Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

68 reviews

thefatpaperback's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia and Eating disorder

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

Oh my gosh, where to begin with this one! I'd been hearing nothing but great things about this book on Instagram, and after discovering it was free on Spotify, I figured I'd give it a shot. I wasn't sure I was going to make it though, as Lucien is such a pessimistic narrator, especially at the beginning. I figured I'd push on, since so many folks had such good things to say, I figured it had to get better. And it did!! Firstly, I give HUGE kudos to Joe Jameson as an audiobook narrator. Not only did every character have a distinct voice, so you knew who was talking at any given time, but he even used different enunciation to distinguish the James Royce-Royce's so you knew which anyone was referring to at any given time.

Now, on to our wonderful garbage fire of a narrator Luc. As I said, he was so unlikeable at first. He was so despondent that it was clear why he had such a hard time connecting with anyone, even his friends (the ever changing What's App group name was a hilarious running gag). I'm pretty sure I liked Oliver from the start, despite his prickly introduction. He came off as the kind of person who was "Always Right" and although he didn't rub it in your face, also couldn't stand to not correct an error or mistake, if only because he wouldn't want anyone to think he also thought that misinformation was correct. I wasn't expecting, however, for Oliver to also want in on the "fake relationship" deal.

It was clear from early on, Oliver was having real feelings for Luc pretty quickly and he was so panicky about it. He was trying to build up walls so hard and so fast because he clearly had a lot of big feelings, and Luc was being self-defeatist and caught up in his own shit for so long it took him forever to realize he had those big feelings too! I spent a lot of my listening time flapping about in the car to and from work, faux crying about how much they liked each other and they just didn't know it yet!!

I LOVED Luc's mother and she was just the right person to help Luc get out of his own way. I adored Oliver throwing himself at Luc after seeing he [Luc] cleaned his apartment for him [Oliver] and Luc feeling briefly clueless at that moment. But then my heart SHATTERED at seeing how Oliver's parents treated him at their anniversary party!!! I totally get Oliver's mindset of, "they supported me and loved me, and it may not have always been perfect, but they're my family" but BEBE THEY'RE ABUSIVE!! Oh my heart, my poor, sweet bean Oliver. Seeing him fall completely apart after the party and realize no one had ever been there to help him pick up those pieces after an event like that was so heart breaking. I wanted to crawl inside the book and just give him the biggest hug and tell him it was going to be OK.

I definitely wasn't expecting to fall so madly in love with these two adorable train wrecks, and I loved how wildly different they were and how different their issues were from each other. I am SO EXCITED to learn that the sequel is only a few months away and I can't wait to see these two numbskulls navigate their for-real relationship a bit more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

maregred's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Homophobia

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Eating disorder

Minor: Toxic relationship and Panic attacks/disorders

aaminak's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, and Toxic relationship

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

3.5

Overall a cute romance, with fake dating which is one of my fave tropes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer, Classism, Racism, Eating disorder, Drug use, and Fatphobia

dani_reis's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Clearly written by a straight female. There are some toxic relationship traits heavily throughout. It's a book about two guys who have relationship problems trying to fake a good relationship. They go through a lot, so it's a bit of a rollercoaster. It had some potential to be a 4 star, but there were enough times that made me cringe (a lot of homophobia that isn't really addressed), it isn't something I'd reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

casey_sunshine's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship

kayladaila's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Homophobia, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Body shaming

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Classism, and Alcohol

marylinaris's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

This book was recommended to me based on my love for the Bridget Jones movies and they were 100% right and I love this book to pieces. I can’t really say too much about this book except gush about the characters, the love story and the fun I had with it. 

Luc was fun, relatable and a overall great protagonist. Oliver was a perfect love interest and I really related to some of the things he was struggling with. Their romance, even though it was a agreed upon fake dating scheme in the beginning, did not feel forced. It was fun and they really worked together. (A bitchy part of me always looks at the couples in romance novels and estimates how long they will stay together ... so for these two I’d like invitations to the wedding, the gold anniversary and their shared funeral in advance please!) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

veronicantonsen's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Cursing

Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Cancer, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse