A review by scmp73
Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner

emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Oof…this one is tough for me. I enjoyed the other books in this series, and I was really looking forward to Leo and Mary’s story. I was interested to see why Mary hated football players so much and why Leo was her #1 enemy. While we do get that backstory, and it makes sense to me why Mary wouldn’t be Leo’s biggest fan, something felt off to me throughout. I did enjoy parts of this one, but I can’t get over certain choices made.

I really wanted Mary to stand up for herself. I wanted her to push back more when Nero made her uncomfortable and crossed so many boundaries. I wanted her to confront Leo EARLY ON about their shared history and what he did. I wanted her to be this tattooed badass, but maybe that was too cliche 🤷‍♀️. She obviously knew she could take care of herself, to an extent. She was able to make ends meet without relying on her parents’ money and pursued the career of her dreams, despite the lack of support. However, I wanted to see her do some self-work way before she actually took some time to “love herself”. 

Leo was a struggle for me too. I liked him in other books and thought he’d be a fun character. However, after I found out the backstory, I wasn’t that impressed with him. I get that he was young and in high school when he met Mary, and that doesn’t mean he hasn’t grown up a bit, but you don’t necessarily see that in previous books. He’s a fun-loving, good time guy, who doesn’t have an issue with the fact he’s portrayed as a player. I liked the glimpses of his relationship with his mom; I wished we saw more of them together throughout, because I think that would have changed some of my feelings toward Leo. 

Honestly, if it was me, I don’t think I would give Leo a second chance at all. This is what I kept thinking about while I read and what made me iffy about both Leo and Mary.
I find it very hard to believe that Leo had no idea what his friends and the whole school was up to when they were mercilessly bullying Mary. These were teammates and people he spent a lot of time with, but he was apparently so wrapped up in being “ghosted” by Stig that he didn’t realize those around him were making her life a living hell for 3 years?!? Nah, that’s bullshit. He knew but didn’t care enough, because he was too busy feeling sorry for himself. The only part of his story that I really believed was that he didn’t realize who Mary was when she gave him her sketches; he knew his friends were awful and didn’t pay attention to what was in his hands. I also don’t believe him when he says if he did realize she was Stig, he would have gone out with her. He doesn’t even remember what Mary looked like in high school or their encounter. 

As for Mary, she seems to forgive the fact he never once stood up for her because he didn’t realize she was his online friend. Like that automatically absolves him of the part he played by turning a blind eye? Even if it wasn’t her, and just other poor helpless girl, what his friends did while he just stood idly by is absolute garbage. Maybe this is a me thing, because I know damn good and well I wouldn’t date or f*ck my high school bully or someone that let the bullying go on. I believe people can change and grow up, but I just don’t think Leo actually apologized for what happened. I felt like he made excuses about how he didn’t remember and was too heartbroken to know what was going on. I also had a huge issue with the advice Mary got from her parents after the third act breakup. They excused the fact that Leo completely went against Mary’s wishes and confronted Nero, despite the fact that put her entire career in jeopardy. That’s not okay. She asked him to respect her enough to let her handle the situation, and he ignored her anyway. Her parents made that seem like some grand gesture and his way of expressing his love. Again, maybe a me thing, but that doesn’t scream love. It screams disrespect.

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