Boyfriend Material

Here’s the TLDR version of my review: I liked Boyfriend Material so much that as soon as I finished, I pre-ordered a paperback copy, and I intend to get the Audible edition too. In the interest of full disclosure, I pre-ordered the Kindle edition back in December, but buying all three versions of a book is a rarity for me and something I only do for my most favorite books.If you want an actual review, here you go:Luc O’Donnell is a bit of a hot mess. He’s always been vaguely famous because his parents are famous, but now that his estranged rock star dad is back in the spotlight, that means there’s more of an interest in what Luc is doing.And that’s a problem because Luc is a bit of a hot mess. He needs a boyfriend to help give him the appearance of normalcy. His friend sets him up with Oliver, who is super super normal and the complete opposite of a hot mess.Fortunately for Luc, Oliver also needs a boyfriend to take to a big event, so they agree to be fake boyfriends until both of their big events are over, and then they’ll “break up” and go their separate ways.But OMG, guess what? Over the course of pretending to be fake boyfriends, Luc begins to develop real feelings, and maybe—just maybe—Oliver might feel the same way, which is completely ridiculous because they have almost nothing in common other than being gay.Romances tend to be dual-perspective, but in Boyfriend Material, the story unfolds from Luc’s first-person perspective. Hall does this a lot with his romances, and this device always works to strengthen the narrative. Knowing what the love interest is thinking would take away from some of the mystery; the reader only knows what the protagonist knows.In this specific instance, it works out especially well because Luc is super funny and Oliver is boring. I don’t mean that in a negative sense—I absolutely love Oliver—but he has his life together and his life is a series of predictable routines, until Luc comes along of course. I think having Oliver’s perspective would make him seem like less of the Ideal that he’s presented as being,On that note, there’s some interesting discourse on Good Gay vs. Bad Gay. It’s kind of like Goofus and Gallant from Highlights Magazine: Good Gays work as barristers and Bad Gays are photographed drunk in the gutter. To be more specific, Oliver’s homosexuality is tolerated more by society because he blends in and doesn’t do anything scandalous, whereas Luc is Scandal Personified and a cause for concern for the donors to the charitable organization he works at. Of course, Luc's harmful rhetoric is deconstructed over the course of the novel, and Oliver helps him understand that he's not a person just because he's been in the tabloids.I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this book employs the “sunshine vs grump” trope because Luc has too much baggage to be a sunshine, although he is a lot of fun and I loved his sense of humor. Oliver, however, is definitely a bit of a grump, so it was simply delightful seeing these two opposites being forced to work together.Hall always does such a good job with secondary characters, and this book is no exception. From Luc’s French mum who has developed an affinity for Drag Race to Luc’s frightfully dim ex-public schoolboy Alex Twaddle, the secondary characters not only served as excellent foils for giving the reader insight into Luc’s personality, but they also stood well on their own, even when they weren’t interacting with Luc.I would absolutely recommend Boyfriend Material. I love all of Hall’s books, but this is probably one of my most favorites. As I mentioned at the beginning, I will soon be the proud owner of three different versions of the same book, and if that’s not a sign of a good book, I don’t know what is.

Going into this book, I wasn’t sure I was liking it. The writing was a bit much, and it felt like the book wasn’t taking itself seriously enough (in the sense of really stupid dialogue and weird tangents) but after Oliver gets introduced , the book starts to pick up. I started understanding the extreme writing style and the weird tangents the book was going on. I started looking forward to reading the book and had nights of little sleep staying up to read it. The relationship between luc and Oliver is really sweet and honest, and in ways I relate to both characters. This book was very enjoyable, and I will now proceed to reading its sequel.

Though I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of this book for the purpose of review, I had so much faith that I’d like it that I preordered it for myself the instant I heard it was being published. And I’m thrilled that I did, because Boyfriend Material is a marvelous gift of a story. Having said that, I had to rework quite a bit of what I’d originally written, since, as has been the case with everything else I’ve read by Mr. Hall, there was more to consider than was initially evident.On its surface, Boyfriend Material is an absolutely hilarious tale about two people falling in love. I can honestly affirm that I haven’t laughed this hard while reading a story in years. Not just a random snort or giggle, either. I mean the eye-watering, tea-aspirating laughter that’s rare enough to be kind of magical. And laughing that much was so welcome and felt so good that I’m still grateful I was able to have it.While Luc and Oliver certainly have their share of funny moments together, Boyfriend Material wouldn’t be as wonderful without the vast majority of the additional characters. It won’t even do any good to name my favorites, since the list would just keep growing until I’d included nearly every one. Save for Bridget, who gets a special mention because—she’s Bridget. Still, I thought they were riotously diverting and bright and glorious, and the difference between them and the few that were fairly loathsome was unquestionably stark.I think what makes the comedic elements even better is that, though they own a significant place in the story, they are never used to trivialize the other matters of the heart the main characters are navigating. Luc and Oliver are so different that there are legitimate reasons to assume their relationship can’t possibly work. Except that it very much does—wonderfully so. Where I believe they’re similar, however, is that their most pressing problem doesn’t seem to be a mutual struggle to love, but to allow themselves to be loved.Despite having very different histories of hurts and betrayals, the resulting wariness and skepticism was much the same for Oliver and Luc, and broke my heart for them both. Luc’s preferred means of self-defense is to stick to casual sex and be generally and preemptively awful, while Oliver doesn’t seem to do casual anything and hides behind a diligently maintained exhibition of control. Regardless of the catalysts, Luc and Oliver share a certainty that being themselves within a fictitious relationship is safer and therefore preferable to the inevitability of a “real” relationship failing because who they truly are can’t possibly be good enough.With a completely graceless turn back to the positive aspects of Boyfriend Material, I have to mention that there’s also a delightfully generous reference to Welcome to Night Vale that I literally squealed about and may eventually admit to doing a happy dance over.I’m always thrilled when an anticipated story not only meets, but surpasses my expectations, and Boyfriend Material did just that with room to spare. Luc and Oliver were an irresistible (if occasionally obscenity-engendering) pleasure, and I ended up thoroughly swoony for them both. Though it wasn’t easy in places, I had a genuinely good time reviewing it and maintain that it was worth every pang of my heart. As much as I appreciated all the different aspects of the narrative (particularly laughing until my back hurt), reading Boyfriend Material made me very happy. I hope it will do the same for someone else.

Então esse livro me fez rir, chorar, em determinado momento fiquei com um pouco de tesão, e em determinado momento tive vontade de quebrar tudo. Acho que a Boyfriend Material se beneficiou bastante da comparação com Red White e Royal Blue nas listas de "se você gosta de x, experimente y"O livro chegou com um leve amassado na capa!

Bought this books as I kept seeing it everywhere and the cover art intrigued me. Fell in love; it was so funny. The day I finished it I ordered 'Husband Material.' Then after I was done with that one I went out and bough '10 Things that Never Happened.' Before I even finished 10 Things I had already bough 'Glitterland' and 'Waiting for the Flood.' I have not started on those two yet (I am currently reading a murder mystery a friend recommended), but I am looking forward to getting back into Alexis Hall's world.Alexis Hall's writing feels a lot to me like the British comedies I grew up with and still enjoy: Blackadder, Are You Being Served, and even The IT Crowd. The characters and situations are ridiculous, but they work within that world. The ridiculous does not take away from the heart nor from really connecting to the characters and their lives. The ridiculous just makes you giggle out loud... even when reading the book while waiting for your specialist appointment (yeah I got looks). Don't think the book is all fun, the emotions still hit when the fear and heartache happens.

Me gustó mucho que aunque es un libro romántico, irónicamente no romantiza ciertos temas y en realidad no es que los problemas de los personajes se resuelvan por el poder del amor si no que deja muy claro que es algo en lo que se tiene que trabajar de manera individual

Amazing book with relatable characters and very witty narratives. It's a definite page turner and an easy read as well. Kudos to Alexis Hall for giving me a lot of spontaneous laugh out loud moments and making me feel and reflect.

This was so much fun, I laughed out loud at nearly each and every page, especially because the narrator, Luc, can't help but crack (often self-deprecating) jokes and puns every other thing he says. The story is intriguing but I was also just happy to keep reading because Luc & its interactions with other people are fun to read. Both main characters have their flaws and quirks , and they often may seem to behave immaturely, but you could also interpret some behaviours as their own non-optimal way to cope with past traumas. Their friends are fun, well-developed characters too, and they really add their own specific charms to the story. Luc's and Oliver's families are less enjoyable and some conflicts are in part still unresolved by the end of the book, those threads of the stories possibly to be continued in the second book of the series, which I am looking forward to reading.