlfriend, but that he actually wanted his best friend’s relationship, ergo, he wants Grace, she doesn’t buy it. Logan knows that she’s skeptical of him and believes their entire relationship was a mistake, but he won’t give up.

Strutting into Sophomore year, Grace is ready to leave Ramona in the past. She moves in with her new roommate, Daisy, who helps her land a job at the campus radio station. At the radio station, Grace’s coworker Morris asks her out and if she’ll go to a party with him. She agrees.  gets asked out on a date by her coworker, Morris, and they decide to go to a party. Too bad for Morris because Logan also happens to be at the party, and fully intends on charming Miss Grace. He does, in fact, woo her, and they kiss at the party before he breaks away and says he doesn’t want a hook-up; he wants a date. Grace leaves with Morris feeling pissed with herself for what she did to her date, and for allowing herself to get swept up with Logan. 

Logan then goes over to chat with Morris. Like the right honorable gentleman he is, Logan declares his intentions towards Grace and makes it clear that Morris will be seeing a lot more of him because he is intent on winning Grace back. Morris is initially hostile towards Logan, but they quickly bond over video games, and Logan stays over until 4 AM as they game. In fact, Logan and Morris become instant besties to the point where Morris tells Grace he can’t see her anymore and encourages her to give Logan another shot. Naturally, Grace skirts over to Logan’s house, fuming at him for being so ‘honorable’ towards Morris.

If Grace thought this list would deter Logan, she was sorely mistaken. Logan gets right to work, pulling out all the arts and crafts skills, writes some horrible poetry, dyes some roses blue with food coloring, and gets some endorsement from a professional hockey star. As Grace sees his work ethic in action, she knows he has won her over and that there is nothing she wants more than to go out with him. After the final romantic task is completed, Logan plans a whole date night, taking Grace to a cutie Italian restaurant. He even gets serious and sits on the same side of the booth. In the car on the way home after Logan has proved himself as the #1 gentleman, he asks for a performance review of their evening, and they flirt before sharing a sweet end of the night kiss. 

After this official first date, Grace and Logan head to a party hosting by the star football player Beau Maxwell. That’s the one hiccup in the relationship. Gasp! Grace is a football girl and not a hockey girl! Despite this treachery, Logan keeps Grace by his side the whole night, introducing her as his girlfriend, and informing everyone that he’s not leaving the house without her. But Grace is getting a tad jealous because there are so many girls that keep throwing themselves at Logan. She knows that he has a history as a player and gets a little insecure that he has been with so many people. Logan clocks her attitude right away and opens up the communication bridge and reassures her that she is the only girl that matters to him. 

In the hockey world, the Briar U team is kinda chaotic because the team is reshaping after losing a bunch of seniors. Coach Jensen pulls Logan aside to inform him that the Bruins (his dream team) want to recruit him and he pushes Logan to make it work. However, Logan sticks to his guns, insisting that he can’t take the offer because of the commitment he made to his dad and brother. He has told Coach Jensen the gist of the situation, but has chosen to leave out that his dad is an alcoholic. In the aftermath of this meeting, Logan confides in Grace about the whole dilemma and she listens and supports him through it before they cuddle and watch a movie (so officially boyfriend, girlfriend).

When schedules line up, and everyone else is out of town, Logan invites Grace to spend the weekend with him at the house. He asks if he should stock up on anything, and she demands a freezer full of ice cream. They are just so cute and mushy, I can’t take it. They end up watching a horror movie and continuing to tease each other like they always do, and eventually end up having sex. Grace is a virgin no more. As they talk, they reveal why their past relationships haven’t worked out, and Logan comes to the realization that he is in love with Grace; he just doesn’t know when and how to tell her because he doesn’t want to scare her off. 

Hannah and Garrett end up coming back sooner than expected because Hannah’s roommate, Allie, was getting into a nasty fight with her boyfriend. So Hannah, Garrett, Grace, and Logan all have omelets together, and Grace understands why Logan was interested in Hannah. She tells him as much, and he laughs and just points to show that he wanted their cute relationship, not her. 

The relationship continues to progress into serious territory as Logan goes with Grace to her dad’s for dinner. While he was nervous to start, Logan and her dad ended up joking about football vs. basketball vs. hockey. They may be into different sports, but thankfully, it just becomes a running joke. In the car afterward, Logan admits how difficult and different his parents’ divorce has been for him and his brother, especially as it has escalated with his dad’s alcoholic tendencies. Grace personally believes that he shouldn’t give up on his hockey dreams so easy, but she refuses to push him and simply allows him to confide in her and rely upon her as he works through it all. 

When the hockey team loses a game to St. Anthony’s (their biggest rivals), Logan heads over to have a movie night with Grace. In the middle of the movie, Grace gets an emergency text, so she and Logan make a mad dash to a motel to rescue Ramona from the St. Anthony’s jerks, who are essentially holding her hostage. Logan barges in and busts the douche guys, saying he doubts their coach will approve of the drugs he spots on the couch. He walks out safely with Ramona a moment later, and from the whole experience, Grace finally understands why Logan wants to help his dad. He still holds resentment towards his dad, just like she does towards Ramona, but he won’t abandon his father, just as she won’t abandon Ramona. And Grace’s admiration of Logan shoots through the roof. 

Later that week, Logan’s brother Jeff calls him, saying he has an emergency and has to rush his girlfriend to the hospital. Jeff tells Logan he has to get home and take care of their dad until he gets back. Logan is pissed because he doesn’t want to go, since he is supposed to have dinner with Grace and her father that night, but he goes home anyway. Walking into his childhood home, Logan finds his dad drunk as a skunk and lying in his own piss and vomit on the floor. While Logan cleans him up, his dad keeps calling him Jeff and seems stuck in the past, thinking Logan is a child and that he is still with their mom. As Logan handles the situation, he begins to panic. He is so sad and scared that this is his future. He is so sacred that it will become the rest of his life, but at the same time, Logan has so much respect for his brother for handling everything for this long. 

Grace is massively offended that Logan thinks she would just give up on them that easily. She says as much, and Logan instantly regrets his sulking attitude. But Grace just storms out, and when he tries to stop her, she slams him with my favorite line, “I love you, you stupid jackass.”

Logan is left dumbfounded by this admission. He realizes that he did doubt her, but now he’s freaking out times 100 because she loves him, and he knows he has to make it right; he just doesn’t know how. He texts her, but Grace tells him that she needs a little space. So Logan is left to plot his great confession. 

Grace goes to the radio station for work, where she screens calls for the advice segment. Turns out Morris beat her to it and had already approved some of the calls, which leads Mr. John Logan to profess his love for her on the radio segment while asking the two comedians for advice on how to win her back. Grace spots him through the glass holding his phone, and when they make eye contact, he hangs up the call and declares to the whole station that he is in love with Grace Elizabeth Ivers. They make up as Logan reaffirms that he screwed up and he DOES want her for the long haul. He’s self-aware that he put his insecurities on her – and we love a self-aware man.

I have no regrets in declaring Grace and Logan as my favorites. This has lowkey been one of the most fun posts to make. I look forward to seeing how this story will play out on screen eventually. Although, I have a sneaky suspicion that the Amazon Prime show will change the order and make season 2 about Dean. With that in mind, I’ll see you next week for the full review and recap of The Score by Elle Kennedy.

Much love!