A review by rosesandproses
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

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.

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