Watching Off-Campus was honestly such an amazing experience, especially as someone who already loved the books by Elle Kennedy. Going into the series, I was nervous because book adaptations can sometimes change too much or lose what made the original story special, but this show managed to capture the exact feeling that made the books so addictive in the first place. From the very first episode, it felt like the world and characters I had imagined while reading were finally brought to life on screen.

Off-Campus is a romance show including popular hockey player Garret Graham and explores his struggles on and off the ice. Although it has a similar hockey theme to Heated Rivalry, they are very different, and here is why. Although hockey romance is a popular genre, Off Campus is different in a way that there isn’t your typical storyline. There aren’t “mean girls” or a toxic main character.

The show came out on May 13th of this year, and it was the #1 show on Amazon Prime within 3 days of its release, with 36 million viewers. The show has done so well that the cast has already started filming season 2. Ella Bright’s music from the show has also been another big hit, being top of Spotify’s lists. Another really cool thing the show has promoted was JLo’s song “On the Floor,” which has risen in the charts. JLo has even met with actor Mika Abdella from the famous scene, making a TikTok dancing to her repopularized song.

One of the strongest parts of the show is definitely the cast. Every actor fit their role so naturally, and the chemistry among everyone felt genuine rather than forced. The actors playing Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells especially stood out to me because they perfectly balanced the emotional and comedic sides of their relationship. Garrett had the confidence and humor fans expected from the books, but the actor also showed his more vulnerable side really well, which made the character feel more real and layered. Hannah was portrayed as strong, intelligent, and independent while still keeping the emotional depth that made readers connect with her in the novels.

Most people said the show was really, really good. They just missed really good details from the books; otherwise, the show and the book were very close. The cast said in an interview how everything felt natural when they were shooting all together. 

We asked a few girls we knew had either read the books or watched the show to hear their thoughts and opinions, and this was the feedback we received:

Samantha Bateman, a senior who said she loved the show, said: “I would definitely recommend the show to everyone, and I plan on reading the entire series.”

On the other hand, freshman Bhavishya Shree Mukkara said she wasn’t into the show, so we asked if she would consider reading the series, to which she responded: “I personally wouldn’t.”

Nina Balletto said, “I’ve read all the books and watched the show, so it was really good seeing the character development throughout the show be very similar to the books.”

So Off-Campus is a well-cast and well made with many people who enjoy the show, and there will always be people who don’t enjoy certain shows or movies, but those bad ratings still help because you still watched it and maybe even read it.