Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Husband Material

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

10 reviews

booksthatburn's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

HUSBAND MATERIAL, the sequel to BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, shows Oliver and Luc two years onwards, surrounded by friends who are tying the knot. They start to feel like they should get married too, but it's hard to figure out a ceremony which will represent both of them. Oliver doesn't feel connected to what Luc thinks of as "queer culture" and Oliver perceives as encroaching Americanisms. Luc's dad is as disappointing as always, his mom is very strange but supportive, and Oliver's parents are frustrating and controlling. Things are getting tense and they don't know how they'll hold it together under all this pressure. Bridget and Tom are getting married, and Luc's shitbag ex-boyfriend has invited him to his wedding, for some reason. Those are just the first of several weddings around them, all between very different people with vastly different goals for their lives. It makes it hard for Luc and Oliver to figure out what they want for themselves, especially for an event which at times feels like it's for everyone else.

I especially like how this deals with grief, and the complex emotions of losing someone who has been a major force in one's life, especially when they've mostly been a negative influence. Someone can be terrible and important, and that's often hard to deal with. The shape of their absence can leave an enormous wound, even if their presence was slow suffering.

HUSBAND MATERIAL could kind of make sense for someone who hadn't read BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, but the emotional roller coaster of the first book means that a lot of processing and establishing of various relationship dynamics took place in BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, with the characters moving forward here after a time jump and a new status quo to be disrupted by all these weddings.

I like the ending, it fits Oliver and Luc as individuals and as a couple. They are figuring out their relationship, not anyone else's, but it takes a while for them to understand what they actually want from the socially proscribed steps and ceremonies on the relationship escalator.

Content Warnings

levilore_'s review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

headinthepages's review

Go to review page

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

sefkhet's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

I loved this just as much as I loved Boyfriend Material, and have knocked three-quarters of a star off purely because

personally I was looking forward to them getting married, and so personally I thought the end was a bit anti-climactic.

I think that’s a me problem, though.

Content Warnings

bookwormbi's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

People were LAMBASTING this book on tiktok so I was expecting worse but besides the constant argument about the concept of rainbows, which annoyed me to no end, I liked this book a lot. The ending is definitely a real standout, and I’m really excited for what this kind of meditation on marriage in LGBTQ+ romance means for the genre (if this book has an impact on the genre, which God I hope it does.)

Content Warnings

megelizabeth's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

"And for a moment, just for a moment, I half wished this was our first date again. I mean, not literally because it had been a disaster. But I wanted to keep this. This almost fragile feeling of everything being what it was and being for its own sake and not needing to go anywhere or become anything else.

But that was how relationships began. It wasn’t how they lasted."

I enjoyed Boyfriend Material, but felt frustrated by the rushed ending, and so I loved getting to experience these characters again and to see how things have developed for them. I still didn't totally love the ending of this one, because it again felt slightly rushed and clunkily-done, but I appreciated the overall message and came away feeling much more satisfied than I did at the end of the first book.

This book is a great combination of lighthearted and serious, with so many laugh-out-loud moments and equally as many important conversations. There's a brilliant cast of characters, and I particularly liked that the two James' felt much more distinct in this book.

I don't usually enjoy sequels more than their predecessors, so kudos to Alexis Hall for doing such a good job with this one!

Content Warnings