Boyfriend Material

I don't know how I feel about this one, so I won't rate it.

I really enjoyed some of the humor, but there were some jokes and other things that very much hit me the wrong way (transphobic humor, jokes about sex workers, vegetarianism as a plot point).

I liked the push and pull romance plot, but I had a lot of trouble sympathizing with Luc at first, because he can be so unnecessarily mean.

This is a contemporary, but a lot of the action feels a little tilted away from reality. Mostly this is fun, as with Alex, the unbelievably posh co-worker. But then Oliver's parents are over-the-top evil, and what's happening there is really important.

I could identify with these characters' issues, unfortunately for me, and I feel the author did a great job of handling some weighty stuff. Hall also portrays a lot of different types of homophobia; it's a depressing background to most of the book's plot, but he treats it with a relatively light touch. I can't remember another book that handles the topic exactly that way.

Overall, this book feels like a slice of life, and I think that's my favorite thing about it. I don't believe Oliver and Luc are necessarily riding off into the sunset together, and that's okay. Only some of the non-romance-plot threads are resolved and not all in happy ways. That all feels realistic to me, and very sweet.

CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 5
Writing: 9
Plot: 5
Intrigue: 5
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8

Pros:
- Adorable characters: I loved Luc and Oliver they were such well fleshed out characters who had amazing personalities. And that isn't to mention the rest of the cast, especially Luc's band of friends, they added so much to the story and it made it so enjoyable
- Banter: Luc and Oliver are the kings of banter and there were lots of instances where I was laughing out loud at both their antics and how unbelievably ridiculous they were

Cons:
- Pacing: This book struggled in the middle in terms of pacing. I really struggled because I felt like we were at a standstill and the story was not progressing.
- Ending: I was really disappointed in the ending, it seemed very unfinished. I know there is a second book coming but I think this one would have benefited from one final chapter to do a better job of wrapping everything up.

I went back on forth on whether to give this a lower rating or not. While I enjoyed the story, the main character can just be such a thoughtless jerk that I hated him half the time. I absolutely loved Oliver, though – he deserved better, and I wish I could have gotten a story just about him and someone else who treated him wonderfully.

This book...ugh. I absolutely loved Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake so I decided to try Alexis Hall's other works. Clearly that didn't go well. 
I hated almost all of the characters with exception of Luc's mother. Oliver and Bridget were THE WORST. 
Oliver is definitely one of my least favorite love interests I have ever read about. This entire book made me so angry. There were one too many conflicts for my liking. Also, that entire plot-line with Luc's dad was...unnecessary??? I wish we'd just been told that he is an asshole and that'd been it because it went absolutely nowhere. I was just desperately waiting for it to end. Honestly, I kinda wanna forget about it. 

4.5 stars (rounding off to 5 since I enjoyed this too much) ✨

Should mention that I didn't like RWRB at all, this book was nothing like RWRB, and was loads better. If anything, it felt a bit more like Carry On (that I love).

(This book only copied off RWRB's cover design. The characters were way better, and so was the story. No American politics and I just didn't like anything in RWRB okie

4.5 stars, rounding down. I screenshotted so many passages from this to share on Twitter because this book kept making me laugh out loud while I read it. I'd call this more of a romantic comedy than a straight-up romance - it's first-person from Luc's POV and there's not much exploration of Oliver's baggage/situation until the last 75-100 pages. I loved basically every character in this (except the ones you're not supposed to love), especially Bridget and Luc's too-posh-to-live coworkers Alex and Rhys. (And Luc's mother and her Drag Race-obsessed friend, of course.)

Anyway. 4.5 stars instead of a full five because I thought the ending was pretty abrupt and this could've used a little bit of an epilogue for the happily-ever-after, but that's really my only nitpick. This was delightful.

This book...ugh. I absolutely loved Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake so I decided to try Alexis Hall's other works. Clearly that didn't go well.??
I hated almost all of the characters with exception of Luc's mother. Oliver and Bridget were THE WORST.??
Oliver is definitely one of my least favorite love interests I have ever read about. This entire book made me so angry. There were one too many conflicts for my liking. Also, that entire plot-line with Luc's dad was...unnecessary??? I wish we'd just been told that he is an asshole and that'd been it because it went absolutely nowhere. I was just desperately waiting for it to end. Honestly, I kinda wanna forget about it.??

I do believe my rating is mostly due to the narrator of this audiobook. I haven't laughed this hard while reading in a while. The cover had me believing it was gonna be a Red, White and Royal Blue knock-off but I was so wrong. I don't get why they put the union jack on the cover tbh, apart from the fact that the story takes place in London and everyone is British I guess. I'm glad I gave it a go. There were some bits that I didn't particularly like but overall it was a pretty awesome romcom and I loved the side characters. Any scene with Alex or Luc's mom and me rolling in stitches 😂 strongly recommend

Received an ARC on #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is being touted as the next Red, White & Royal Blue but honestly it doesn't pull me in the same way.

It was a fun read with some comedy but I just didn't fully believe the love story and some the humor didn't land the way it seemed to be intended?

Overall it was a good book but it definitely is not my favourite.

Boyfriend Material was honestly one of the best and most fun books I have read all year. It is a clever, hilarious, and moving slow burn queer romance full of delightful banter. It made me genuinely laugh out loud with no one around. The main characters are fully realized and incredibly lovable. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue.

This book got me all heart eyes. I absolutely loved it.
Boyfriend Material made me laugh out loud, cry, smile, be angry,...
In my opinion all characters were unique in their own way. Alex made me laugh most of the time, Lucien made me smile and cry and also laugh with how witty he is, plus he's super relatable.
Hall's writing style is very quick to read. It's clear that a lot of effort has been put in the emotional aspects of this book, the humour aspects of this book, the love aspects of this book,...
I think this might be one of my favourite books of 2020.

“Someone else's actions may affect you. But what other people choose to do is about them.”

Fake relationship trope? Say no more.

This was so cute and had me laughing on multiple occasions. The banter between Oliver and Luc actually reminded me a lot of Red, White & Royal Blue and that was super fun for me.

Complicated relationships with fathers is something a lot of people can relate to. I understand that not all of our fathers are rockstars but the sentiment of having an estranged father wanting to be a father only on their terms is still relatable and heartbreaking to all people who read this or endure it in real life. I'm happy that there wasn't a redemption arc or an attempt to make us feel somewhat sympathetic for Jon.

I have a lot of words when it comes to Oliver's parents but all I am going to say is and mind my words for a moment, they are pieces of shits.

I would've liked if the romance was given more time to develop but overall, I really enjoyed this!

Loved it. Loved how they're so different yet fit so wonderfully. Loved how they can be so goddamn awkward (because that's just relatable af). Loved how things were never easy and they got through things together as a couple and together with their lovely ever-present friends. Loved how they challenged everything and went back and forth and apologized and moved on. Loved it all. Just wish there was more.

Ich mochte das Buch und auch die Story sehr gerne, war erst skeptisch wegen Fake Dating das finde ich manchmal etwas unrealistisch, aber hier hat es mir sehr gut gefallen.
Ich fand Luc und Oliver sehr sehr toll und fand sie haben sich gemeinsam toll entwickelt.
5 Sterne ist es nicht geworden, weil ich fand das an manchen stellen Humor eingeworfen wurde wo ich es nicht so passend fand und dadurch manche Emotionen nicht richtig durchgekommen sind.
Ich habe es aber sonst geliebt und freue mich schon auf 07/22 und den 2 Band

3.5 stars.

I didn't really like Luc in the beginning but by the end, I liked his and Oliver's relationship. However, I never fully got invested in their romance, partly because they were constantly breaking up. By the final chapters, I wasn't entirely sure their relationship would survive, they were both too eager to throw in the towel any time they encountered an obstacle. After their final reconciliation, it crossed my mind that they were likely to be that on-again, off-again couple that irritated all their friends and finally broke up after 10 years of turbulent coupledom.

All that said, I liked that Luc's father wasn't magically turned into a present dad. It seemed a realistic portrayal of their relationship. Finally, I hated Bridget, I know that I am likely to be in the minority here but I couldn't stand her.