Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Materiał na chłopaka

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Materiał na chłopaka by Alexis Hall

71 reviews

sirenricobooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny relaxing sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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amyteurhour's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

4.25

Content warning: homophobia, toxic relationship (exploitation), parent abandoning child, disordered eating, cancer

I thought this was really cute! I know some people have found Luc to be annoying, but I actually found him endearing and I was rooting for him almost right away. The banter flowed well between the characters. (view spoiler) Basically all of the side characters are a bit one dimensional, but to be honest I didn't mind that.

The end felt a bit rushed, but I see that there's a sequel. I'm looking forward to find out what happens next. I got a bit annoyed Luc's friends for pushing him to do a grand gesture at the end, so I'm glad that Oliver ended up doing a grandish gesture the next day for Luc for the resolution. I think that having more time with Luc's friends would have made me like them a bit more, but what we got just made me feel like they were kind of mean to each other. I did enjoy the scenes with Luc's coworkers and Oliver's friends although I do feel like the conflict that was hinted at between Oliver and Brendan(? tbh I don't remember his name) during the birthday party never got any follow through or a clear resolution.

I really enjoyed the audiobook by Joe Jameson.

4.5 stars rounded up.

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hiddenstaircase's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a fake relationship to actual lovers done right. Plus it’s gay. Both of our male leads are struggling with different types of pressure, Oliver trying to capture perfection and Luc who always has his every failure plastered on the tabloids. They compliment each other and have been burned in different ways by past relationships. They have separate family dramas going on with their lives. There’s a third act breakup, which is annoying but kinda expected in these kind of books.

Only major gripe is with the excess of side characters and some of the dialogue feeling off. I cannot keep track of all the friends and coworkers and their relationships and then the other’s friend group. The dialogue between Luc and Oliver is teasing and cute.

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lalu's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

5.0

This was perfect! Exactly what I needed right now!

I wanted something lighthearted and all the side characters are so over-the-top in the best way possible so that was perfect. But also everything between Luc and Oliver was so so good and pure and ugh I love it! (probably helped that I'm newly in love myself)
And I'm honestly in awe of Hall's ability to make this not extremely cringy. So good!

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willoughby's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

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livlamentloathe's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

Okay, okay, okay. This was a lot and a half. I have thoughts.

Pro’s:

When they were actually being semi-serious boyfriends, post-dinner with the two rich dummies, Oliver and Luc were super cute and sweet
I appreciated the idea of the bathroom door and Luc vocalizing his fear/longing for intimacy
Luc’s mom and Judy — who totally should’ve been in love but oh well
James Royce Royce and James Royce Royce (spelling? I listened to the audiobook so who’s to say?) — at first this annoyed me but by the end, I found the whole bit hilarious
Luc’s friends helping him clean
Bridgette’s work emergencies and terminal lateness
I cried for a bit in the middle when Oliver and Luc were super cute and boyfriendy and so caring for one another at the gala! Luc’s need for support mirrored my own there so it was personal watching him be cared for in just the way he needed.
The realism of Luc’s absentee father being shit still and not deserving Luc. I also liked that Luc didn’t let him off lightly at any point despite “having cancer.”

Con’s:

But on the other hand: Luc’s dad. First because, it was unnecessary for him not to have cancer in the end! I’d have preferred an explanation like the doctor misread an X-Ray, or some meds were working and he’d be okay, or there was a surgery option with a high success rate! Anything but “oh that was an overdramatic lie”
And further: his whole bit was so random. Somehow despite never being in Luc’s life, and Luc being more or less a random, the paps cared about Luc like he was a dang Kardashian. Instead of like… idk I pictured Howard Stern but if Stern was a narcissist rocker Lennon-type who lived to have a sad pithy comeback on The Voice. And he cares aww, then shows time and time and time and time again he doesn’t care, then ghosts again. If it looks like a duck…
Tom????? No proper explanation for the status of Luc’s relationship with him, what it had been, why it ended, how he picked Luc’s friend over Luc? And the lack of proper understanding for Luc’s feelings post-relationship! Of course he’s bitter and sad!!!! Who wouldn’t be in that situation?! (That said, he seemed to be the only character with his head on “straight”)
The ending, the ending, the fucking ending!!!!
How defensive and snappy and mean Oliver was at and after Luc met his family! Especially after Oliver had practically begged for a game plan and Oliver hadn’t said anything to warn him!!
The rude guy at the pub in the first scene being overly offended by Luc making the REALISTIC assumption a journalist would want to write about him! Then Luc was in so much mental conflict and dragging himself through the mud for being anxious and not wanting to be exposed again and said journalist acted like Luc was a narcissist for even making a joke about it! THEN having the fucking GALL to write about it!!!!!!!!!!! You can’t fucking act offended when someone thinks you’re using them for a story and then turn around and use them for a fucking story!!! What a fucking jackass.
Oliver’s awful friends and awful awful family!!! The family were sincerely fucked up people, but how could Oliver let them talk about Luc like that??! It’s one thing that he let them tear into him, that’s a personal issue based on clear trauma and toxic familial abuse, but it bothered me that he was okay with Luc being the back-up target for defending Oliver!
The idiots Oliver worked with! They were characatures of people! Reese (Rhys?) was one thing. He was a believable older man who shouldn’t be in charge of socials and was bumbling his way through it. But the other guy was such a fucking idiot that it’s beyond me how he even had a job! How can you be both that inept and so up and up with society-folk???????? Was this an obvious metaphor I missed? All in all, the only good bit of them for me was when Luc told the joke about the interrupting cow.
THE HOMOPHOBIA!!! I could not connect with Luc’s desire to work at that company. It’d have been one thing if there was a micro-aggression and he needed the job. But he didn’t seem to need the work considering his rich dad, and mom living off royalties!! There was too much homophobia and him wanting to work there was beyond me. He should’ve quit. He should’ve sued them.
I hated how all the homophobes got away with it. Like the queer characters would acknowledge it was homophobic after the fact (or mentally during) but rarely did anyone answer for their own ignorance! And this is re: cis white gay men. They were the first group of lgbtq+ to be palatable to the public, so there’s no real excuse! Luc stayed at and actively helped his homophobic boss. And bent over backward to make a bunch of other rich homophobes happy! Gross af.
Luc’s self-awareness was frustrating. He’d think the right thing and say something bananas or just not say anything at all! It was so frustrating.
Their communication was just bad. Most of the problems could’ve been solved with one honest conversation. How are we supposed to believe in the romantic ending when they broke up like 5 times during the book??
The intensity of Oliver’s breakup with Luc. It floored me cause it seemed out of nowhere! Beyond their clear communication issues and the family thing, Oliver had not been anything less than loving and all in, and then he just up and decides it’s over? Sorry but it felt forced. It wasn’t organic enough to be believable.
And THEN: Luc was made to jump through hoops and run an entire obstacle course (by his friends who were not being helpful kind nudgers trying to match make, but instead were brutal, harsh, and way too overly-involved. Good outside intervention would've been Bridge (?) giving Oliver a scolding or trying to help them communicate. Not kidnapping Luc and locking him out of the car to force him to beg Oliver back!! Oliver DUMPED Luc. Oliver should be the grand-gesture-er. Not Luc. I was so frustrated by the whole thing at that point. Much too frustrated to think the ending was romantic. I cannot believe they won’t just break up for good post-book.

Anyway, most of my thoughts are specific to spoilers. But my tldr/you haven’t read the book review is: The romantic relationship of the two central characters was plagued by poor communication, assumptions, and a desperate need to see a therapist (3 therapists—one each for them as individuals and another for them as a couple). The background characters are such bananas caricatures of humans, that they read as cartoonishly mean, dumb, and self-obsessed. I think they were meant to be jovially mean with the implication that Luc isn’t good to them so it’s mutual, but in my opinion, they just sucked. Sorry that was very mean.

If you want a simple book with stereotypical relationship problems, gay romance (that feels written by a str8 despite that very much not being the case??), and a sweet if not dragged out plot, this may be for you. Oh an actual selling point is that if you want a romance that’s entire plot is about the romance, and the subplot is so sub that it’s barely plot, read this! We’ve all been there. Sometimes you read SJM for the dreamy str8 faeries and sometimes you read a fluff romance book without a plot—escapism is escapism!

I’m mean.

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what_karla_reads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

4/5 stars
1/5 spice

Such a fun and swoon worthy read. I loved how Oliver and Luc worked together.

This is my second read by Alexis Hall, and I loved it! I had a lot of girly giggly moments that had me swooning, just like Luc. I loved how both characters are flawed and relatable. Luc is publicly a mess and is constantly putting his foot in his mouth, but he comes across as likable because he's not an arrogant asshole. He just wants to be stable... so, of course, relatable. Oliver, on the other hand, had the appearance of someone who is put together with all their ducks in a row. However, as the story progresses, you get a glimpse of all the ways he's very much NOT ok and how much he needs help.

I didn't expect this to be single POV so I found myself craving Oliver's POV a few times. I always love seeing how the MCs see different interactions.

Overall, highly recommend for fans of opposites attract and fake dating with swoony moments.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Moments of homophobia, bigotry, body shaming, gaslighting, and emotional abuse. Mentions cancer and mental health issues.

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eidal's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful tense 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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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I enjoyed this book after about the 30% mark, before then Luc was annoying and pretty hard not to scream at in your head. But by the end, I loved him and Oliver even if I occasionally wanted to slap them upside your heads. I would have liked more spice! But I know if you wish to have a mainstream M/M romance you can't usually get too graphic with that. In the end, I enjoyed it and laughed a lot, as well as cried a bit too.

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queerloras's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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 love Alexis Hall and I can't WAIT to read Husband Material.

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