Summary of my thoughts: Husband Material is very cute and a quick read if you like tension. If you hate miscommunication, then I don’t recommend it. The book would have been 1000x better had the characters gone to couples therapy. If you want more in-depth reasoning, keep reading my review.

I’m not gonna deny that this was a cute and quick story to read, especially if you loved Luc and Oliver. What I truly loved the most was the emphasis put on by the author that just because gay marriage is legal, does not mean that every queer couple needs to get married. This is a big concept that is explored in Husband Material that I’ve not seen explored in many other queer romance books (made even more important by the recent influx of queer-wedding-based romance books being released this year). I really like how this book approached this subject and the end result that the characters decided upon. The ending was absolutely adorable and I’m very glad that they got a happily ever after.

Unfortunately, the intersection of queer marriage and social pressure was not enough to make me love this book. I enjoyed the book for sure but it almost seems unnecessary. The characters fell flat to me. The book was told mainly (and possibly only) through Luc’s point of view which was a poor decision to make. Even when Oliver was going through stuff, having the book from Luc’s perspective seemed to blow off and make Oliver’s struggles negligible. If the book was told from multiple perspectives, then there was no definition between the characters. What was the most annoying part about their characters is how much they gaslit each other. From what we got to know of their characters in the first book, the characters in this book are a complete 180. It was to the point that I truly hated one of them for the majority of the book but I also wanted that character I hated to get out of the relationship for his own health.

Even the relationship between Luc and Oliver fell flat. Nearly every chapter, Luc and Oliver were in some new fight that was born of miscommunication. If you hate the miscommunication trope, you will not enjoy this book at all. Their fights were so stupid and repetitive and lacked any concrete foundation. There was one fight about cheating that felt so wrong to me. One character said they trusted the other then accused them of cheating and then they made up. I would have enjoyed the book more if there was one big fight that they were working through with maybe a few small ones on the side rather than a bucket of small fights that were resolved too quick and only half-resolved. Their overall relationship just wasn’t that healthy.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing an ALC and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing an ARC!

Pub date: 8/2/22
Genre: romcom
Series: Boyfriend Material, book 2
In one sentence: 2 years after their fake dating turned real, Luc and Oliver must decide whether to take the next step - marriage.
Do I need to read book 1 (Boyfriend Material) first? YES. No discussion needed.

Boyfriend Material is one of my fave romcoms - especially the audio narrated by Joe Jameson. I think Boyfriend Material fans will enjoy this one - Luc and Oliver are charming as always, and I loved seeing more time devoted to some of their friends. Bridget's wedding was predictably a disaster, and the CRAPP crew continued to amuse. I do think the book could have been tightened up a bit - it's a bit of a slow starter. But I love the way narrator Jameson handles Hall's complex dialogue and banter, so I still enjoyed this one a lot. I appreciated how Hall discussed differences within the queer community and how these impacted Luc and Oliver's relationship.

If you're interested in what happens after an HEA, I think this is a good depiction of a great but flawed relationship between two people who are still trying to figure themselves out. It's not all sunshine and roses, but it's a fun ride, and there's a lot to love.

Husband Material felt almost like the author deliberately taking a lot of what made BM great and setting out to ruin it. Is that harsh? Yeah sure, but it felt like that to me.

I don't know that I've ever felt so betrayed by a book. I've definitely never felt as let down by an anticipated release as I did by Husband Material. This book is the reason I got on bookstagram, it's been my most anticipated release this year, and the follow up to one of my all-time favourite books Boyfriend Material.

I fell so in love with Luc and Oliver in BM, and I adored the writing, the quirky humour, Luc being a chaotic disaster trying his best, and Oliver being wonderful yet also deeply flawed. I felt like they were so good for each other and I was so beyond happy when I found out there'd be a sequel. Then I read it.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The book is sort of like Hall's take on Four Weddings and a Funeral, and so Husband Material is divided into 5 parts, each of them focusing on its own event. Right away the plot seems overly ridiculous but not in the funny, unhinged way Hall managed with Something Fabulous, rather like he just needed to create conflict for the sake of having a plot point and it shows. There seemed to be little purpose to this book which meant the conflicts often felt contrived and inauthentic. While it did have some great humour throughout, a lot more of it felt way off which isn't what I'd usually expect from Hall.

Luc and Oliver find themselves in a really toxic relationship two years after BM and I tried so hard to root for them but about halfway through the book, my most frequent reaction was "what does Oliver get out of this relationship? Why does he stay with Luc?" which broke my heart to even think and I tried unsuccessfully to suppress it.

Luc consistently takes Oliver for granted, he cancels on him, expects him to go along with all of Luc's ideas regardless of whether they make sense or not, and just isn't a great boyfriend. All of that I could be willing to overlook, and I did try. But Luc is downright cruel a lot of the times, his reactions often seem comically out of proportion, and he is constantly using what he's learned are things Oliver is sensitive about against him. Oliver is no saint and he's nowhere near perfect but he at least seems to be trying, and it's clear he adores Luc.

How do you manage to make your narrator that unlikeable? How does he not come off better than he does since we have more insight into his thoughts and motivations? It baffles me and seems almost designed to make us dislike him. Luc's constant nagging of Oliver and disregard for his views, opinions, and feelings got real old real fast, and I particularly didn't care for how he continuously made clear that Oliver wasn't gay enough/gay in the right way, no matter how often Luc denied that's what he was doing. I honestly wasn't even sure if he wanted to marry Oliver which makes sense since Luc also constantly went back and forth on this. You'd think that after two years, they'd learned to communicate and that they'd have grown some but not so much.

There were some really sweet scenes in this book and some great stuff in it for sure. I think the setup had a lot of potential and could have worked really well, which to be fair, it did at times. It had a lot of the Alexis Hall trademark humour, and I appreciated the insight into Oliver's relationship with his family. It also was really interesting to see him trying to work on himself and questioning previously held beliefs.
Husband Material also had some amazing moments between Luc and Oliver that I loved and around part 4, I was thinking there might be a small chance this could all be salvaged somewhat and that this was a real chance for some self-reflection and insight for both of them.

Then part 5 happened and any goodwill I had was crushed. Any hope I had for them went out the window and I was legitimately hoping they'd break up. I cannot believe I'm saying that, I *hate* that I'm even thinking that, it's absolutely crushing and I wish I'd loved this book. I wish I'd even liked it somewhat or been able to just put it behind me as something that didn't quite work for me but instead it's tainted my love for the prequel and I'm left reeling.

I'm honestly just so upset and I kind of wish I hadn't read this book. I know being this invested in characters and books seems ridiculous to some, but I can't help it. So when you feel like you got screwed over like this, it hurts.

Husband Material by Alexis Hall // ⭐⭐ of 5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Husband Material is out August 2.

Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material was one of my Best Books of 2020 – a masterclass in how to do Romantic Comedy right, it’s a wonderfully, warm, funny and sharply observed opposites-attract romance that has become a long-term favourite. Needless to say, I was delighted to learn that the author was writing a couple more books set in Luc and Oliver’s world, and Husband Material is one of my most eagerly anticipated books of 2022. But I wasn’t as completely bowled over and charmed by it as I’d hoped. The author’s characteristic humour and insight are still very much present, and there’s a lot to like about it, but while I enjoyed it, I can’t say I loved it. Maybe that’s on me – my expectations for this one were, admittedly, pretty high – and I suppose that’s always going to be a danger when an author writes a sequel to an incredibly popular book; we readers want more of the same (what we loved about the first book) – but different, and that’s not easy to accomplish!

It’s no secret to say that in terms of structure at least, Husband Material is a riff on Four Weddings and a Funeral, so the story is told in five sections – three weddings, funeral, wedding – that take place over the period of a few months. When the book opens, Luc and Oliver have been together for two years, they’re still in love, they’re happy together and are still recognisably the same people; Luc is still the same slightly-neurotic hot-mess and Oliver is still stoic and more than a bit emotionally repressed.

The first wedding is Luc’s best friend Bridget’s, and of course, being Bridget the whole thing cannot possibly go off without lots of drama. Just days before the wedding, her fiancé Tom disappears, someone ‘helpfully’ sends Bridget a picture of him with another woman, and it’s up to Luc to talk her down while basically ditching Oliver and a long-awaited date night and then staying with her for several days (co-dependent, much?) while things are sorted out. And then it’s Oliver who is packed off back to London on a retrieval mission when it’s discovered that nobody has brought the wedding dress to the venue. He and Luc are hardly together on page throughout this section and I felt like Luc was taking him too much for granted.

Wedding number two is Luc’s ex Miles, the guy who sold him out to the tabloids and sent him into a downward spiral. After bumping into each other on the night of Bridget’s non-gender-specific bird-do, Miles very happily introduces Luc to the vision in glitter and rainbows at his side – who then announces they’re getting married and says Luc really must come to the wedding. Luc doesn’t know what to make of it, and it’s messing with his head; does he want to go so he can prove to Miles that he’s moved on and is happy with Oliver, or should he just let it go?

But this is the catalyst for Luc starting to panic. Everyone around him is getting married, he and Oliver have been together for two years, so… shouldn’t they be getting married, too? Isn’t that the logical next step for two people who want to spend their lives together? Luc decides it is and – in typical Luc fashion and without really thinking it through – blurts out a proposal, which Oliver, of course, accepts.

Luc and Oliver are a great couple, and they travel a rocky path in this book. I love Luc’s quirky, deadpan narrative voice, and was really pleased to see that while he’s still very much him, he’s more confident and conscious of getting caught up in his head and is able to get himself out of it. Oliver, on the other hand, is struggling a bit, still having to deal with his parents’ expectations and criticisms, questioning a lot of internalised assumptions and trying to work out if the discomfort he experiences over what he describes as “the trappings of mainstream LGBTQ culture” results from negativity inherited from his parents or is simply down to his own, natural reserve. He’s working through a lot in this story, and even though he finds it difficult to talk about emotions, he tries hard to be thoughtful and honest, and most of their conversations are far more emotionally literate than before.

I liked the way each of the events makes Luc and Oliver look at aspects of their own relationship they haven’t examined so far, and I enjoyed spending time with Luc’s friends and the CRAPP crowd, the daft conversations and silly jokes and all that - but by the time the third wedding came along, I’d begun to feel like the secondary characters were taking a lot of word count away from the storyline I was really invested in (Luc and Oliver) and they felt like a distraction until it was time for the real meat of the story to kick in at around the two-thirds mark. And something I realised after I finished reading was that Luc and Oliver seem to be at odds a lot in this book - I had trouble recalling many scenes where they seemed to be truly happy. The conflicts they’re dealing with are believable, especially for people who are past the first excitement of a new relationship but are still in those early stages where they’re still learning about each other and how to actually be IN a relationship, and those are only exacerbated by the stress of planning a wedding which will suit both of them.

The story includes thought-provoking threads about queerness and community and identity, about societal expectations for committed relationships and the heteronormative nature of traditional marriage, about how much, or even whether, one should be prepared to compromise or change for a romantic partner, and how stressful relationships can be, even when you love the people on the other end of it. It’s all very interesting and well put-together, but the episodic nature of the book’s structure means I sometimes felt as though I was revisiting the same arguments without any of them being properly resolved.

Contemporary romances traditionally end at the HEA, and to have a sequel about the same couple is fairly rare. Thankfully, there is no manufactured break-up here, just a lot of questions and adjustments and two people who adore one another trying to work out how far they can be themselves with each other, and what their future might look like. The conclusion Luc and Oliver arrive at is, perhaps, unexpected and unconventional, but it’s the right one for them, and I loved watching them talk things through and realise they’re both on the same page. The final moments had me happy-sighing, and the last line is perfection.

Husband Material really hits its stride in the 'funeral' section and Oliver’s speech is epic – but I can’t deny being a little frustrated in the earlier parts, for the reasons I’ve stated – not enough Luc and Oliver together and too many circular arguments and discussions. Still, Alexis Hall turns a phrase like nobody else and his ability to combine fun ridiculousness with serious soul-searching continues to impress. Husband Material definitely earns a recommendation, but in the end, it’s one of those books I wanted to love but which just missed the mark.

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Husband Material
Publication Date: 08/02/2022
Date Read: 07/15/2022
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Sequel to Boyfriend Material
Characters: Luc O’Donnell & Oliver Blackwood
CW: this list is copied from Alexis Hall’s website.
Homophobia (challenged), internalised homophobia (challenged), bigoted language spoken by a minor character (presented very much as a bad thing), mentions of past emotional parental neglect, death of a parent (heart attack; happens off page), grief, on-page funeral service.
Rating (❤️/👍/🤷‍♀️:👎/❌): ❤️
Spice: Fade to Black.
Would I Recommend?: Yes but read BF Material first for sure.

I loved this book. There wasn’t a scenario where I wasn’t going to love it. Is it as good as the first book? Of course not. But I still had a good time. The plot is very four weddings and a funeral style. Very much just about Luc and Oliver as characters and less about a legit plot. I appreciate the ending but it did feel slightly abrupt. I would have loved another chapter or an epilogue. Overall it was good. It felt great to read Luc again! I re-read Boyfriend Material right before this and it was just as good the second time.

In the follow-up to the popular 2020 romcom Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall brings back beloved characters, Luc and Oliver, as they consider taking the next step in their relationship. Luc is happier than he ever imagined he'd be with Oliver, so when all of their friends seem to be pairing off and getting married, the logical step would be for them to do the same, right?

Like any good sequel, Husband Material is full of twists that get our main characters into all kinds of shenanigans, with a lot of growth along the way. The book has both main characters go through their own separate journies of self-discovery which really felt raw and real and is bound to bring readers closer to these characters that are already so loved. This was a fun, ultimately lighthearted read that is as outrageous as it is true to life, I'm so glad to have gotten another glimpse into Luc and Oliver's world!

Oh man. This book left me with a mass of conflicting emotions. First, let me say that Boyfriend Material was one of my favorite reads last year and, in a lot of aspects, Husband Material had so many of the same elements that I loved. It has 2 delicious and funny MCs, a cast of zany supporting characters that are having madcap adventures and a fantastic British setting. That being said, the ending of this was so deeply unsatisfying that I’m still mad about While I understand it, I absolutely hated it.. I think that you should definitely read this book and hopefully, you will enjoy the ending more than me.

I absolutely, positively adored Boyfriend Material and have listened/read my favorite passages more than once. I was over-the-moon to get early access to HUSBAND MATERIAL (PUB 08..02)

For me- it was good, but not great. At the end of Boyfriend Material I just placed my hand to my chest and sighed a sweet, contented sigh. That did not happen with the sequel.

WHAT I LOVED:
*Yes- you should read Boyfriend Material first to fully enjoy the sequel.
* Hello- British accents. And truly spot on narration. ⁣
* Oliver -the way he said 'Lucien' still made me a bit weak in the knees. ⁣
* Cast: large cast of smart, eclectic characters ,LGTBQ+/Mental illness representation, humor and wit.
*Four Weddings and a Funeral vibes
* Hijinks & humor- awkward and positively British. One passage had me laughing so hard that it left me in tears and gasping for breath.
*The romance is closed door which I appreciated because it felt very authentic for the characters and their story.

WHAT I DIDN’T:
* I love books that blend levity with heftier social/representative issues. While I enjoyed the commentary on queer-ness/heteronormativity/identity/rainbow balloon arches, it felt repetitive, disjointed and heavy handed at times. This is a rom-com, yet these aspects kept pulling me out of the story.*This is my 4th Alexis Hall book and I've come to realize that Hall likes words. There was a lot of wordy dialogue. Almost too much banter (gasp). I love words and conversation, but it started to bog down the pacing.

This book had me screeching with laughter often. I read the literal first half of it in a single sitting, no joke, it was just such a fun and wild ride. I enjoyed the humor and the relationship dynamics. It was just so good! It flowed quite well, too.

It was not just the comedy I liked, I love how it was a serious, in-depth, and honestly vulnerable look into the multiple perspectives of those of us who are LGBTQ+. It centered on an incredibly nuanced and legitimate debate on how queer identities are performed and politicized, especially when it comes to marriage. This was not just a quirky little British rom-com, it was a genuine revelation between two gay men who are having all-too-familiar identity and relationship crises. While I fell more into Luc's perspective personally as a queer person myself, the way Oliver discusses how he feels really helped open my eyes to the fact that we make each other perform just as much if not more than those who aren't queer. Instead of getting up onto a little soap box and rehashing what is already debated at length in this story, I would just like to finish by saying that although I kind of wish that it didn't end so abruptly and that we had some sort of epilogue to see where it all ended up, I truly appreciate the symbolism in the final scene. I really cannot recommend this book enough, even if it gets pretty silly at times.

Alexis Hall's Husband Material brings back two beloved characters as they navigate the ins and out of weddings of friends and their own pending nuptials. Last seen in Hall's Boyfriend Material., Luc returns to narrate this installment in his typical self-deprecating, humorous style, and he pairs nicely, once again, with his no nonsense barrister boyfriend Oliver. The same cast of friends and coworkers is back, too, so look forward to Luc trying out his jokes on his colleagues and to tales from Bridge's job. I thoroughly enjoyed this title! Thank you to NetGalley for providing early access to this book!

I am a HUGE fan of Boyfriend Material, and I’ve been so excited to read this sequel. As in most forms of media, the sequel is never quite as good as the original, and I think that is the case here. Don’t get me wrong—I love the book, but it just didn’t resonate as much as the first one did. Of course, I loved seeing all the characters again (shout out to Alex!!), but I wished there was more focus on Oliver and Luc specifically. All that aside, I enjoyed the book, and definitely recommend it to fans of the first in the series!

The Boyfriend Material is one of my fave queer reads. It was my introduction to author Alexis Hall, and since then I've read a lot of their work. So to say I was excited about Husband Material is a bit of understatement. It starts out very promising-- it was hilarious, and reminded me of Four Weddings and a Funeral. The middle is where I get lost-- too much stuff going on, too much conflict, and the pure, slowburn romance that I so enjoyed between Luc and Oliver didn't feel the same. Then it got even more chaotic towards the end, and while it was still a solid read, it wasn't a favorite. I feel Luc and Oliver fans would still enjoy this, though.

If you are invested in following Luc and Oliver after reading Boyfriend Material, this sequel delivers!

Set two years after the first book ends, everyone seems to have marriage and settling down in mind. The James Royce-Royces have a baby and Bridge has recruited Luc to be her maid of honor when she marries Tom. Oliver and Luc are in love and are feeling the pressure to figure out what their path will be.

Oliver and Luc stay true to character and the story develops naturally. I appreciate that it includes some larger issues of grappling with one's identity and how it fits, or doesn't, into societal boxes. Though probably realistic, the continued rehashing of some of those bigger themes was a little repetitive at times. I was also a bit disappointed that there was no spicy content, but I continued to fully enjoy the author's wit and was happy to follow these characters down the road.

I found this book to be funny and witty and fast paced. I enjoyed the characters and their relationship and their friendships.

Husband Material is the much-anticipated sequel to Hall’s Boyfriend Material, in which Luc and Oliver met and pretended to fall in love only to end up falling in love for real. Now finally together and trying to make it work, it seems like everyone around them is two steps ahead and getting married. With each new wedding, Luc’s feeling the social pressure to propose to Oliver. But it’s going to take a bit more than going to your ex’s wedding—or your best friend’s—before Luc will go from I don’t know what I’m doing to I do.

I rarely say this with confidence but I think I can do it in this case: whether you will enjoy Husband Material or not will entirely depend on what you expect from the novel going in. Truth be told, it’s been two months since I’ve read this book and I’m still on the fence about my feelings. But here goes nothing. A friend of mine said that this story reads more like a collection of short stories and I can wholeheartedly agree. If you don’t think of this as a continuation but rather glimpses into Luc and Oliver’s individual growth and the latter ‘short stories’ addressing their relationship, then chances are you’re going to love this just as much as Boyfriend Material, if not more.

However, I did not go into this book with that mindset and thus, what left me feeling a bit disappointed was the lack of Oliver and Luc content in a book that is literally supposed to be about them. It takes until almost 60% into the book before there is a truly intimate moment between the two of them (and get your mind out of the gutter, I’m not talking about that here), where they talk to each other and communicate about something beyond the antics of their peers or household chores and the likes. Maybe that was the intention, to show that relationships are about the day-to-day things more so than the bond underlying it all but I guess it left me wanting more. That’s not at all to say that Husband Material isn’t a fantastic book, though, because it absolutely is—again, it all comes back to expectations.

Husband Material has all the amazing elements we’ve come to love about Boyfriend Material. Luc being his chaotic self, Oliver being the voice of reason – but both somewhat matured and more secure in themselves— Luc’s family and work colleagues being an absolute riot at every turn and drama-filled moments such as deciding whether to go to the wedding of the ex who literally sold you out to the press and is now kinda-sorta-but-not-really trying to make amends for it by inviting you to his wedding. But we also get another layer of depth as Luc and Oliver realise (even more so than in the first book) that they’re very different when it comes to their queer identity and how secure they are in it—what might make one of them feel as part of the queer community isolates the other and vice versa, in part influenced by the different ways in which they grew up. It’s a multifaceted discussion that arises time and again in this book and even though I didn’t expect it from the novel, it turned out to be one of my favourite explorations of what it means to be queer that I’ve seen to date.

Now, for spoiler’s sake I can’t tell you what happens in the latter part of the book but I can tell you that there is an unexpected event that makes everything feel incredibly real to Luc and Oliver and it’s with this storyline that I absolutely fell in love with Husband Material. Here, you finally, finally get to see Hall’s prose shine as Luc and Oliver grapple with decisions, familial expectations and loss, as they try to reconcile their differing opinions and grow as individuals and together, learning to deal with life’s many obstacles and emerging stronger by holding on to each other instead of tearing the other apart. I loved how realistic the depiction of being in a long-term relationship was: the ups and downs, the good days and the bad ones, the messy times you say things you shouldn’t and the perfect ones that show that the moments that makes life great are often those you wouldn’t think of ever happening. I just wish that we would have had more of this kind of connection and realness of what love looks like and the utter relatability for the entirety of the novel instead of having to wait for over half of the book since this was—presumably—supposed to be about that all along. But that might just be me, so take this with a grain of salt.

The ending of Husband Material is, quite like its predecessor somewhat open-ended. You get a hint of what’s coming but if you wanted more resolution than Boyfriend Material had, you…might not get it. Things are left somewhat resolved and I’m curious to see whether Hall will once again return to Luc and Oliver or if this open ending was intended to leave readers free to imagine what they want for these two lovable and unforgettable characters. All in all, it was a treat to have spent 400 more pages with these kooky people and I for one am sure going to miss everybody (except for Luc’s dad. He can choke).

Infused with Hall’s trademark humour, Husband Material is a delightful, hilarious reunion with Luc and Oliver, their absurd friends and family and an exploration of love and its many obstacles. Balancing the uproarious with the devastating aspects of life, this slice-of-life sequel will soothe everyone in the knowledge that we’re all just pretending to be competent adults and are not alone in making things up as they come along.

Oof. This was...not good. And this is coming from someone who to this day is recommending Boyfriend Material to new romance readers!

I felt like this sequel was unnecessary in the first place which I think is why it involves a lot of Luc and Oliver spinning their wheels and having the same unresolved issues over and over again for hundreds of pages. Some of the fun banter from the first one is there and still enjoyable, don't get me wrong! But it felt like both our main characters had regressed back to who they were before the events of Boyfriend Material and we were watching no growth or real communication happen between them until the very end.

The side characters were as strange and delightful as always, even if I, like Luc, was very sick of hearing about Baby James Royce-Royce. I wish there had been a better balance struck between the four weddings and a funeral shenanigans and Luc and Oliver grappling with what getting married would mean to them - as it stands the book is poorly paced, frequently boring, and has one of the most unsatisfyingly rushed endings I have ever read.

Sequels in romances are tricky, because one needs to devise a plausible conflict between two people that ended up with each other in the previous book. Sticking a thorn between them needs to be believable. It's easier to write about fresh relationships than those that last for several years, but I can say that "Husband material" is a good example of how to tackle this topic in a satisfactory way. The author manages not only to advance Luc's and Oliver's relationship with all it's pros and flaws, but also writes his characters as people, who can be annoying, mean, hurt and confused, but therefore more credible.

This time Hall ditches "fake couple" theme for "Four weddings and a funeral" formula, which gives him an opportunity to explore different types of relationships, weddings as approaches towards marriage. As a cishet woman, I found it pretty interesting to read about how LGBT+ people feel welcomed (or not) in queer community and how their perspective on marriage from society point of view can differ from mine.

Still, it was mainly a story about love and friendship and I really enjoyed it. The only thing that stood out (in a bad way) was the ending that felt rushed and just ended in the middle of the page. This felt a little anticlimactic.

The thing I look for in Alexis Hall's books is a chance to laugh, and here I got exactly that. I adore his dialogues and scenes where characters deviate from the main course of action and simply discuss topics that interest or trigger them, like we do in social situations. I have a special place in my heart for every exchange, when Luc tries to explain a joke to his dorky colleagues from work.

Oliver and Luc are back in this sequel to Boyfriend Material and unfortunately this was a bit of a disappointment for me :(

This sequel was a little too drawn out (in my opinion). The first half of the book seemed to move soooo slowly and I honestly was getting incredibly bored. Thankfully some more exciting things happen in the second half and the author's trademark wit and humor saved this book from being a total wash.

What I did like: the banter, the humor, the criticism of the heteronormative wedding industrial complex and of course the MCs themselves. This sequel was a bit of a rocky go for me but I am still incredibly grateful to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an early listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

When last we saw Luc (hot mess) and Oliver (painfully organized mess) in Alexis Hall’s “Boyfriend Material,” they had been basking in the euphoria of being fake boyfriends turned real boyfriends. Two years later, they are still at a reasonable level of bliss, but everyone around them seems to be moving onward. Luc’s friends are marrying, becoming parents, establishing stable polycules — you know, doing grown-up things.

So, with his usual complete lack of forethought, Luc asks Oliver to marry him.

Being married to Oliver sounds fine. Planning a wedding with him, on the other hand, might destroy everything.

HUSBAND MATERIAL (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 422 pp., paper, $15.99) is, above all else, terrifically funny. Not just tonally upbeat in the way of many so-called rom-coms, but text-your-friends, chortle-’til-you-cry funny. One exchange made me laugh so hard and so long I ached for days — my laughter muscles have not had a lot of exercise in the past few years. The jokes shine all the brighter against some deeply painful moments in this story: This is humor as trauma response, romance edition.

I'm a little bit on the fence about this one. The absurdity of some the situations and characters was a bit too much for me to suspend disbelief. However, I really enjoyed how the book explored identity, how you fit into the community, relationships, and growth. It was nice to see Luc acting more mature than we've seen him, and Oliver dealing with lingering issues of how he fits into the queer community. They're still the insecure, sarcastic, chaotic characters from the first book, but now they're working through what it means to be in a serious relationship.

My library will definitely be purchasing this book!