You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
ashwaar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.0
I'm not a romance fan.. it just isn't my genre. I find many of the tropes annoying and frustrating, and the dialogue often seems stilted and cliched. I’m actually a little bit of a hater. However, this is the first purely romance book I’ve read that has managed to change my attitude. It’s adorable, witty, cute, and our main characters are so good together that you’re constantly rooting for them.
Lucien is the semi-famous, washed-up son of an 80s rock legend. With his dad and, by extension, Lucien himself, coming back into the spotlight, he needs to find a polite, presentable boyfriend to restore his reputation ahead of an important charity event. He comes to an agreement with Oliver, who also needs a plus-one for a family gathering, to fake date until the events are over and the tabloids have become bored of Lucien’s lack of misbehaving.
However, fake dating is never really a good idea if you don’t want to end up real dating, as inevitably happens in this trope. Lucien doesn’t have the best personality, and he's pretty rude and thinks he’s better than everyone else whilst also being extremely self-deprecating. However, you learn to love him anyway, and it's really rewarding to see him grow as he becomes closer to Oliver. Speaking of Oliver, he is also a really interesting character. At first glance, he's a pretty perfect boyfriend until we start to look closer and see it's all a carefully built façade that he’s trying really hard not to break.
It can be tough to absorb what these characters think of themselves, as they’re their own harshest critics and, as a reader, you don’t want to let them believe that.. you want them to be happy. There are a lot of characters in this book, and for the most part, the personalities are pretty distinct. However, I felt like too many people were introduced at once in certain scenes. Some characters were over-dramatic cartoons or not really there at all and just faded into the background.
But despite this minor issue, I don’t really have any other complaints. I thought this was a solid, well-rounded, character-focused novel with a lot of energy and heart behind it. I’m keen to follow up on Lucien and Oliver, and I’ve already got the second novel, Husband Material, in my queue at the library.
Lucien is the semi-famous, washed-up son of an 80s rock legend. With his dad and, by extension, Lucien himself, coming back into the spotlight, he needs to find a polite, presentable boyfriend to restore his reputation ahead of an important charity event. He comes to an agreement with Oliver, who also needs a plus-one for a family gathering, to fake date until the events are over and the tabloids have become bored of Lucien’s lack of misbehaving.
However, fake dating is never really a good idea if you don’t want to end up real dating, as inevitably happens in this trope. Lucien doesn’t have the best personality, and he's pretty rude and thinks he’s better than everyone else whilst also being extremely self-deprecating. However, you learn to love him anyway, and it's really rewarding to see him grow as he becomes closer to Oliver. Speaking of Oliver, he is also a really interesting character. At first glance, he's a pretty perfect boyfriend until we start to look closer and see it's all a carefully built façade that he’s trying really hard not to break.
It can be tough to absorb what these characters think of themselves, as they’re their own harshest critics and, as a reader, you don’t want to let them believe that.. you want them to be happy. There are a lot of characters in this book, and for the most part, the personalities are pretty distinct. However, I felt like too many people were introduced at once in certain scenes. Some characters were over-dramatic cartoons or not really there at all and just faded into the background.
But despite this minor issue, I don’t really have any other complaints. I thought this was a solid, well-rounded, character-focused novel with a lot of energy and heart behind it. I’m keen to follow up on Lucien and Oliver, and I’ve already got the second novel, Husband Material, in my queue at the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Homophobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, and Eating disorder
annahamburger's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Death and Death of parent
alexelli's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
tinysierra's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The romance was cute and the side characters were fun. There was a lot of fun banter.
Luc’s friend group had a group chat that they kept changing the name to funny puns. One of them wasAll About That Ace. Yay, asexual acknowledgement <3
Luc’s thought process felt kind of convoluted at times and I do think the book could have been shorter.
The sex and kissing were fade to black, which was nice as an asexual reader who is used to reading YA.
I love continuing to see the normalization of male characters crying and express their feelings. The characters have struggles and self image issues that I felt were realistic.
As an American reader, I feel like there were some jokes and general things that kind of flew over my head and showed my ignorance about the British aristocracy and things like that.
There are multiple Harry Potter references, which make sense in a book set where JKR is from, but anyone who wants to avoid any mentions of the series should probably skip this book. The mentions are brief without getting detailed but they happen at least four times.
Welcome to Night Vale (the podcast) and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller were also mentioned.
There were talks about vegetarianism, ethical consumption, body image issues, homophobia, fat phobia, childhood abandonment. There was a bit of drinking.
Rant on parenting/childcare:
There’s this side couple that make a joke of how much their kids are “little shits” that they always need to make an effort to get a break from. I understand parenting is tiring. I agree parents need to take a break and participate in hobbies outside of taking care of their children. But it just felt like “ugh my kids are such a burden.” I mean, I guess it is realistic. Some people do talk about their children like that.
On the other hand, there was another couple that expressed that they did not want children and wished their parents would stop pressuring them to have them. I did appreciate the inclusion of happily childless characters.
Luc’s friend group had a group chat that they kept changing the name to funny puns. One of them was
Luc’s thought process felt kind of convoluted at times and I do think the book could have been shorter.
The sex and kissing were fade to black, which was nice as an asexual reader who is used to reading YA.
I love continuing to see the normalization of male characters crying and express their feelings. The characters have struggles and self image issues that I felt were realistic.
As an American reader, I feel like there were some jokes and general things that kind of flew over my head and showed my ignorance about the British aristocracy and things like that.
There are multiple Harry Potter references, which make sense in a book set where JKR is from, but anyone who wants to avoid any mentions of the series should probably skip this book. The mentions are brief without getting detailed but they happen at least four times.
Welcome to Night Vale (the podcast) and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller were also mentioned.
There were talks about vegetarianism, ethical consumption, body image issues, homophobia, fat phobia, childhood abandonment. There was a bit of drinking.
Rant on parenting/childcare:
On the other hand, there was another couple that expressed that they did not want children and wished their parents would stop pressuring them to have them. I did appreciate the inclusion of happily childless characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Abandonment
josoko's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
jjjreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content
beccaruthe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Luc O'Donnell is kind of a hot mess, in every definition of the words. He's the son of a rockstar who won't talk to him or have a relationship with him, working at a dung beetle charity aptly named CRAP, and somehow still managing to wind up in the press every other weekend for his drinking benders. When his negative press starts to effect his work life, he decides he has to at least appear like he has his shit together by fake dating a handsome lawyer who might just hate him.
This was my first ever Alexis Hall book and I absolutely ADORED it. I was told multiple times by multiple friends that I had to pick this up in the audiobook version because it was just so enjoyable - and they were right. I did originally try the ebook version of Boyfriend Material and gave up pretty soon into chapter one because I wasn't connecting to Luc's internal monologue, that did a complete 180 with the narration in the audio version! I adored learning about Luc's life and difficult background, I've never seen a book handle the concept of celebrity kids who just want to exist and be normal as well as this one did.
Oliver Blackwood is easily one of my favorite messy male love interests in anything I've read this year. Both him and Luc are total disasters in their own way, but even with that and a lot of their interests being total opposites of each other - it somehow really made it work. I totally adored how loving and adorable Oliver was through a vast majority of this book, and really found myself laughing out loud multiple times a chapter from the hijinks and very British jokes.
The only thing I hated about this book - and hate is a strong word - was the way Luc finds himself agreeing to the fake dating. The entire thing hinges on his very asshole boss saying he needs to be a "better gay" and get his shit together. The rampant casual homophobia in this book was really hard to listen to, though it's easily the most realistic part of the entire plot. I wished there had been moments for Luc to actively fight back against it, though the smaller ways he and Oliver did were good. I'm really hoping this plot gets addressed in Husband Material when I finally get a chance to listen to it!
I will say, I wasn't on board with Luc's friends in the entire first part of the book. They seemed to hinge on the line of being the same level of casually terrible that Andi's friends are in The Devil Wears Prada - but they all really grew on me and if there's anything Alexis Hall can do, it's write a well and fully formed character that I both loathe and love.
I had a great time with this audiobook and would honestly listen to it again and again. It was completely worth picking up and I found myself wanting to just relax and savor how great the narration was as it pulled me along with the story!
Content Warnings: homophobia, panic attacks, and cursing are prevalent throughout. Mild warnings for cancer, fatphobia / eating disorders / body shaming, biphobia, and mentions of alcoholism and addiction.
This was my first ever Alexis Hall book and I absolutely ADORED it. I was told multiple times by multiple friends that I had to pick this up in the audiobook version because it was just so enjoyable - and they were right. I did originally try the ebook version of Boyfriend Material and gave up pretty soon into chapter one because I wasn't connecting to Luc's internal monologue, that did a complete 180 with the narration in the audio version! I adored learning about Luc's life and difficult background, I've never seen a book handle the concept of celebrity kids who just want to exist and be normal as well as this one did.
Oliver Blackwood is easily one of my favorite messy male love interests in anything I've read this year. Both him and Luc are total disasters in their own way, but even with that and a lot of their interests being total opposites of each other - it somehow really made it work. I totally adored how loving and adorable Oliver was through a vast majority of this book, and really found myself laughing out loud multiple times a chapter from the hijinks and very British jokes.
The only thing I hated about this book - and hate is a strong word - was the way Luc finds himself agreeing to the fake dating. The entire thing hinges on his very asshole boss saying he needs to be a "better gay" and get his shit together. The rampant casual homophobia in this book was really hard to listen to, though it's easily the most realistic part of the entire plot. I wished there had been moments for Luc to actively fight back against it, though the smaller ways he and Oliver did were good. I'm really hoping this plot gets addressed in Husband Material when I finally get a chance to listen to it!
I will say, I wasn't on board with Luc's friends in the entire first part of the book. They seemed to hinge on the line of being the same level of casually terrible that Andi's friends are in The Devil Wears Prada - but they all really grew on me and if there's anything Alexis Hall can do, it's write a well and fully formed character that I both loathe and love.
I had a great time with this audiobook and would honestly listen to it again and again. It was completely worth picking up and I found myself wanting to just relax and savor how great the narration was as it pulled me along with the story!
Content Warnings: homophobia, panic attacks, and cursing are prevalent throughout. Mild warnings for cancer, fatphobia / eating disorders / body shaming, biphobia, and mentions of alcoholism and addiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cancer, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
abby_can_read's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
June 2024-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖
This was a good re-read. I think this book was emotional and it helped me feel more connected to the characters. Luc and Oliver were adorable.
September 2022-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📱
This was good. I liked this book. Luc and Oliver were a cute couple.
📖
This was a good re-read. I think this book was emotional and it helped me feel more connected to the characters. Luc and Oliver were adorable.
September 2022-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📱
This was good. I liked this book. Luc and Oliver were a cute couple.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, and Alcohol
botanicalprofanity's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming and Sexual content