It’s absolutely baffling to use an easily disproved legal myth as the way to establish the cleverness of your lawyer character. For anyone wondering, no, you cannot avoid a theft charge by waiting to form the intent not to pay for your meal until after you’ve eaten the food. The queer community in general is under the microscope in society right now, and conversations about what is perceived by others to be acceptable are important for all the varied and diverse LGBTQ community members. Queerness looks different on different people, and despite whatever projections and stereotypes exist in public spaces, there is no one right way to be gay. Luc conveniently constantly kept forgetting that he is with Oliver. The amount of times he would go like "Oh I am so alone, woe is me" only to remember "Oh shit, I actually have a wonderful boyfriend at home" was ridiculous and annoying I generally LOVE sequel books even when most people don’t, and I just don’t recommend it. Re-read Boyfriend Material instead and you’ll be happier for it. Make it make sense. It’s as though Luc has pieced together buzzwords he found on the internet to make this word soup of ideas that are ultimately meaningless or nonsensical, or both. In this book, gender identity isn’t handled with care. It’s not respected and instead it’s used as a punchline again and again. And as an agender person, I can say that I’m not impressed. I’m not just a little bit angry and I am just a little bit hurt.

An absolute joy. This is at once a delightful and absurd romcom (I have said before, Alexis Hall does romcoms like Richard Curtis might if Richard Curtis was good) and a really intense, moving love story, and a deep dive into some of the thorny issues of queer identity and belonging. The fact that all three fit together seamlessly is just...gah. Luc is so goddamn immature. this man never thinks before he speaks. or during. or after. Oliver isn't much better cause he also never opens his goddamn mouth. Those two are in their thirties god damn it, you would think they would have enough emotional and cognitive maturity to maybe sit down in advance and go "do we... actually want to get married?" This is essentially the first half of the book. The second half is born out of Luc’s reaction to the events I just mentioned. Cue mysterious song. Luc’s number one concern in any situation is how things looks to other people, not what’s best for him as a person (much less Oliver, who’s a total afterthought the entire book). Similarly, he wishes Oliver had been on time to Bridge’s bachelorette party because then he could have “had proof” to show Miles that his life is good now, and he wants to go to Miles’s wedding to “show my ex-boyfriend, my ex-boyfriend’s fiancé I’d met once, and a bunch of strangers that I was free and happy and over it and moving on with my new, infinitely better boyfriend.”Honestly, it started out a little wobbly (I really didn’t care for how obnoxious Bridge was in the first section and how easily Luc discarded Oliver) but eventually it seemed to find its footing - for a while. It was very up and down, but had a lot of interesting things to say in between the plot bits, as most Alexis Hall books do, and I loved that! Then it just kind of… crashed and burned. The funeral section was good and things started looking up. And then it all fell apart. This book is also still all from Luc’s first-person POV. Unfortunately, we get nothing from Oliver’s POV. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a single POV book, and sometimes it works. But probably less so with this sequel than the first book by keeping it to only one perspective. You really lose out on connecting with Oliver’s character. Alexis Hall has published over thirty books since 2013, most of them are published as serial books. Boyfriend Material is one of the books in London Calling and also includes Husband Material (2022), 10 Things That Never Happened (coming 2023), Father Material (coming 2024), and London Calling #5 (announced). Basic Information About Boyfriend Material

the whole debate is basically about how Luc is very much into the whole expressing your identity with rainbows everywhere and over the top parties while Oliver simply does not care and feels a bit uncomfortable by the whole thing Instead, I get the feeling these two have never spoken in their lives. The first time either of them brings up maybe they don't want a wedding or to be married is right beforehand? For Luc, it was the middle of the night before the wedding and he tells his best friend Bridget and not Oliver at all and then decides to go through with the wedding anyway and never once considers talking to Oliver. For Oliver, it's right before their wedding ceremony is meant to start but he, at least, has the decency to tell Luc to his face. Unfortunately, this is regressive Luc we are talking about, so Luc gets incredibly butthurt and throws actual garbage at Oliver who is crying and makes Oliver explain why he doesn't want to get married to Luc when Luc had come to the same realization only hours before! What IS THIS??? It isn't romance and it isn't making me look forward to their next book. We will now pretend that Boyfriend Material is the sole book in this series, as god intended. If anyone objects, speak now or forever hold your peace.You may now kiss Boyfriend Material on it's pretty (...probably more like above average, but it's what on the inside that counts) cover. Luc: That’s homophobic. Why are you so uncomfortable with yourself? You’re rejecting a core part of my identity. Boyfriend Material was written in the style of 90s romcoms, and this was Hall’s take specifically on Four Weddings and a Funeral. I know it was part of the style but I personally wish he would have toned down the ridiculousness of the antics in the early part of the book. There were mishaps and bad judgement calls being made merely to drive the plot but I didn’t appreciate the result of these bad calls because they almost invariably ended up hurting Oliver who is the last person who deserves to be hurt or taken for granted. Herman, Lily (31 December 2020). "Don't Sleep On The Best Romance Novels Of 2020". Bustle. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023 . Retrieved 19 February 2022.

Our favourite chaos demon & stern brunch daddy return in this delicious, ridiculous, and often poignant romcom about all the ways love can grow.” < that is the Very Professional Official Opinion I will send to this book’s publisher. It took me a few days to get that by refining the following initial reaction > “dhfksjdhsl what the HELL oh my GOD how does Alexis DO THIS why do I have all these FEELINGS somebody HELP.” Whichever way you slice it (or phrase it) one thing’s for sure: this book is a six-star read.

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Hall calls himself "genrequeer" because he has written so many types of escapist romances, from rom-coms to historical books. But they are united in containing characters across the queer spectrum. I am very conscious of the fact that many Alexis Hall fans today, especially new fans who found him through his recent work, engage with the queer community only through or primarily through his work. As a queer person, I find this deeply concerning because many of the ideas presented in this book are patently false. I honestly regret reading this book. It added absolutely nothing to Luc and Oliver’s story, and the ending here just makes this entire book feel pointless. Yes, there’s a lesson at the end, but paired with an abrupt ending and trying too hard to hammer a point home to readers? The characters just lost their magic for me with this book. Book three isn’t even about Luc and Oliver, so the ending here feels even less satisfying than the ending we got in Boyfriend Material.

Luc proposes out of nowhere while Oliver is cleaning for god's sake. Oliver later on says he couldn't say no because he could see "what it cost him to ask". and what did it cost him exactly? the last quarter of his last brain cell? this was... one of the worst books i've ever read. i'm so sorry. the prose is totally fine. the characters are, i suppose, true to themselves from the first book. Born in England, Alexis Hall is an English novelist who’s good at writing urban fantasy, science fiction, and m/m romance. Alexis Hall is a pseudonym, and it has been used for nearly a decade. Sometimes, Alex will also go by Alexis J. Hall (AJH) for fun. He doesn’t work as a full-time writer, instead, he has a day job that he also loves pretty much. Alexis has held a variety of jobs, such as ice cream maker, fortune teller, lab technician, and professional gambler. and at the same time, we’re taken down a path that is so fresh and unexpected. as a queer person, this book wedged itself in my heart. it was so unexpected and when it hit me, i broke down. i still lie awake at night thinking about it.

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The entirety of part four is about grief and how do you mourn or sort out your feelings towards someone if they’ve never quite loved you for being YOU? I wouldn’t say this was an absolutely devastating section of the book to read, but I did feel like I didn’t get proper warning for it. And then the story just DRAGS. There is a very long speech at the funeral itself that seems to go on forever, and I’m sorry but I just started skimming. It felt like it was never, ever going to end. There are no breaks in the speech, so it’s just one very long Shakespearean monologue I’m afraid. I’m sure this would’ve been better in audio? Maybe? But I read this in text, and I was over it. Overall, I did enjoy much of the book. I laughed out loud MANY times and smiled through so much of it. In the course of the story, both Luc and Oliver end up standing up for themselves in various circumstances to people who definitely had it coming and it is ever so satisfying! I was so proud of them in these moments. It just had way too many problems and parts that made NO sense for me to be able to recommend it. Luc & Oliver deserved better than this. And so did we.