Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Husband Material

Ok, many mean this is an unnecessary sequel to the wildly popular Boyfriend Material. But I love it! All the small stories within the story, the Four Weddings and a funeral and numerous other mobie references, the people working at CRAPP, and the relationship between Lucien and Oliver, their friends and families.

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ashwaar's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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unsighted_reader's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.5

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tshepiso's review against another edition

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4.0

After inhaling Boyfriend Material in a day I was excited to get to its sequel. And, for the most part, it didn't disappoint. Firstly the concept of this novel is something I adore. I'm generally much more interested in the 'staying together' portion of relationships than 'getting together' and given that most romances stick to the latter I've been starved for content. But as he's consistently done Alexis Hall delivers exactly what I've been craving in Husband Material. This book sees Luc and Oliver two years after the end of Boyfriend Material blissfully dating yet increasingly surrounded by happily married couples. After attending a string of weddings Luc impulsively proposes to Oliver and the two embark on the harrowing process of planning a wedding.

What I loved most about this novel is how it approaches Luc and Oliver's relationship. While the two deeply love each other that doesn't mean their relationship is free from conflict. And rather than the contrived relationship drama most writers force established couples into the struggles these two go through are deeply informed by their previously established characterization. While Luc loves Oliver he's still insecure and impulsive and that impacts their relationship. Getting the guy didn't magically fix all his problems. However, despite still having conflict, Hall never makes Luc and Oliver's relationship flimsy. White lies and misunderstandings never break the two apart in serious ways and the cliched cheating plotlines are completely avoided. Because despite the growing pains in their relationship Hall always keeps a firm grasp on why the two love each other and want to be together.

Another thing I loved about this novel is its themes which I, unfortunately, can't discuss without heading deep into spoiler territory.

The way Hall answers the question of what marriage means for Luc and Oliver was beautifully rendered and perfectly constructed. Throughout the novel, Luc and Oliver are bombarded with the cultural expectations of marriage and its place as the one true symbol of true love and eternal happiness. The genuine angst about their marriage and the conflict that angsts created while occasionally frustrating never felt contrived but honest and true. Throughout the novel Luc and Oliver see marriage play out in both the most traditional and queer ways possible yet they still decide that mould doesn't fit them. Seeing that choice validated was so beautiful and so fitting for them as a couple. Hall's overall unpacking of the heteronormativity of marriage and the weight the societal ideals of what marriage means puts on especially queer people was done perfectly.

I especially appreciated the ways Hall tied Luc and Oliver's contrasting relationships to the queer community into this overarching narrative. I was initially skeptical of the way Oliver's distance from the aesthetic trappings of queerness in contrast to Luc's unabashed embrace of "stereotypical" queer symbols and activities would play out but this ultimately resolved itself well.

Hall balances validating Oliver's feelings while challenging him to interrogate where they come from and Luc backing down from his ultimately insecurity-based fears that Oliver doesn't present his queer identity in the same ways he does excellently.

I did still have some problems with Husband Material. The biggest was just how much time we spent on the side plots, especially early on in the novel. The most egregious was Luc's best friend Bridge's wedding. While this plotline is thematically relevant to the overarching story I found the hijinks surrounding it more than a little tedious. The antics Bridge and y extension Luc finds themselves in during the leadup to Bridge's wedding were a tad too convoluted for my taste. It didn't help that they took up almost a third of the novel.

This book also highlighted for me that I don't enjoy a lot of Alexis Hall's humour. Outside of Luc and Oliver's banter which continued to be delightful the running gags surrounding most of the side characters started wearing thin very quickly. In hindsight, I didn't find these jokes all that amusing in Boyfriend Material but they comparatively took up much less space in that novel than in this one which made them more tolerable. From the quirkily named James Royce Royce's and Ana with one n (yes, she's referred like to like that the entire time) to Luc's "charmingly" annoying colleagues, it was all getting a little too twee to bear at a certain point.

As I did in Boyfriend Material I continued to long for Oliver's POV throughout the story. He, again, has the most compelling conflict in this story as we follow up on his messy relationship with his controlling, slightly homophobic family. Some of the most emotionally engaging and moving moments in the book centred on his relationship with his family and I wish we'd gotten to see those moments from his perspective.

From the processes of grieving his complicated father to repairing his relationship with his brother Christopher and even connecting with his long-closeted uncle Jim there were so many moments I wish I had been closer to through Oliver's perspective but never could be.

Further, I do think the narrative does lose something from never seeing Oliver's perspective. While I do love and believe in their romance Luc is such a self-deprecating person that there were moments I struggled to understand what Oliver saw in him. And because Luc often saw Oliver through the rose-tinted glasses of a lover I often felt I didn't have as deep an understanding of Oliver's flaws as I could have.

In this end, I think what made Husband Material so successful despite minor flaws was Alexis Hall's excellent character work and stunning command of romantic storytelling. His work never ceases to amaze me. I can't wait to read the next chapter in Luc and Oliver's story, but until then I'll content myself by binging the rest of his backlist.

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readwithria's review

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Husband Material is the first direct-line sequel to a romcom I've read, and it didn't disappoint! I was so happy to have more of Oliver and Luc, and the shenanigans of their friends.

Healthy communication, check
Sexy banter, check
Romantic as fuck, check
Explorations of community and self-expression, check

I relate to Oliver so much in his identity crisis. I'm demisexual, but I'm also straight and cis, and my demisexuality has never impacted my relationships or how I'm perceived by the world. It makes me feel like I'm not queer enough to be queer, and honestly, after this book, I'm saying f**k it I will express myself however feels authentic to me. So thanks, Oliver (and Alexis Hall), for giving me the courage to do that.

Back to the book, I really loved it. It didn't quite give me the five-star ~vibes~ but I honestly couldn't tell you why. I loved this book, I love this series, and I can't wait to read more from Alexis Hall. I'd highly recommend the London Calling series to anyone who enjoyed Red, White & Royal Blue, or who likes their romcoms to have a side of intense character growth through big struggles. 4.5 stars.

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inkdrinkers's review

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

2.0

Well... this was disappointing.

Off the heels of Boyfriend Material, Husband Material picks up with Luc and Oliver's relationship years later, decidedly both in their phase of adulthood where everyone around them is getting married, having babies, and moving on with their lives. But for both Luc and Oliver, they're not quite sure where they stand in the timeline of expectations versus what they actually want for their futures.

I won't lie, I've been in a slump this entire month of February, but I was really, really hopeful that this audiobook would get me out of it. Instead, I quickly realized it was only making it worse. I loved the beginning of this, setting up multiple weddings and multiple moments of proving Luc and Oliver's relationship had grown were great - until it very much wasn't for me. When they began to seem to have the same arguments over and over again that were cornerstones of the first book, I began to get really irritated because even though this was set years later, I felt like neither of them had grown at all.

This is also on me, but I had no idea this was a Four Weddings and a Funeral type of story, so the funeral aspect really threw me and upset me. For a multitude of personal reasons it hit way too close to home and at a moment I didn't really want to be reading about funerals and the messy aspects of grief and the ways people who are dead are loved, but not absolved of their bad behaviour. It was just a bit much for me and heavily, heavily impacted my reading experience and rating.

I wished I had liked this more. I wish that the ending had the "it's us against the world" feeling that it seemed to be going for. But it just didn't for me. This wasn't the happily ever after I wanted to read about, and being bogged down with too many other, hard topics made this a really unpleasant listening experience towards the end.

Content warnings: death of a parent (major plot point, with funeral), grief, homophobia, vomit, mentions to eating disorders

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sophcart_'s review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

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eligru's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

3.75

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