Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Husband Material

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Husband Material by Alexis Hall

22 reviews

levilore_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! It had a lot of great moments, but be aware that it is very different in vibes from the first book. Rather than Boyfriend Material which was much more "fanfic trope" this book deals with what it is actually like being in an adult relationship, what queer love means, marriage as an institution, and grief. It had a lot of amazing moments, but didn't have the iron grip on my heart like the first book, which honestly worked well for the plot/themes. Had some moments that genuinely made me yell out loud from excitement and other times I fully started crying. I only knocked it down a few points because the beginning was a bit slow for my taste.

Now the ending.

I saw other reviews saying they hated this book because the ending was so disappointing and frustrating. I see where people are coming from, the whole build up to the wedding and then for them to not even get married was somewhat disappointing plus the last chapter felt a bit rushed. However, I do not think the ending didn't make sense and I believe many people missed the point of this story.

Throughout the different weddings, Luc and Oliver obviously have different opinions about what marriage means and in Oliver's case, he is still figuring out what being queer means for him. The other weddings celebrate the joy of marriage and how individualized the experience is for each couple. My main takeaway from the book was that for Luc and Oliver, the act of marriage isn't, well, that important. For them, not being married is more important because it's an act of protest. Neither of them really talk about why they want to be married, rather they are both focused on the expectations that they should want to get married. They already do all the things that a life partner does for each other. Luc shows this when he supports Oliver through his dad's death. Oliver supports Luc when they go to Miles' wedding. The only time their communication fully breaks down is when they are trying to plan an event neither of them want. For the characters, the ending makes sense. Is it extremely dramatic and surprising? Absolutely. But through that act, through their complete honesty with each other, they are able to have their version of what love means, which is them bailing on their own wedding, running into the rain, and making out. (I really enjoyed the sweet touch of the rainbow umbrellas)

In a larger context, I enjoyed this book because it explores the complexity of queerness and marriage. They talk about how marriage is an important right for queer people, but there is no right way to be queer. Having that conventional expression of love, for a relationship that started and continues to be unconventional, just doesn't work for them. And that's the point of the ending. Did it annoy me that they wasted all that time and money just to not get married? Yes, it did. Do I think they could have just had a big party and skipped the ceremony? Absolutely. But I think that's the whole point. From the outside, them running off looks absolutely ridiculous and stupid, but character wise it makes sense because honestly they are both kind of ridiculous and stupid. People want everything to be wrapped up in this beautiful bow of marriage = happiness but I think Alexis Hall uses this book to show how true queerness is about accepting that not being married, not having the flashy rainbow ceremony, should be just as beautiful as all those things. The idea of "love is love" should not just be "love is love if you follow the traditional normative conventions of how love should be expressed", but rather "love is complex and weird and that is beautiful too". And I personally think that is more impactful than them getting married in the first place.

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jadehusdanhicks's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read such an underwhelming sequel. If written well I think I’d really enjoy Luc and Oliver’s dynamic but this just didn’t hit the spot for me. It dragged out unnecessary arguments, had predictable plot if

a bunch of weddings and a funeral

.

Although arguing is part of even then healthiest relationships, the amount in this book was downright unhealthy. It really put a downer on where live and made this a drag for me to finish. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this duology to anyone wanting a well written realistic queer romance reccomendations.

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kathis_wonderland's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

Husband Material by Alexis Hall is the second book in the London Calling series. Luc and Oliver are in a relationship of over two years now and everything seems quite perfect. But people all around them are getting married and Luc feels he should propose too. But things happen and the perfect happy ending seems far away.

After absolutely loving the first book in this series, I was equally excited to read this one. Right at the beginning I have to say that the first book was so much better than the second book, but I am a sucker for the fake-dating trope. Still, I really enjoyed this book. It was good the read about their relationship going quite well (most of the times). Luc is still quite immature, which already annoyed me in the first book.

Throughout the book I was quite scared of the ending.

I honestly did not want them to get married. If I were in Oliver's position and someone proposed to me the way Luc proposed, I would have been quite heartbroken. It does not have to be super romantic, but it should be something one thought about and did not do as a knee-jerk reaction. Both of them weren't ready to get married. I hoped that they would properly talk about marriage at some point in the book and call of the wedding. I was ready to not really like this book if they actually got married.

But the ending was perfect (for me)! Couldn't have wished for anything else.

Now I am quite excited to read the third and last book in this series. I don't have the highest of hopes for the next book, but I enjoy these books. The writing style is different to those that I am used to and I like that. I still am a massive fan of the first book and will recommend that one whenever someone asks of my opinion.

Content Warnings