From the get go this book was filled with all the delightful characters I came to know and love in Boyfriend Material. If there’s one thing Alexis Hall (besides just being a very talented writer/storyteller) is great at, it’s writing really endearing side characters I actually can get invested in (the only other person who I find does this as well is Casey McQuiston). He’s able to depict them with enough depth to be whole people without shifting focus too much from the main characters.

Husband Marerial starts out with Bridge and Tom getting married and Lucien being Bridge’s maid of honor. Without giving too much away but this plot seems to follow a popular 1994 British Rom Com movie, which is entertaining in and of itself and even better with an Alexis Hall twist which includes lots of queer love and also relevant social commentary that I’ve come to expect in his writing (capitalism, the wedding industrial complex, heteronormativity, etc.).

This book is broken up into four distinct acts. I can tell in the first few acts that Luc and Oliver’s relationship has matured (as it should over a two year span), by how Oliver handles bad news and is an understanding partner, though even I thought he had the right to be upset/irritated at a certain point. Even Lucien at a point of contention, his inner dialogue instructs him that things are going to be okay, and that’s growth he definitely see from him from Boyfriend Material.

In the third act there is a monumentally impactful situation causing unparalleled levels of grief to Oliver, and I found his behavior regarding it refreshingly realistic. Grieving people aren’t rational, they’re angry, they’re sad, they act out of character and because grief isn’t linear it comes and goes in waves and you truly see that represented.

I think the biggest point of contention with this book is going to be the final act and the choices made within it. I did find that Luc and Oliver seemed to be regressing in terms of maturity in this act. For Oliver I could once again bring up how grief can effect those going through it all over the place but this really didn’t feel like that. In the end there are people who love each other and are proud to be with one another, and while there was an explanation for the head-scratcher of an ending choice I really think this needed more page time/explanation of Luc and Oliver’s feelings to be flushed out to not seem a tad bit bonkers and abrupt.

Overall, this book delivered everything I’ve come to expect from Alexis Hall and I quite enjoyed the ride. I do think this one is going to be very divided but for me this was a 4 star read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank You to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Cassablanca for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so sad. This was one of my most anticipated sequels but after finishing it, I wish I hadn't read it.

Boyfriend Material is one of my favourite books. I've read it 4 times already, one of those times right before starting the sequel, and I still love it immensely especially Luc and Oliver's interactions. Did I find the ending very abrupt and rushed on my first read? Yes, but once we found out about the sequel that didn't bother me anymore.

Well, turns out the author still can't write endings because he managed to ruin a well enough book for me in two chapters.

I can honestly say I mostly enjoyed this book up until the last part and especially these last two chapters. It was a solid 4 star read for me, maybe leaning a bit towards 3.5. I saw some mediocre star ratings before starting to read so I went into this book with the expectation that I wouldn't love it as much as BM. I was fine with that because I know it probably wasn't able to meet my high expectations anyway and I generally just wanted to spend some fun times with my favourite characters. But I wouldn't have thought that reading those last chapters would make me feel more and more anxious as I read on and looked at the remaining page count in horror. When I finished I was kind of speechless and didn't want to look at the book anymore, I felt so blindsided. So yeah, of course now that I finished, I can't help but focus on all the little flaws throughout the entire book.

Let's start from the beginning. This book is divided into 5 parts and I guess that's also how it felt like... 5 separate short stories/novellas with the overall theme of marriage. I also quickly realised it was not what I was expecting at all from this book, which was Luc realising he wants to marry Oliver and stressing about it while trying to figure out how to propose (that part was actually pretty brushed over). While reading part 4, I found out that this book is based on the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral which I've never watched but it still made a lot of sense to me. Because it definitely felt like Luc and Oliver's story was fitted to some already existing format.

MINOR SPOILERS ahead so stop reading if you want to know nothing about specific plot points

Part 1: This was mostly about Bridget and her wedding and some ridiculous things that went wrong. Definitely felt like a romcom but sometimes it was a bit too much. It didn't bother me that much because hey this is only the beginning of the book but I mostly kept wondering where Oliver (one of the MCs on the cover!!) was since he's barely present at the beginning and there were moments I felt bad for him. But it was only part 1 and I was expecting some kind of conflict so this was fine.

Part 2 was mostly about Luc's ex and what he did to Luc and Luc deciding if he wanted to forgive him or not. I wasn't a huge fan of Miles showing up but I focused on Luc and Oliver who are mostly happy together but they start to question their different ways of 'being gay', or mostly Luc questions Oliver's attitude towards the queer community. (Now I keep thinking...they have been together for 2 years, how is this still a conflict between them? But whatever)

Part 3 had more ridiculous adventures with Luc's colleagues but we get some more time with Luc and Oliver being alone together, I guess this was one of my favourite parts since they actually felt like a solid established couple here. Some more conflicts arise while discussing traditional (and heteronormative) church weddings because their views are also completely different on that one.

Part 4 is what's probably most surprising if you don't know the title of the movie this story is based on and haven't read the synopsis properly like me. Because this part is about a funeral which kind of feels weird in a romance novel?? Other than that I think I did enjoy this part somewhat? Luc and especially Oliver had to go through some stuff but they talked it out after all and got through it together.

Now part 5.... by this point I noticed the major theme of this book. Which wasn't marriages but actually arguments. Luc and Oliver were arguing soo much about such unnecessary things and they kept going in circles. They never resolved their issues and just kept discussing again and again without coming to a conclusion. Two years into a relationship and you have to argue this much about a wedding and criticising each other?

Luc has definitely grown since book 1 but what I did not like was how much he analysed and criticised Oliver. He was acting like his therapist and psychoanalysing him and somehow Oliver was always the one who needed to work on himself. At one part Luc actually thinks it's a good thing that the problem why they're arguing is actually Oliver and not himself?? Uhm what??

As the story came to its conclusions and the wedding drew nearer I felt like instead of issues resolving...they just kept coming? Third to last chapter I was actually concerned Oliver was about to break up with Luc??? And then the last two chapters...I'm honestly so mad still. This book is 400 pages long, full of ridiculous unnecessary plot points, the book was actually quite long for no reason (one speech is several pages long and 4 times I thought it was over but it just kept on going) but somehow you have to shove a major realisation and decision into the last two chapters???

Do I share Luc and Oliver's beliefs? No but I realise that's a me thing. But was I given any time to process, understand and accept their ultimate decision?? NO. I know what the author was trying to do and he has every right to do it but I don't appreciate major plot twists in the last chapter with an abrupt ending. I don't know why so many authors are doing this?? The way this book was presented and promoted made me expect something totally different and I felt like a fool when I finished the book.

I hate how the ending tainted the entire reading experience and I especially hate how it tainted my love for Luc and Oliver as a couple. Because yes they are different but that's what makes them so good together. But apparently after two years they still argue about not wanting the same things??? Instead of focusing on how they balance each other out. They felt kind of toxic in this book and this is not the relationship I got to know in Boyfriend Material.

Another thing I noticed overall and wasn't a fan of: I know Luc and Oliver are aware of a lot of social and political stuff and of course they try to be correct about everything. But here it felt like they were correct about every single thing and it didn't feel natural anymore, it honestly felt like the author was showing off his awareness or something. And in the last chapters, it definitely felt like he was forcing some views. But honestly if you feel this way about marriage maybe don't write a book that's focused on the marriage of a beloved couple??

I keep on ranting and I'm still questioning my 2 star rating and if I'm too harsh. Because this doesn't feel fair to the Luc and Oliver from BM and the Luc and Oliver they could've been in HM. I love these characters, really enjoyed the writing and interactions between various characters and there were some parts I chuckled to myself. But the fact that I'm still so mad about this book and had to cancel my preorder because I didn't want to have to look at a physical copy of this book says a lot. I want to reread BM in the future and not think about what happens after that. From now on BM is a standalone to me. I thought maybe I could accept the first 4 parts of the book and just ignore part 5 ever happened but the ending left such a bitter taste in my mouth that in hindsight this sequel shouldn't have been written. I was looking forward to listening to the audiobook but not even Joe Jameson can save this one.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this arc!

I honestly regret reading this book. It added absolutely nothing to Luc and Oliver’s story, and the ending here just makes this entire book feel pointless. Yes, there’s a lesson at the end, but paired with an abrupt ending and trying too hard to hammer a point home to readers? The characters just lost their magic for me with this book. Book three isn’t even about Luc and Oliver, so the ending here feels even less satisfying than the ending we got in Boyfriend Material.

I will say the book started solidly, like in aggressively fine territory with a fun shenanigans 4-stars, but it drops to 3-stars with part four, and then the ending drop kicks it into a very generous 2-stars book for me.

If you loved Boyfriend Material but you’re already not a fan of continuation books and sequels after a couple finds their HEA? Skip this book. Seriously.

I generally LOVE sequel books even when most people don’t, and I just don’t recommend it. Re-read Boyfriend Material instead and you’ll be happier for it.

Content notes (taken from the author’s website): homophobia (challenged), internalised homophobia (challenged), bigoted language spoken by a minor character (presented very much as a bad thing), references (though not graphic) to an eating disorder, mentions of past emotional parental neglect, death of a parent (heart attack; happens off page), grief, and on-page funeral service.

***SOME SPOILERS AHEAD***

So, look. I’m not into romcom movies. It’s just never been my thing. This book, structurally at least, is based off of the romcom Four Weddings and a Funeral. Based on the wiki synopsis, I don’t think this book follows the events in that movie, but that’s just my impression. The book here is broken up into five parts, if you can guess by the movie title. They feel like very separated storylines that give off an individual short story feel, rather than brought together as a whole novel. If this book had been pitched more as a short story epilogue book of sorts, that would make more sense. I went into this book thinking that the story would be fun and games and anxiety about Luc proposing, the engagement, and eventual marriage to Oliver based on the title of this book. And, well, it is and it isn’t.

This book is also still all from Luc’s first-person POV. Unfortunately, we get nothing from Oliver’s POV. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a single POV book, and sometimes it works. But probably less so with this sequel than the first book by keeping it to only one perspective. You really lose out on connecting with Oliver’s character.

There’s just a lot of odd, unnecessary plotlines that feels like we’re rehashing stuff from book one - like driving all over the UK looking for someone due to a misunderstanding. Is there a point to be made? I don’t know. This is only book two. It’s not like we’re at the end of an epically long book series where it feels like it would be nice to return back to events in the first book to bring everything back full circle. But you know what? The stories and first 2/3 of this book was really aggressively fine. Not brilliant, but I could accept them as fun add-on stories without really dwelling on any MAJOR complaints up through this point.

Really, the biggest error is something nobody else would even care about unless you’re a weirdly theatre obsessed person who keeps tabs on events in the West End even when you live across the Atlantic. Hi, it’s me. This book (not sure about the final edition, but the ARC) does date the story by saying it’s 2021 at one point. We’re two years past the ending of Boyfriend Material and we’re ignoring life changing events that are happening in real life during this time. And I’m fine with that. HOWEVER. This book specifically mentions that Luc and Oliver have planned a formal date night where they chose between Oliver’s choice of seeing the Death of a Salesmen play specifically at the Young Vic theatre, or Luc’s choice of Pretty Woman the musical. And as far as I’m aware these two shows were never on at the West End at the same time. Ever. Death of a Salesman was at the Young Vic until October 2019 (I am only more keenly aware because I was in London while this was running and the Young Vic is not a West End theatre venue), before transferring with a limited engagement through January 2020 at the Piccadilly Theatre (which is a West End venue). Pretty Woman didn’t even start previews until February 2020. Even if you take out a global pandemic that forced theatres to shut down, Death of a Salesman would’ve already ended its run.

All that aside timeline-wise, I think this book suggesting that Luc and Oliver go see the Pretty Woman musical (which received mixed reviews at BEST) over the Death of a Salesman play is also not a good look if you know anything about the most recent London production. It’s the first time a Black cast played the titular family in Death of a Salesman. It was a very highly regarded production. So, it just rubs me the wrong way how the play was so easily dismissed in the text like it was your run of the mill revival? Especially when the choice of musical they decide to go see (not that they actually did due to conflicts) is very, very white and contains a plot that has, by all accounts, aged badly.

This book would’ve been better off making up productions that weren’t actively playing at the time of this story. But that’s just theatre nerd in me raising an eyebrow at that entire sequence of events. You might say, “it’s not that deep!!” and maybe it isn’t. But this book takes a very hard stance on many topics (which I normally wouldn’t mind, but this book really tries to hit you over the head with them at every turn where it starts sounding like you’re being condescended to after a certain point)…well, then I’m going to start pointing stuff out that this book might want to sit down and reflect on too.

And that was the worst of it until we hit part four. Part four took me entirely by surprise because it hadn’t even occurred to me to look up the warnings for this book. Like I said, I thought the book was going to be FUN. But I suppose the word funeral does have the word fun in it? *queue up the “Come to the Fun Home” song*

The entirety of part four is about grief and how do you mourn or sort out your feelings towards someone if they’ve never quite loved you for being YOU? I wouldn’t say this was an absolutely devastating section of the book to read, but I did feel like I didn’t get proper warning for it. And then the story just DRAGS. There is a very long speech at the funeral itself that seems to go on forever, and I’m sorry but I just started skimming. It felt like it was never, ever going to end. There are no breaks in the speech, so it’s just one very long Shakespearean monologue I’m afraid. I’m sure this would’ve been better in audio? Maybe? But I read this in text, and I was over it.

You would think part five would bring everything around and end on a happier note, but it feels quite at odds with the rest of the book. After the funeral, I guess we’re all dragged down with it like a sinking ship situation. There’s a brief lighthearted moment between Luc and Oliver returning back to the restaurant of their first date, but that’s about the only highlight in the last bit of the book that was truly enjoyable. Everything is fights and angst, and it feels like we’re being lectured to about heteronormative expectations and weddings and the overall concept of marriage. Did I come into a romance book named HUSBAND Material to be lectured to about how much weddings and marriage suck? No? I did not? Is this the author telling us all to fuck off about wanting characters to get a wedding and getting married? Bucking the traditional expectations of romance books where the characters have a lovely wedding and ride off into the sunset? If that’s the case, why write a sequel to Luc and Oliver’s story in the first place?? There’s literally three weddings preceding part five, so I’m extremely taken aback.

I really just feel duped, swindled, and bamboozled by the ending and where we’re left at the end of all this. It feels like reading this book was a huge waste of time just to drive a point home about throwing out societal expectations, and I am honestly so upset. I went into this with such high expectations since I loved Boyfriend Material and this is what we’re left with??? We are worse off than where we started.

Other notes from this book I guess I’ll point out before I end this review. I thought the trans character we meet near the end would be our MC for the next book, but turns out he’s just a random character who appears out of nowhere and just as quickly disappears with no rhyme or reason and his purpose is that we now have a trans character appear in this book. He really has no other reason for being in this story. It’s not really an organic introduction or exit. Just feels really random.

Based on hints from the author, the next MC is a college acquaintance of Luc’s and apparently it’s a guy named Jonathan we meet earlier in the book who everyone hates. So, I feel bad for him already. His characterization so far feels like early Boyfriend Material Oliver.

Boyfriend Material was closed door when it came to sex scenes. This is no different. I went into this book expecting it to also be closed door, so no surprises there even if I felt a tinge of disappointment. It’s really not like this book had anything else going for it. It feels like you barely even see Luc and Oliver on good terms.

It was nice seeing Luc’s group of friends and learning more about them in this book because I didn’t find them all that remarkable in the first book, but I feel like I like them and know them a lot more here. Luc’s coworkers at his dung beetle charity CRAPP are still a dysfunctional group of people who all somehow still manage to bring in money for their charity? I don’t know. The technicalities of their jobs is still murky. But they disappear from the storyline with no explanation in the end, even though I thought they were invited to Luc and Oliver’s wedding. It’s very odd how they appear for an entire section of the book and then disappear with no mention of them again.

Finding out more about Luc’s mom’s friend, Judy, was the most enjoyable and fascinating part of this book I suppose. Although we see less of the dogs in this book? They’re still around, but rarely. Luc’s mom is a delight and unchanged from the first book. But I guess I can say the same for Luc’s absentee rock star dad (the unchanged part).

Oliver finally being able to air out his frustrations about his family was nice in that he got to start making amends with his brother. And the chat with his uncle was oddly touching, despite the strangeness of the situation where it seems to have come out of left field.

Overall, I feel like there’s no point to this book and the ending left me disappointed and a feeling of being lectured to. After putting the book down, I do not feel happy that I have read this, and it left me feeling quite worse for having read it. This book feels more like short stories of disjointed thoughts mashed into a novel length production, but still fails to deliver the coherent story readers were led to believe from the title and the blurb.

I guess this book is for readers who don’t normally read romance books and only want romance that throws out the expected, as if it could bring something new to the table.

For those of us who ARE avid romance readers though, I feel like this is a disappointing sequel that went out of its way to ruin my favorite characters in what I had considered one of my favorite books.

***Thanks to the publisher for approving me for this e-ARC on NetGalley***

Diving back into the love and lives of Luc and Oliver was like getting back together with my best friends. I loved getting to witness them navigate “big days” in the lives of their friends, coworkers and families. And although I wanted to chuck my kindle across the room in the final chapters, the fact that I had such an emotional response is a tribute to Alexis Hall’s writing. I love these characters. And I LOVE that they don’t need to be defined by any one else’s definition of love or “rightness” to be right. Perfection.

I loved Boyfriend Material - I loved the growth both Luc and Oliver had over the course of the book, I loved how Oliver's steady practicality complimented Luc's flakiness, I also enjoyed all the side characters like the affable bumbling co-workers of CRAPP. So while I was not sure a sequel was necessary, I was excited for more Luc and Oliver in Husband Material.

Husband Material has a Four Weddings and a Funeral theme, which is fun, and the co-workers are back to be silly and fun, but this book just didn't hit the same as its predecessor. I felt all the hard won character growth was thrown out the window. Luc was self-centered and down right mean in a way that was not redeemable and hard to root for. I often felt Oliver deserved better. I especially felt Oliver deserved better when Luc continually questioned the way Oliver expressed himself and his sexuality. Not all gay men need to fit a certain box of expression, but Luc didn't see it that way and made Oliver feel lesser for it. And that was never resolved in a way that I found satisfactory. I felt awful for Oliver a whole lot. I also felt badly for the merry band of side characters - who Luc continued to be awful to - he tells one co-worker he hates her, unprovoked and just awfully done. The James Royce-Royces had a baby and everyone was happy for them except Luc, who was pretty awful about their having a baby throughout the entire book, at one point telling a James he couldn't join their friends in doing an activity because now he has a baby. I wondered if Alexis Hall hated children due to the ways he's written them in other books, but it was confirmed in this book. It was not a good look for Luc - a character I had been proud of for growing in the last book and who seemingly tossed it all in the trash in this book. And I don't want to spoil the book but I didn't care for the ending at all, so once you've read it, come back, so we can discuss my thoughts there.

What did I like? I really liked the exploration of Oliver's family dynamics. It was hard and it was real. Families are complicated. Wanting your parents who hate your life and your chosen partner at your wedding is real and full of complicated emotions. I've been there and I thought those pieces were beautifully done and honest, they made me cry. The sibling dynamics for Oliver as well were really great to flesh out. I guess I liked all the Oliver bits. I also really liked getting more depth to Priya, who seems like a great friend deep down. And all the CRAPP bits were fun, minus telling co-workers you hate them.

I wondered if this sequel was necessary, and it could have been had it done a little more justice to the characters we've grown to love.

Luc + Oliver - Book #2

I was so looking forward to more from those two!
I LOVED their first book so much!
And now they're finally back!

It's wedding season in London. Luc's bestie is getting married and he's Maid of Honour - so he's very busy with that.
Someone from his past is getting married too and he's invited to the wedding.
And of course we have the usual relationship and family and work and life problems with our two darlings to deal with too!

What will happen with Luc & Oliver?
Will there be a wedding for them too?
Read the book to find out!

══════════════════

FINALLY!
More of Luc and Oliver! How I missed them!
I did a re-read of Boyfriend Material before starting this and it was just as perfect as I remembered. I just love these boys!

The second book was just as adorable and hilarious and just as beautiful as the first one.

Luc's co-workers are still pure comedy gold!

I so need to see these books and these people on Netflix asap!

Two years have gone by where Luc and Oliver have been pretty much living together happily ever after - only without the happily ever after. Everybody seems to be getting married - but they never even talked abou it.

Ugh - this is just such a great book. I don't want to tell you more about what's happening. You just need to know that it's full of amazing moments! READ IT! And please start with the first book if you haven't read that yet!

► HUSBAND MATERIAL was the most perfect Luc + Oliver sequel! So adorable + hilarious + just everything! Such a beautiful love story! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Luc & Oliver - they'll be sold out in no time! ☺

I must confess I was equal parts excited and terrified to read this one. With amazing books, we always get the "will this be as good as the first one?" feeling, but this is Alexis Hall and he's never disappointed me. 

In this Four Wedding and A Funeral "inspired" (or should I say "themed"?) sequel, Luc and Oliver have been together for two years. Luc is still a hot mess, though more of a "warm mess" now and Oliver is pretty much Oliver, though he's loosened up quite a bit.

With all their friends getting married and moving on in the expected timeline of life events, Luc, who's deeply in love with Oliver proposes (kind of on a whim, we should add) and Oliver says yes. In true Oliver/Luc fashion, all sorts shenanigans ensue. As they navigate through weddings, a funeral and wedding planning, they grow. They deal with their identities as individuals and as a couple. In true Alexis Hall fashion, serious topics are discussed in a delicate and light manner. 

Unbeknownst to them, they have already reached their HEA - they just had to learn that an HEA doesn't need a perpetual state of "happy" - they'll be sad, they'll be angry, they'll f*ck up (royally sometimes), they'll make up, but they will do it together. They'll grow, staying true to themselves and that's lovely.

I absolutely adore the way Alexis Hall writes. Luc's infinite vortexes of "Lucness"  are hilarious and Oliver's characteristic very Oliver-y words are a joy to read. 

It's fun, it's sweet, it's hilarious (I chuckled quite a few times) and endearing. I kinda wish I could be friends with Luc, Oliver, their friends and the C.R.A.P.P. crew. 

Entirely told in first person through Luc's POV, this is a closed door romance. You can read this as a standalone as the story is contained and has no cliffhangers, but I strongly suggest reading Boyfriend Material first. 

Possible triggers: toxic relationship with parents, queer phobia

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.   Thank you Alexis Hall, @NetGalley and @sourcebookscasa for the copy.

I love Luc and Oliver. I am so thankful for Boyfriend Material. Husband Material is the exact opposite of that joy. While I love the characters, the whole book was a rollercoaster and mostly a train wreck but I still loved it? Help.

The first few chapters of Husband Material felt like coming home to your best friends. It made me giddy to be with these characters again! But as the book progresses, so did my love for the story. While we love a fictional world, some parts of this one were just utterly depressing.

Luc and Oliver are a complicated mess but Husband Material made their relationship tumultuous and tedious and it really didn’t need to be.

If you read and adored Boyfriend Material, I’d honestly say skip this one as it’s unnecessary and you don’t want these lovely, albeit complicated, characters to be tainted in your head.

This book is just Luc and Oliver going to random people's wedding and fighting 70% of the time. Luc is annoying and I don't know why they're still together

Luc and Oliver have been together for two years and are happily living together, yet not quite living together. I mean Luc still has his flat because we all know what a commitment phobe he is, but he rarely spends any time there. Everything important to him is at Oliver's place up to and including Oliver himself. I enjoyed getting to catch up with these two. Opposites attract is certainly a saying meant for them. I mean Luc is a sleep in until noon on a Saturday, while by the time he's awake Oliver has worked out at the gym, had breakfast, and already gotten on with half his day. Luc is my kind of people.

Ironically, there were a fair bit of weddings in Husband Material to attend. All of which lead to Luc and Oliver thinking about their own ideas of future nuptials. Lets just say they are pretty opposite in this regard as well. Of course we still get the regular cast of side characters. There is another fun adventure spent in Priyas van. Oliver is still the most polite and thoughtful boyfriend in the world. Luc is still an anxiety ridden mess, though somewhat less than before. I hate to admit I was a tad disappointed in the ending. I felt it was sort of abrupt and warranted an epilogue if this was the last we see of Luc and Oliver. Otherwise if you enjoyed Boyfriend Material I am positive Husband Material will be a winner for you as well.

oved this book, i always love alexis hall’s writing and i always relate in some ways to her characters which i find great.
i think this was a great way to end this duology and it was great to see bridge, tom, priya… again but i do think the ending was a bit rushed. [spoiler] i think the fact that they wouldn’t get married was clear right at the beginning of the book but the reason why was less clear. even as i was reading, it found it a bit cliche and kinda oversimplified. the explaining at the end made their reason more clear tho. (even if it was extremely rushed)
otherwise i really enjoyed this duology overall and i loved all of the characters because they felt real.

Quick recap, Luc's ex sold him out to the tabloids for £50,000, his father is a narcissistic ageing rock star who faked a cancer scare for the publicity, and he works for a dung beetle charity. Oliver is a vegan barrister with food issues, a heightened sense of social responsibility, and parents who constantly belittle him. It's now two years since Luc O'Donnell and Oliver Blackwood fake-dated their way into romance. They are still together but all around them friends and family (and exes) are getting married. Yes, it's Four Weddings and a Funeral for the 2020s.

Was any book so hotly anticipated (by me) as this one? I LOVED Boyfriend Material and I slavered over the teaser chapters that were made available on NetGalley for Husband Material so I really, really, really wanted to read this book. I was even contemplating stalking Alexis Hall to beg for an ARC, then the publisher granted me an ARC! So normally when that happens all the anticipation is too much pressure and the book disappoints - not this one.

Loved it, there's the usual laughter, tears, ridiculous jokes, and relationship angst. TBH 85% of the way through the book I had NO idea where it was going to end up, but as usual Alexis Hall did a brilliant job, confounded my expectations and had me reaching for a tissue (I'm not crying, you're crying). Please give us more Luc and Oliver!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books this year so I was thrilled to get an eARC copy. Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley!

This is a sequel to Boyfriend Material, and it picks up about 2 years after the end of the first book. We revisit Luc and Oliver as they figure out the next steps of their relationship and maneuver through other hurdles that life throws at them.

I loved the writing of this one just as much as the first. The witty banter and the absurd conversations with the lovable side characters are my favorite things. I was reading this novel while on vacation, and it was very easy to get through. I never got bored.

On the other hand, after finishing the novel and reflecting on it, I felt a little unsatisfied. Basically because the “conflict” relied almost entirely on lack of communication. If Luc and Oliver had just sat down once and had a proper conversation about their feelings—in private and not at, say, a coworker’s wedding—then most of the conflict of this book never would have existed.

So overall, I would recommend this book if you just really like the characters and the banter and want more of it. But as far as continuing the plot of the first book, I don’t really think this sequel was necessary.

I will still happily read any and all additions to this series though because I love these characters a lot!

Since college and graduate school, I find it difficult to only read one thing at a time. While I was recently reading some non-fiction that was on the darker and denser side, I was eager to balance it out with something lighter and happier, so when I managed to get my hands on a preview copy of Alexis Hall’s upcoming, Husband Material – the sequel to Boyfriend Material – I dove right in. The novel’s Four Weddings and a Funeral vibe sets the stage for a fun and, at times, over-the-top exploration of community, convention, and what how we use both to measure and judge ourselves.

It’s been two years since Luc and Oliver decided their fake relationship wasn’t as fake after all and things have been smooth sailing. Even running into his recently-engaged, back-stabbing ex while performing his Maid of Honor duties for his best friend Bridget isn’t enough to shake Luc’s faith in his relationship with Oliver… though the encounter leaves Luc rattled in other ways. Being thrust into a world where so many of his friends, acquaintances and exes seem to be getting married (with a few having children too), Luc begins to imagine what his future with Oliver might look like. But while they each find most of their differences charming and endearing, attending so many weddings also brings some of their more fundamental differences into sharp relief. Can they successfully navigate the social events surrounding these major milestones or will they get tripped up along the way?

Boyfriend Material was very much a novel centered around self-worth and there are still definitely elements of that at play in Husband Material but it was refreshing to see that the progress both Luc and Oliver made in the first novel (and over the two-year gap between the stories) is in a realistic place – Hall doesn’t undo their growth but neither is their growth entirely complete. There are slips but not much in the way of dangerous backsliding and it was wonderful to see and feel like their relationship has matured (and isn’t just picking up from where the first book left off despite the time jump). Instead of so much of the self-worth thread focusing on them each as individuals, Husband Material shifts it slightly to look at how each of them relates to their communities – more specifically, how each of them feels included in or excluded from their respective social circles and the LGBTQ+ community at large. Using weddings as a means to explore the topic works brilliantly as it balances the tropes and trappings of the rom-com genre with the subtler social commentary.

Weddings are so often dripping with convention and tradition and couples can say so much about who they are by how they include, subvert or spit in the eye of those elements. Weddings and marriage are also a major milestone that society at large (and social media in particular) tends to use as a measuring stick. Husband Material thoroughly explores both weddings as a tradition and marriage as an institution and what they mean to people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. I found the tension between Luc and Oliver over how the trappings of the modern LGBTQ+ community makes them feel (and their self-reflection of what’s behind those feelings) to be incredibly compelling and raw, and the discomfort over disagreeing so completely on something fundamental to each of their senses of identity was deeply relatable.

Though I appreciated the ultimate resolution in some ways, the over-the-top, melodramatic execution dampened the emotional impact for me. That said, I’m sure I would enjoy another book in this series and it looks like Hall plans for more in this universe (another title appears planned, though it seems it'll focus in a different character/couple).

Husband Material will be available August 2, 2022.

I adored Boyfriend Material, so this was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year. Luc and Oliver are two of my favorite protagonists ever.

I loved that this was a continuation of the same characters’ stories, rather than a book about another couple in the same universe. Getting to see after the happily ever after was a refreshing change of pace, too! That said, you definitely want to read Boyfriend Material before you read this one.

In this sequel, the theme is Four Weddings and a Funeral. Hall uses this medium to explore different types of relationships and the complications that can still arise regarding marriage as a queer couple.

Once again, Luc’s wit and sarcasm were unparalleled. Oliver was sweet and pensive. This book proves that even when you love someone, happily ever after doesn’t mean happy all the time, and that’s okay.

I do wish that we got to see Oliver’s POV, either as a dual POV or as a total switch after getting Luc’s POV in the first book. That would have really brought this book to the next level for me. My only other complaint was that the ending felt a bit rushed, but maybe that will be resolved in book three! I can’t wait to see what Hall has next for us in Luc and Oliver’s world.

Luc's friends and coworkers were just as delightfully and hilariously eccentric as in book one, but this one was less sexy and more angsty - and not the fun kind of pining angst from Boyfriend Material. It seemed like all Luc and Oliver did was fight. They kept talking about how they made each other better people and worked as a couple even though they didn't make sense on paper, but that wasn't really supported by the story. They're both still wildly insecure. Oliver at least is in therapy and is making some progress, but Luc desperately needs to be in therapy because he's still full of self-hatred, and who can blame him when everyone is always calling him an asshole. This just wasn't really what I expected or wanted from the sequel for their relationship, but I do love the secondary cast and enjoy the fluid way Hall uses language - like "despanielled" and "unhugged". I'm sad I didn't enjoy it more, because I loved Boyfriend Material. I'll still read book three (I love amnesia plots) because I enjoy Hall's writing, and hopefully it will be a more enjoyable read.

I hate doing it, but I have talked to people that have read it and have skimmed it myself and this book is not for me. From what I was spoiled on and what I read (I read the last chapter) I know that I will not get enjoyment out of this book personally so I am going to call it now and leave the wonderful Boyfriend Material where it is as a one and done. That book brought me joy and that's all I need.

Mismatched couple is back for a second round. This time all their friends, including an ex is getting married. As with all relationships, there are insecurities. Overall a great easy read. I did like the first one a bit better than the second one.

3.5⭐️ maybe? | BOYFRIEND MATERIAL is of my favorite rom-coms of all time, so I was really hoping to love HUSBAND MATERIAL. I am not sure how to rate this, as this book fluctuated between scenes I adored and elements I didn’t love.

Ultimately, I was happy to see these characters again. Luc and Oliver remain complex, three-dimensional characters who you can’t help but root for. Particularly following book one’s abrupt ending, I was looking forward to seeing these characters work together. And we got that! It was not always smooth sailing, but I think readers could feel realistic growth in Luc and Oliver’s relationship and communication skills. There were several sweet, funny, and romantic scenes throughout the novel. I loved that this was an homage to Four Weddings and a Funeral.

That said, the pacing of this felt off and we were left with another abrupt ending. I want to keep this review spoiler-free, but I don’t think I am happy with the ending. It maybe fits with the last third of the book, but I don’t know if I fundamentally agree with what Hall was trying to say about queer marriage and partnerships. After everything they go through, Luc and Oliver deserved a stronger ending than HUSBAND MATERIAL’s final chapter.

Husband Material

Quotes: “But I smiled anyway because he didn’t deserve my emotional authenticity.”

This was a full rollercoaster of a ride. Split into different sections, we see the friend group go through different events and stages of their lives. Luc and Oliver both struggle to figure out what they want – frustratingly so.

This wasn’t a particularly romantic book to me, it seemed to tackle mainstream topics and break them down. More like a book that shows you how to make tough decisions and stand up for yourself in a way.

Luc and Oliver didn’t seem to like each other much throughout the book. This book seemed to unrattle everything they went through in the first.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the ending; however, I could see how it would be appealing to others. If I was the slightest bit romantic, I would’ve been more on board.

I can see how this would be a favorite for others, it personally didn’t hit the target for me. I do love Alexis Hall’s writing.

My overall rating is a 2/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexis Hall, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.