Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Boyfriend Material

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

69 reviews

v171's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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 like to dip my toe into queer romance here and there, and these books are the reason why. This was a funny, quick witted, enjoyable read about a "fake relationship" gone 'real'. At times, it got surprisingly genuine, but for the most part it was an idealized story about a hopeless mess up of a guy and his hopeless romantic counterpart. This hit a lot of the standard beats you might expect from typical romance book but hey, if it aint broke... The queer aspect is definitely what kept me interested, but don't make the mistake of assuming that the plot could easily be translated for a straight couple. The 'queer variable' was of central importance to the development of the characters and I found to be done very sensitively. There were a few subplots that I wish were tied up better or had abrupt endings, but that didn't take away from this book's strength: the characters and their arcs. While not exactly realistic, the characters were all charming in their own way and had a very distinct voice that kept the story interesting with every chapter (I love every member of the friend groups!). The prose was nothing to write home about, but it didn't need to be in order to tell the story that it did.

As far as romance goes, this was nothing revolutionary. But it didn't need to be revolutionary to be good. And it was very good!

Content Warnings

plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.0

I was eager to read this because I’d seen multiple comparisons between it and Red, White and Royal Blue, my favorite romance novel. While Boyfriend Material does feature a similar relationship dynamic and equally hilarious banter, it wasn’t quite as amazing as I’d hoped it would be.

I wasn’t expecting such a focus on Luc’s and Oliver’s complicated family dynamics. The former’s father has been diagnosed with cancer and wants to fix their poor relationship, whereas the latter has emotionally abusive parents. I sympathize with both guys—I wanna give Oliver a hug—and I can especially relate to Luc’s situation, as sans cancer, I have a similar relationship with my own father. However, some of Luc’s comments regarding his father’s diagnosis seemed insensitive, and it rubbed me the wrong way. That is, until

it was revealed that the asshole never had cancer. Are you kidding me??? This discovery had me angry at the character and unsure what to think of the author. I’m sure Hall is great, but I question why he made this choice.

The way Luc and Oliver supported each other warmed my heart. Theirs was a bit of a messy romance, since both of them are the epitome of gay disasters, but I loved it nonetheless. Recently I’ve realized that fake dating is one of my favorite tropes because I love seeing characters’ dynamics shift from an arrangement to real affection, so of course I loved these two, loved their story. And, as an added bonus, they teased each other frequently, which was quite amusing.

This would’ve been a five star read if not for the events of the last hundred pages. Everything seemed to be going well. I was grinning and laughing at almost every page. And then everything went so wildly wrong.

I honestly thought the scene after Luc and Oliver had sex, where Oliver broke up with Luc, was just Luc’s bad dream. I thought he’d wake up, panicking, but find Oliver asleep next to him, cuddled up beside him, and all would be well. All was not well. They really did break up the following morning, and I was *this close* to throwing my book across the room. If not for the fact that I read the scene at four in the morning, thus didn’t want to wake anyone up and also didn’t want to damage my paperback, I might’ve. They didn’t make up until the last few pages, and I was genuinely concerned the book would end with them going their own separate ways. Thank every god it didn’t, because I can’t properly describe how much I would’ve hated that.

While things ultimately worked out, I found the ending to be sadly unsatisfying.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book. It was mostly enjoyable, and quite entertaining. I’d recommend to those looking for a quick romance read, so long as you don’t go in with extremely high expectations.

Representation

gay protagonist and love interest
achillean romance (m/m)
queer side characters (includes gay, bisexual, and lesbian rep; one achillean couple and one sapphic couple (f/f))

Content Warnings

melizto's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

hmmm yesss give me that fake dating, kinda dislike eachother-to lovers trope.
there was a lot of drama due to miscommunication and the relationship was a little toxic but overall i really liked it, also the writing was too british for me haha so i only understood like 75% of the book. ALSO i didnt like that everything got resolved at the end, i wish we could have seen more of their future relationship :(

Content Warnings

violet_pages's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

jacquelinedrown's review against another edition

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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

5.0

I enjoyed every second of this book. The dialogue was so funny and witty and kept me laughing. And the humor was beautifully balanced with the heavier/ more emotional moments. Also Luc is the most relatable and lovable asshole ever.

The writing itself was so easy to read, and read a lot like an actual internal dialogue. Which was extremely refreshing and entertaining.

All of the secondary characters were so unique and lovable, which is an impressive feat considering their very limited page-time.

I don’t think there was anything I didn’t like about this book.

I love how the ending circled back to the beginning of Luc and Oliver’s relationship. It was just so beautiful!

Content Warnings

hpepperstone's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.25

Content Warnings

samreadsthings's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

melissajohnson2017'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

4.25

Content Warnings

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense 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

5.0

This was the lighthearted fluffy romance I needed! Just the right amount of steam (that is to say it was there, but not overly explicit) mixed with humor and witty banter that I love in a romcom. Though I will say I am far too American and found myself either Googling things I didn't know, relying on my knowledge of British culture from the BBC, or simply using context clues to figure out what some things were. (That's utterly on me and the book was 100% enjoyable regardless of not knowing a lot of British things.) This is definitely one I will be revisiting from time to time because I adore how utterly dense Luc and Oliver are.

Looking forward to Husband Material in 2022!

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