Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Boyfriend Material

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

95 reviews

rosesandproses's review against another edition

3.5

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My biggest gripe with this book is the audiobook narrator which I know isn't a reflection on the book itself. But if you listen to the audiobook, ALL the women sound absolutely catty, pretentious, and awful. I wanted to attribute it to the British accent, maybe, but it doesn't bother me in other audiobooks or British media.

Honestly I expected more from this story. It was kind of a let down. There were some incredibly witty moments where I laughed out loud and I do really like Luc and how he grows in the story. Oliver was okay. Bridget was annoying as hell, which maybe was the point but dang tone it down just a little. The James Royce-Royce bit doesn't hit in the audiobook (I have also likely spelled this wrong because of that). I don't know...Red, White & Royal Blue did it better in my opinion.

This book is also incredibly British, and there was quite a lot of slang and British English that flew over my head. I know Hall is British and I'm not saying it should have had less slang, but I, as an American who never had an Anglophile phase, was lost several times because of the language. Also, I've never been to London and this book definitely assumes you have been to London. Considering Luc breaks the fourth wall, we could've explained some of the geography better. I would have been equally lost with this amount of information given if the city were Chicago or New York.

Content Warnings

keayra_'s review

3.0

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I did enjoy this book. I do feel like it was a bit slow at some points, which is why it took me so long to read. I maybe would have rated it higher if Oliver’s personal issues were addressed. I completely understand why Luc’s issues were the main concern, as he is the main narrator but I feel Oliver’s were just thrown in at the end. Other then that I had a pretty good time reading the book!

Content Warnings

suerte_encantada's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny 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

Content Warnings

katievallin's review against another edition

4.25

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

Content Warnings

kaitlynfriedman's review against another edition

3.5

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

Content Warnings

luxxltyd's review

4.5

emotional funny 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

Content Warnings

levilore_'s review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

The book legitimately had me laughing out loud during most of it, but still managed to focus on topics of homophobia, found family, mental illness, and what love truly means. I really loved the author took the traditional "fake dating" plot and added in a cast of characters that I genuinely really liked and somehow made me root for a main character who pretty much had zero self-esteem the whole book (which usually find very annoying). The ending was extremely satisfying and although their are 2 more books in the series, I feel as though you could really enjoy this one without reading the others. Only reason its not 5 stars is because sometimes I wanted to shake Luc and Oliver for being so dumb about their emotions, but at the same time its a faked relationship trope, so it comes with the topic.

I would highly recommend the audio book because the narrator was so incredible that I actually liked the book more than the last time I read it.

Content Warnings

booksofjades's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Cheesy, with fanfic-esque writing, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It reminded me of red white and royal blue in the haters to lovers with need for fake dating that that book had.

I won’t critique the writing because honestly it was overdone and compensating for something and I could go on for ages about it.

-the charities name was stupid
- Oliver’s parents were assholes
-homophobia never adds anything to the plot
- token straight or gay friends being a highlight/plot point is stupid.

Overall I’m glad luc and Oliver ended happy and I’m interested to see how the next book goes.

Content Warnings