A review by heyjaycee
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Luc O'Donnell just wants to get on with his life. But being the son of two celebrities, even relatively obscure as they are, seems to come with nothing but downsides for Luc. The tabloid press is determined to paint him as a sex-obsessed junkie meltdown, despite the reality of his life being perfectly ordinary. Now he's going to lose his job if he can't clean up his image. So he recruits his (hilarious, queer as hell) friends to find him a respectable fake boyfriend. 

Oliver Blackwood is nothing if not respectable. A reserved vegetarian barrister, he lives quietly and works hard. He's exactly the kind of guy Luc is looking for. And, luckily, Oliver is on the lookout for a fake boyfriend of his own to bring to his parents' wedding anniversary. 

Of course, they catch feels. 

Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material is a romantic comedy for the ages. This novel should stand in the romcom halls of fame beside Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, or at least The Holiday. Hall has a perfectly English sense of humour, where everything is lightly farcical at best at all times. I give you: Alex Twaddle, the Wodehouse-posh, nice-but-dim workmate; Judy Cholmondeley-Pfaffle, a caricature of the hearty English aristocrat; and the James Royce-Royces, husbands and soulmates who both just happened to be called James Royce. 

Not only is Hall pitch perfect on the comedy, he's diamond-sharp on the stratifications of British society and prejudice. The novel—and Luc—doesn't fail to comment that Luc's job is in danger because he's being perceived as a 'bad gay', instead of the nice, friendly, middle class type. From Welsh pop-up restaurants in London to nouveau riche Milton Keynes mansions, middle class dinner parties to queer gatherings in beer gardens, Hall's analytical eye is acute, and always serving not only his comic sensibility but his gentle social critique. 

Can I telegraph 'I LOVE THIS BOOK' even harder? Because I love this book. And oh no but I've just discovered Hall wrote the Kate Kane series, which I've been dithering over whether to pick up, and now I feel like a tit for not grabbing them sooner.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings