Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

28 reviews

funny lighthearted reflective 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

Good character development. Very charming banter. Wonderful story arc

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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

I love Alexis Hall and I can't WAIT to read Husband Material.

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lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’m clearly in the minority on this one. I really wanted to like it, I mean who goes into a book wanting to hate it? And I don’t hate it, I’m more just disappointed. Maybe Alexis Hall’s writing is just not for me. 

My takeaways:

• Unnecessarily dumb (like DUMBBBB, like it’s not even funny it’s just annoying) and insufferable characters like Alex Twaddle 

• Takes every chance it can to remind you it’s set in the UK, like every other page. If there’s one thing I’ll never forget about this book it’s that it’s set in England and everything is very British, so British, so silly quirky British all of the time (I love the UK setting and British men are top tier but come on?????) 

• The blatant homophobic comments and themes that are glossed over even when one of them is fairly central to the plot? The main dilemma that requires the “fake boyfriend” trope revolves around the fact that Luc is AND THIS IS QUOTED FROM THE BOOK “the wrong kind of gay” and he must find a partner to help clean up his act and thus become “the right kind of gay” in order to save his job. Like???? 

• The lack of chemistry. Luc was okay but hard to find appealing or connect with. I understand his caveats but they didn’t make sense enough to be believable that he would be with Oliver. Oliver was the saving grace of the story, I enjoyed him and his personality, unfortunately though he didn’t save the whole story. Needed more development, would’ve rather read from Oliver’s POV tbh!!! 

Idk. I kinda skimmed through the last half of the book because I lost interest. I wish Luc and Oliver all the best in the other two books but I will not be reading them. Thank you don’t hate me byeeeee

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challenging emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Kinda shocked by all the glowing reviews? Lucien is a miserable, insufferable twat and Oliver deserves so much better. There’s not nearly enough character work done to convince me of why Oliver is into any of this. I get it, luc had a shit dad and it messed him up but you don’t get a free pass to be a dick forever because you have daddy issues. Get some therapy, my guy. There is some truly fantastic banter at times and nearly all the side characters are wonderful but it’s not enough to save it. 

Also, Lucien makes him a **bacon sandwich** after they make a point the WHOLE book to clearly say that Oliver doesn’t consume meat for moral/ethical reasons, and Oliver is just like “yeah gimme that bacon” ???? What is happening 

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lim's profile picture

lim's review

3.75
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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meghansarmiento97's review

4.5
hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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elsebeok's profile picture

elsebeok's review

3.5
emotional funny hopeful 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
funny hopeful 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings