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sirenricobooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Homophobia, Bullying, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
kathis_wonderland's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am still not over how much that book excited me. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is the first book in the London Calling series. Luc is looking for a fake boyfriend to make him look like one of the good gays. Oliver is the perfect match, but they actually don't like each other. Or so they think.
This book was a roller-coaster of feelings. The first five chapters were really not my cup of tea. I was thinking what the hell I've gotten myself into. Luc really annoyed me (and did throughout the whole book). He is 28 years old, but behaves like an unreasonable teenager. No communication, being annoying, only seeing the worst in everything and being quite mean to his friends and other people. He behaved more like a 17-year-old. BUT THEN Oliver came along. And I feel in love with this book.
I can't even describe all the emotions I felt while reading. I was jumping up and down with this book in my hands, had the biggest smile on my face and couldn't regulate my feelings at all. Still not sure what happened there. I just know that I want an Oliver in my life. He is pretentious and just so intelligent, but he is so wonderful. Both Luc and Oliver really do have their personal problems and they are the opposite of each other. But they fit so well together. They brought out the best in the other and had each other’s backs. I ROOTED FOR THEM! As soon as their fake relationship started, I started to love this book. It's by far one of my favourites now. It made me feel so happy!
This book blew me away. I did not expect to love it that much, but I can't help myself. It's one of my favourite books now. I can't wait to read the next book!
This book was a roller-coaster of feelings. The first five chapters were really not my cup of tea. I was thinking what the hell I've gotten myself into. Luc really annoyed me (and did throughout the whole book). He is 28 years old, but behaves like an unreasonable teenager. No communication, being annoying, only seeing the worst in everything and being quite mean to his friends and other people. He behaved more like a 17-year-old. BUT THEN Oliver came along. And I feel in love with this book.
I can't even describe all the emotions I felt while reading. I was jumping up and down with this book in my hands, had the biggest smile on my face and couldn't regulate my feelings at all. Still not sure what happened there. I just know that I want an Oliver in my life. He is pretentious and just so intelligent, but he is so wonderful. Both Luc and Oliver really do have their personal problems and they are the opposite of each other. But they fit so well together. They brought out the best in the other and had each other’s backs. I ROOTED FOR THEM! As soon as their fake relationship started, I started to love this book. It's by far one of my favourites now. It made me feel so happy!
This book blew me away. I did not expect to love it that much, but I can't help myself. It's one of my favourite books now. I can't wait to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content and Cancer
Minor: Eating disorder
lalu's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was perfect! Exactly what I needed right now!
I wanted something lighthearted and all the side characters are so over-the-top in the best way possible so that was perfect. But also everything between Luc and Oliver was so so good and pure and ugh I love it! (probably helped that I'm newly in love myself)
And I'm honestly in awe of Hall's ability to make this not extremely cringy. So good!
I wanted something lighthearted and all the side characters are so over-the-top in the best way possible so that was perfect. But also everything between Luc and Oliver was so so good and pure and ugh I love it! (probably helped that I'm newly in love myself)
And I'm honestly in awe of Hall's ability to make this not extremely cringy. So good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness
Minor: Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Toxic relationship
knockoffrainbow's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Body shaming
livlamentloathe's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Okay, okay, okay. This was a lot and a half. I have thoughts.
Pro’s:
Pro’s:
- When they were actually being semi-serious boyfriends, post-dinner with the two rich dummies, Oliver and Luc were super cute and sweet
- I appreciated the idea of the bathroom door and Luc vocalizing his fear/longing for intimacy
- Luc’s mom and Judy — who totally should’ve been in love but oh well
- James Royce Royce and James Royce Royce (spelling? I listened to the audiobook so who’s to say?) — at first this annoyed me but by the end, I found the whole bit hilarious
- Luc’s friends helping him clean
- Bridgette’s work emergencies and terminal lateness
- I cried for a bit in the middle when Oliver and Luc were super cute and boyfriendy and so caring for one another at the gala! Luc’s need for support mirrored my own there so it was personal watching him be cared for in just the way he needed.
- The realism of Luc’s absentee father being shit still and not deserving Luc. I also liked that Luc didn’t let him off lightly at any point despite “having cancer.”
Con’s:
- But on the other hand: Luc’s dad. First because, it was unnecessary for him not to have cancer in the end! I’d have preferred an explanation like the doctor misread an X-Ray, or some meds were working and he’d be okay, or there was a surgery option with a high success rate! Anything but “oh that was an overdramatic lie”
- And further: his whole bit was so random. Somehow despite never being in Luc’s life, and Luc being more or less a random, the paps cared about Luc like he was a dang Kardashian. Instead of like… idk I pictured Howard Stern but if Stern was a narcissist rocker Lennon-type who lived to have a sad pithy comeback on The Voice. And he cares aww, then shows time and time and time and time again he doesn’t care, then ghosts again. If it looks like a duck…
- Tom????? No proper explanation for the status of Luc’s relationship with him, what it had been, why it ended, how he picked Luc’s friend over Luc? And the lack of proper understanding for Luc’s feelings post-relationship! Of course he’s bitter and sad!!!! Who wouldn’t be in that situation?! (That said, he seemed to be the only character with his head on “straight”)
- The ending, the ending, the fucking ending!!!!
- How defensive and snappy and mean Oliver was at and after Luc met his family! Especially after Oliver had practically begged for a game plan and Oliver hadn’t said anything to warn him!!
- The rude guy at the pub in the first scene being overly offended by Luc making the REALISTIC assumption a journalist would want to write about him! Then Luc was in so much mental conflict and dragging himself through the mud for being anxious and not wanting to be exposed again and said journalist acted like Luc was a narcissist for even making a joke about it! THEN having the fucking GALL to write about it!!!!!!!!!!! You can’t fucking act offended when someone thinks you’re using them for a story and then turn around and use them for a fucking story!!! What a fucking jackass.
- Oliver’s awful friends and awful awful family!!! The family were sincerely fucked up people, but how could Oliver let them talk about Luc like that??! It’s one thing that he let them tear into him, that’s a personal issue based on clear trauma and toxic familial abuse, but it bothered me that he was okay with Luc being the back-up target for defending Oliver!
- The idiots Oliver worked with! They were characatures of people! Reese (Rhys?) was one thing. He was a believable older man who shouldn’t be in charge of socials and was bumbling his way through it. But the other guy was such a fucking idiot that it’s beyond me how he even had a job! How can you be both that inept and so up and up with society-folk???????? Was this an obvious metaphor I missed? All in all, the only good bit of them for me was when Luc told the joke about the interrupting cow.
- THE HOMOPHOBIA!!! I could not connect with Luc’s desire to work at that company. It’d have been one thing if there was a micro-aggression and he needed the job. But he didn’t seem to need the work considering his rich dad, and mom living off royalties!! There was too much homophobia and him wanting to work there was beyond me. He should’ve quit. He should’ve sued them.
- I hated how all the homophobes got away with it. Like the queer characters would acknowledge it was homophobic after the fact (or mentally during) but rarely did anyone answer for their own ignorance! And this is re: cis white gay men. They were the first group of lgbtq+ to be palatable to the public, so there’s no real excuse! Luc stayed at and actively helped his homophobic boss. And bent over backward to make a bunch of other rich homophobes happy! Gross af.
- Luc’s self-awareness was frustrating. He’d think the right thing and say something bananas or just not say anything at all! It was so frustrating.
- Their communication was just bad. Most of the problems could’ve been solved with one honest conversation. How are we supposed to believe in the romantic ending when they broke up like 5 times during the book??
- The intensity of Oliver’s breakup with Luc. It floored me cause it seemed out of nowhere! Beyond their clear communication issues and the family thing, Oliver had not been anything less than loving and all in, and then he just up and decides it’s over? Sorry but it felt forced. It wasn’t organic enough to be believable.
- And THEN: Luc was made to jump through hoops and run an entire obstacle course (by his friends who were not being helpful kind nudgers trying to match make, but instead were brutal, harsh, and way too overly-involved. Good outside intervention would've been Bridge (?) giving Oliver a scolding or trying to help them communicate. Not kidnapping Luc and locking him out of the car to force him to beg Oliver back!! Oliver DUMPED Luc. Oliver should be the grand-gesture-er. Not Luc. I was so frustrated by the whole thing at that point. Much too frustrated to think the ending was romantic. I cannot believe they won’t just break up for good post-book.
Anyway, most of my thoughts are specific to spoilers. But my tldr/you haven’t read the book review is: The romantic relationship of the two central characters was plagued by poor communication, assumptions, and a desperate need to see a therapist (3 therapists—one each for them as individuals and another for them as a couple). The background characters are such bananas caricatures of humans, that they read as cartoonishly mean, dumb, and self-obsessed. I think they were meant to be jovially mean with the implication that Luc isn’t good to them so it’s mutual, but in my opinion, they just sucked. Sorry that was very mean.
If you want a simple book with stereotypical relationship problems, gay romance (that feels written by a str8 despite that very much not being the case??), and a sweet if not dragged out plot, this may be for you. Oh an actual selling point is that if you want a romance that’s entire plot is about the romance, and the subplot is so sub that it’s barely plot, read this! We’ve all been there. Sometimes you read SJM for the dreamy str8 faeries and sometimes you read a fluff romance book without a plot—escapism is escapism!
I’m mean.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Cancer, Abandonment, and Homophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Eating disorder
athenathestorier's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
What happens when two broken-down men enter into a fake relationship of mutual benefit? This humorous novel tells us. It tells us that love might not cure all, and definitely not overnight, but having someone to support you, defend you, cheer for you, and be there through the rough parts definitely helps - whether that be a complementary-opposite romantic partner, a gaggle of teasing and sarcastic friends, or family members that show unconditional love. It shows that healing dominoes into a variety of parts of your life. It shows that not all single-parent families are a mess, nor that all happily-married-parent homes are healthy.
I'm all for these valuable messages, especially in the way that they wove together throughout the book. I also loved the reoccurring scenes where Luc tries to tell his literal-minded coworker(s) jokes, before having to give up with promises to do better next time. It was a quirk that I surprisingly enjoyed, and reminded me of the energy found in old sitcoms. It was all relatable and humorous, and sometimes I even laughed out loud. Also, did I spot a QPR in there?
But the same sarcasm and wit that Luc used to keep people from getting too close, also kept us readers from getting too emotionally attached. It made the moments of conflict, climaxes, and even romantic moments felt rather muted. In fact, I feel like I was more consistently onboard with the friendships and mother-son moments than the romance. But that might also be because of the pacing: the first climax happened around 50% into the book, and was resolved quickly. The final climax happened at 90% of the book and, on behalf of being so close to the end, felt rather easily resolved as well.
In another old sitcom-like gesture, we also get some supporting characters who had about 1/4 of a functioning braincell - so much so that they struggled to follow simple lines of conversations. This is a particular character archetype that I've personally never been fond of and rather forgot that it existed.
Memorable Quotes:
"I've never seen the point of fancy dress parties. You have two choices: either you make a massive effort and wind up looking like a disk, or you make no effort and wind up looking like a dick. And my problem, as always, was not knowing what kind of dick I wanted to be."
"Someone else's actions may affect you. But what other people choose to do is about them."
"Will it ever stop hurting?"
"Non." Mum shook her head. "But it will stop mattering."
"Are we really bad at this?" I asked. "We've been fake broken up once."
"Yes, but we fake resolved our difficulties and fake got back together, and I'm hoping it's made us fake stronger."
"Awkward as this is, I like to feel that 'slightly more friends than you can fit around your table' is exactly the right number of friends to have."
I'm all for these valuable messages, especially in the way that they wove together throughout the book. I also loved the reoccurring scenes where Luc tries to tell his literal-minded coworker(s) jokes, before having to give up with promises to do better next time. It was a quirk that I surprisingly enjoyed, and reminded me of the energy found in old sitcoms. It was all relatable and humorous, and sometimes I even laughed out loud. Also, did I spot a QPR in there?
But the same sarcasm and wit that Luc used to keep people from getting too close, also kept us readers from getting too emotionally attached. It made the moments of conflict, climaxes, and even romantic moments felt rather muted. In fact, I feel like I was more consistently onboard with the friendships and mother-son moments than the romance. But that might also be because of the pacing: the first climax happened around 50% into the book, and was resolved quickly. The final climax happened at 90% of the book and, on behalf of being so close to the end, felt rather easily resolved as well.
In another old sitcom-like gesture, we also get some supporting characters who had about 1/4 of a functioning braincell - so much so that they struggled to follow simple lines of conversations. This is a particular character archetype that I've personally never been fond of and rather forgot that it existed.
Memorable Quotes:
"I've never seen the point of fancy dress parties. You have two choices: either you make a massive effort and wind up looking like a disk, or you make no effort and wind up looking like a dick. And my problem, as always, was not knowing what kind of dick I wanted to be."
"Someone else's actions may affect you. But what other people choose to do is about them."
"Will it ever stop hurting?"
"Non." Mum shook her head. "But it will stop mattering."
"Are we really bad at this?" I asked. "We've been fake broken up once."
"Yes, but we fake resolved our difficulties and fake got back together, and I'm hoping it's made us fake stronger."
"Awkward as this is, I like to feel that 'slightly more friends than you can fit around your table' is exactly the right number of friends to have."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Sexual content
offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cancer, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
mousmoulo's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
between some of the cringiest sentences i've ever read, oliver speaking like he was ai generated, luc being sincerely insufferable in the first half and the worst 3rd-act breakup of all time—this was surprisingly enjoyable lol
also it was pretty fucking funny i won't lie (though i will say, it's a very british-sitcom-y type of humour that probably isn't everyone's cup of tea). still deeply unsure why, but the sentence "with his guitar cradled on his knee like it was a dying lamb" made me laugh so hard i cried and i still can't think about it without cracking up
also it was pretty fucking funny i won't lie (though i will say, it's a very british-sitcom-y type of humour that probably isn't everyone's cup of tea). still deeply unsure why, but the sentence "with his guitar cradled on his knee like it was a dying lamb" made me laugh so hard i cried and i still can't think about it without cracking up
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Homophobia and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
eidal's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Cursing
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Minor: Eating disorder and Sexual harassment
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I enjoyed this book after about the 30% mark, before then Luc was annoying and pretty hard not to scream at in your head. But by the end, I loved him and Oliver even if I occasionally wanted to slap them upside your heads. I would have liked more spice! But I know if you wish to have a mainstream M/M romance you can't usually get too graphic with that. In the end, I enjoyed it and laughed a lot, as well as cried a bit too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Classism, Cursing, Alcohol, and Abandonment
Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship