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A review by onlyongracexm
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I Have A Lot of Thoughts.
Just to be clear, I do really like this book. Even though I have a lot of thoughts, I still found this book to be quite cute and sweet. It talks about the importance of communication. It shows the rewards of being vulnerable with a person who understands you and is willing to put in the work with you to build a life together. Luc’s character and development shows how damaging and invasive public ridicule can be to your life and relationships. Oliver, though not given the time I think he should’ve been given, holds himself up to such unreachable standards that he never thinks of himself as good enough for anyone and breaks off from them out of fear that they’ll dislike how imperfect he is.
I wasn’t feeling this book so much for the first half. Although I understood completely where Luc’s decisions were coming from, I wasn’t entirely convinced by his reasoning, by his immediate spiral into self-deprecation. He’d have a date with Oliver that I thought went well, albeit awkwardly, and Luc would be spiraling with thoughts of “I ruined this. I fucked this up. This is a disaster and it’s all my fault” and I’d be there patting his head being like, “Luc, please, chill out. It was awkward, not a disaster. You’ll be fine.” He didn’t feel naturally snarky, he just felt cringey and annoying. I kept reading because there were these little nuggets of sweetness between Luc and Oliver and luckily, it paid off.
“You are not responsible for anyone else’s bullshit” and “you are not worthless no matter who chooses to leave,” are just some of the lessons that this book teaches Luc and the reader. I think these are great lessons, especially for adults still dealing with far-reaching trauma that affects how they function in relationships. I understood Luc’s deal very quickly: he had trust issues due to people in the past taking advantage of his proximity to celebrity for personal gain that left him dealing with public ridicule alone. The trashy tabloid perception of him got so warped that it affected his own perception of himself. Plus, add in his abandonment issues and self-deprecation from his absentee father who now wants to reconcile, but not really. And so, he kept people out before they could possibly hurt him.
So much time was devoted to dealing with Luc’s stuff that Oliver’s stuff was squished on at the end and was not given the time to be properly explored and dived into. I was just as engaged and as interested in Oliver’s backstory as I was with Luc’s. The chapters we get with Oliver’s family tapped a wealth of character and story. Oliver, for most of his life, was bombarded with unrealistic expectations, pitted against his brother, and treated so disrespectfully by his parents, but he thought all of it was normal! He defended his parents to Luc after Luc rightfully stood up to them. I wanted to see more of that—the untangling of the normalized dissatisfaction of himself. Was there ever a little voice in Oliver’s head that said, “you don’t deserve to be treated with disrespect, you’re worth it just as you are”? Part of me now wishes that this was an alternating third-person POV. Luc got a midpoint cleaning montage, so how come Oliver didn’t get one? (I know his apartment is clean, it’s a metaphor lol.) I simply do not care about the plethora of minor characters, I just want Oliver to be happy.
The Third Act Conflict Bullshit just simply didn’t ring true to me. They were building up this “let’s make this real” tension, but it just snapped like a pan to the head when Oliver, practically out of nowhere, breaks up with Luc. Then, Luc and his friends had that whole “let’s drive five hours to and back to make a big romantic gesture” scene, which ended up with Oliver doubly breaking up with him. But, at the very last chapter, Oliver does the whole narrative circle thing and shows up at Luc’s doorstep at an inconvenient hour just like Luc did twice previously in the book and they kiss and make up.
Maybe, just maybe, if there was another final chapter/epilogue that shows Luc and Oliver as a Decently-Functioning Couple Working To Make A Beautiful Domestic Life Together, I could’ve given this a proper 4-star instead of the 3.75-star rating I feel in my heart. Also, I was hoping the sex scenes would be a little more... explicit. They are, you know, fine as they are, but I’m here for the lewds, what can I say. Also also, Luc’s character is almost just like an OC I’m working on who also has trust issues due to proximity to fame, so perhaps I’m biased, lol.
Please, authors, please just give me that one more chapter that really shows the main couple being a couple!!! I’m so tired of rom-com books that end right when they get together!!! (I mean, I know Luc and Oliver were fake dating, but I wanted to see more of them real dating!) I shall not stand for this limerance any longer, I Want Love!!!!!!
Anyway, this was a book that I have a lot of thoughts about. Thank you for reading~ I shall now fill this British rom-com hole in my heart with About Time and Bridgerton.
Just to be clear, I do really like this book. Even though I have a lot of thoughts, I still found this book to be quite cute and sweet. It talks about the importance of communication. It shows the rewards of being vulnerable with a person who understands you and is willing to put in the work with you to build a life together. Luc’s character and development shows how damaging and invasive public ridicule can be to your life and relationships. Oliver, though not given the time I think he should’ve been given, holds himself up to such unreachable standards that he never thinks of himself as good enough for anyone and breaks off from them out of fear that they’ll dislike how imperfect he is.
I wasn’t feeling this book so much for the first half. Although I understood completely where Luc’s decisions were coming from, I wasn’t entirely convinced by his reasoning, by his immediate spiral into self-deprecation. He’d have a date with Oliver that I thought went well, albeit awkwardly, and Luc would be spiraling with thoughts of “I ruined this. I fucked this up. This is a disaster and it’s all my fault” and I’d be there patting his head being like, “Luc, please, chill out. It was awkward, not a disaster. You’ll be fine.” He didn’t feel naturally snarky, he just felt cringey and annoying. I kept reading because there were these little nuggets of sweetness between Luc and Oliver and luckily, it paid off.
“You are not responsible for anyone else’s bullshit” and “you are not worthless no matter who chooses to leave,” are just some of the lessons that this book teaches Luc and the reader. I think these are great lessons, especially for adults still dealing with far-reaching trauma that affects how they function in relationships. I understood Luc’s deal very quickly: he had trust issues due to people in the past taking advantage of his proximity to celebrity for personal gain that left him dealing with public ridicule alone. The trashy tabloid perception of him got so warped that it affected his own perception of himself. Plus, add in his abandonment issues and self-deprecation from his absentee father who now wants to reconcile, but not really. And so, he kept people out before they could possibly hurt him.
So much time was devoted to dealing with Luc’s stuff that Oliver’s stuff was squished on at the end and was not given the time to be properly explored and dived into. I was just as engaged and as interested in Oliver’s backstory as I was with Luc’s. The chapters we get with Oliver’s family tapped a wealth of character and story. Oliver, for most of his life, was bombarded with unrealistic expectations, pitted against his brother, and treated so disrespectfully by his parents, but he thought all of it was normal! He defended his parents to Luc after Luc rightfully stood up to them. I wanted to see more of that—the untangling of the normalized dissatisfaction of himself. Was there ever a little voice in Oliver’s head that said, “you don’t deserve to be treated with disrespect, you’re worth it just as you are”? Part of me now wishes that this was an alternating third-person POV. Luc got a midpoint cleaning montage, so how come Oliver didn’t get one? (I know his apartment is clean, it’s a metaphor lol.) I simply do not care about the plethora of minor characters, I just want Oliver to be happy.
The Third Act Conflict Bullshit just simply didn’t ring true to me. They were building up this “let’s make this real” tension, but it just snapped like a pan to the head when Oliver, practically out of nowhere, breaks up with Luc. Then, Luc and his friends had that whole “let’s drive five hours to and back to make a big romantic gesture” scene, which ended up with Oliver doubly breaking up with him. But, at the very last chapter, Oliver does the whole narrative circle thing and shows up at Luc’s doorstep at an inconvenient hour just like Luc did twice previously in the book and they kiss and make up.
Maybe, just maybe, if there was another final chapter/epilogue that shows Luc and Oliver as a Decently-Functioning Couple Working To Make A Beautiful Domestic Life Together, I could’ve given this a proper 4-star instead of the 3.75-star rating I feel in my heart. Also, I was hoping the sex scenes would be a little more... explicit. They are, you know, fine as they are, but I’m here for the lewds, what can I say. Also also, Luc’s character is almost just like an OC I’m working on who also has trust issues due to proximity to fame, so perhaps I’m biased, lol.
Please, authors, please just give me that one more chapter that really shows the main couple being a couple!!! I’m so tired of rom-com books that end right when they get together!!! (I mean, I know Luc and Oliver were fake dating, but I wanted to see more of them real dating!) I shall not stand for this limerance any longer, I Want Love!!!!!!
Anyway, this was a book that I have a lot of thoughts about. Thank you for reading~ I shall now fill this British rom-com hole in my heart with About Time and Bridgerton.