I was afraid that I wouldn't like the second book as much as the first, but it blew me away!
amazing read! I loved it and can't wait to have my physical copy of it

lovely sequel. The dynamic between Lucian and Oliver is amazing as ever and I love their interactions. I will say that I was stressed from start to finish with this book.

tw: parental death, funeral planning, homophobic comments

this book was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022 and i’ve enjoyed reading what comes out of oli and luc’s life in the future….well i guess it’s technically THEIR present but i digress

alexis hall’s writing style is still prominent in this book. their use of voice is my personal favorite trait throughout their books—it draws you in and makes you feel like you’re getting a REAL sense of how the character is…..in this case the narrator is luc. it feels like you’re having a conversation with him while also getting an inside glance of how his kind works (internal dialogue and ALL). it was really engaging and fun to read.

this book is hilarious and slightly more serious than the first book. i liked seeing this couple grow as individuals and together. i loved their use of communication and how they were able to disagree on things while not overtly disrespecting the other; while also efficiently practicing effective listening skills.

we get to see oliver learn to become more of himself and less of the people pleasing guy we met in the first book.

this was a nice book overall to read and an unconventional totally unexpected ending for our couple—luc and oliver…..but c’mon what do you expect? it’s luc and oliver!!!

3/5 stars

I didn't think I could love Luc and Oliver more than I already did but I stand corrected. 'Husband Material' was the PERFECT sequel. It had all the banter and characters I had come to love in the first book but I got to know them better and grew to love them even more. Alexis Hall executed all plot twist perfectly, giving you just enough foreshadow to know that something big is coming but without being able to pinpoint exactly what. I especially loved the ending! And if you want to avoid spoilers, I suggest you stop reading the review now!
[SPOILER ALERT]
I absolutely adored that Luc and Oliver ended up realising that, although their love for one another is deep and true, that they are 'it' for each other, marriage isn't for them. Because it isn't. They had grown enough in themselves to know that they want to spend the rest of their lives together but without being married, too much commitment for Luc and too tied in to pleasing people for Oliver.
It was a fun, at times tear-jerking read that I enjoyed from page one to the very last one. I look forward to getting a physical copy of the book as well as reading over and over again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for giving me a chance to read Husband Material in exchange for an honest review!

Firstly and most importantly, I am so incredibly proud of Oliver. Three times, each time thinking I couldn’t be more thrilled with his development, he continued to show how he’s grown during his relationship with Luc.

With Luc…. ah, Luc! I’ve seen some criticism about how he doesn’t seem like he’s grown that much, but I think the issue is that Luc’s low self-image means that we’re viewing him through the worst lens:his own. Being in a healthy relationship doesn’t heal him of his baggage. He doesn’t notice the ways he’s been able to grow and be there for Oliver, brushing them off as just part of the day.

Alexis Hall expanded further on Luc’s friends and as usual, they remain to be my favorite part. Luc’s relationships with them remain deep and loving, and through them, is another look at Oliver’s struggles.

Important, too, are the different ways that the men view their expressions of queerness, their comfort in consumerist queer culture, and themselves as a part of greater queer communities. This is a chief discourse the two have— it is, and cannot be solved by one conversation, or having been in a relationship.

I liked their struggles, which seemed realistic and true to life. I loved their decisions, their dynamic, and how they endeavored to be true to themselves.

Alexis Hall is a gem of a human being. His writing always leaves me with a smile, and Husband Material is a perfect follow-up to his beloved Boyfriend Material. More Luc and Oliver was just what the doctor ordered, and I can't stop thinking about my favorite boys and their hilarious group of friends. I think that's what makes Hall's books so endearing. All of his characters are so uniquely charming. The James Royce-Royces (married with a new baby, also named James), Bridget and her overly dramatic relationship with Tom, Priya and her surly kindness, even all of Luc's hilarious co-workers and their foibles. He works for a charity called CRAPP, for heaven's sake!

Luc and Oliver are both still hot messes in this heartwarming sequel, but they're hot messes working through their messiness to become better people and supporting each other along the way. They're still very much in love and committed to each other, despite the ups and downs and ins and outs. I had just recently reread Boyfriend Material, and I loved how this new installment really showed their mutual growth. Luc is more self-aware of his destructive tendencies and is better able to regulate his reactions to things, and Oliver is working on his own issues in therapy. I love books that normalize taking care of your mental health. Alexis Hall always does such a wonderful job with this. This book was an emotional rollercoaster, but it was worth the ride in the end.

Luc and Oliver are the fictional equivalent of the heart eyes emoji. I will never not love them.

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for my advance review copy.

Luc and Oliver are back and still as broken as ever. With all their friend around them getting married it only makes sense that their relationship of two years might be ready for the next step. Yet can both Luc and Oliver get over their own challenges in time to make it down the aisle, or are there some things that even love will not be able to overcome?

As much as I loved the first book in this series this book started out super strong and slowly lost wind. Which makes my heart so sad. I love this author and I love this couple, so I wanted to love this book as much as I adored the first one. The journey both Luc and Oliver go on though is so real which does make the slow part a bit easier to get through. I don’t want to ruin the ending, so I will just state that I am so happy they both found a way to be happy, and it was what they both truly wanted in the long run. I do hope they are able to come back and that we get to see them again. Overall, I would rate this book at 3.5 stars.

Thank you so very much to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title. This book truly meant so much to me to be able to read it early.

I received my digital copy while on a phone call with a friend yesterday and honestly? almost cried. I had been waiting for this oh my god thank you netgalley(&Alexis Hall+team my beloved) my finals depression needed this.
Okay now, I HAD MISSED MY BABIES (aka the entire gang) missed what it was like to have a family honestly. THE FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL PATTERN that i noticed after wedding two (miles, i still don't like you buddy) i was dreading the funeral oh my god i was so scared, but yes i felt alot of things for the first book, i felt more for this one. normally, sequels suck but no this was perfect. It's nice watching love conquer all (trauma cocktail included) i have so many feelings and i can't really express them but if you're wondering if you should read this you definitely should <3

I loved this book as it was funny, witty, entertaining and heartwarming. It was beautiful to see the relationship and love grow between Luc and Oliver.

ARC provided in exchange for honest review (thank you)


DEFINITELY THIS IS MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR!

My connection with Boyfriend Material and with Luc was instant, so much so that the wait for Husband Material felt like forever, so when they gave me the arc it was like coming home. Starting with reading Husband Material was a bit like "breathe, you're home, please prepare yourself because throughout the book, you will be on a rollercoaster of emotions"

I was a little afraid that the book would not meet my expectations and that i would not was on the level of Boyfriend Material, BUT, i must say that Husband Material definitely met my expectations and if i could give it six or ten stars, i would.

I think mainly that this book is about growth: personal growth, self-realization, growth as a couple. Husband Material shows a clear perspective of what love is like in real life and it is so wonderful to read something so realistic that the reader can relate to it. This book shows us that happy endings are not always like that. Not everything is smiles and romance in a relationship. There are always obstacles, but the important thing is to know how to face them with your head held high.

Husband Material made me laugh, cry and feel tremendous anguish. But it is a book and a series of books worth reading. The beauty of this book is that it makes you feel embraced with its dose of reality, love and fluff. Alexis Hall, thank you for making me feel so much with this wonderful book

i have no idea where to start with reviewing this, so i might as well go with the beginning. i read the first book, thought it was a lovely and lighthearted read and very character driven which are all things i like, so i requested the second book to read as an ARC, hoping that the sequel would improve on my one major gripe with the first book, which was that the pacing of the relationship was off and needed to be explored more.

what i got out of reading this book was actually something that i found to be terrible the whole way through, filled with bad examples of miscommunication and stereotypes that made this story feel like a jumbled mess.

1) what on earth was the reasoning for luc deciding to go to his ex's wedding? in the story it was tried to be explained away that it was for luc to prove that he was truly over it and everything was okay now, but the whole time there was this undercurrent of i am doing this to try and make my ex feel jealous that my life is so perfect now which made it feel icky. that was only further reinforced at the end of the wedding when he tells miles they will never be friends. it said to me that luc was never in that situation to improve his own wellbeing, which is toxic and which was never really addressed after that storyline was over.

2) next we have bridget and luc immediately assuming that bridget's husband is cheating from a single photo!!! and then instead of behaving rationally in any way just deciding to immediately go and stalk him on his work trip for more evidence about said cheating. the cheating was then revealed to be a secret undercover MI5 operation???? which was glossed over, never spoken about again and to which there were no long lasting consequences for the major drug bust being potentially exposed.

2b) luc and oliver have been dating for two whole years at this point, but olivers reaction to luc cancelling their date to go comfort his best friend was So strange. he was so upset about it, but instead of saying that to luc he just said it was okay and let everyone feel shitty in that situation. while i feel like there were 100 other decisions that luc could have made that would have been a better compromise, i also feel like if you've been dating someone for two years that you would be much more in tune with their emotions and feelings and that you would be able to tell someone when things are important.

3) and on the topic of luc's friends, they all felt way more stereotyped than the last book. the james royce-royce gag was okay in the last book, but the fact they named their kid james royce-royce as well???? are they setting that kid up to be bullied in school????? but also seriously it was very hard to keep track of which james was which, which pulled me out of the story a little bit.

4) luc attempting to police oliver's supposed internalised homophobia because he didn't like rainbow capitalism was so annoying. holy mother of god. i absolutely completely 100% disagree that oliver's dislike of the rainbow balloon arch was internalised homophobia, and instead was just a personal preference and not something that empowered him. luc's lack of understanding of that however, was one of the worst parts of this book. it made the two of them feel so disjointed as a relationship and also was not nice to read as a fellow queer person who also does not like rainbow capitalism for no other reason than it just doesn't empower me either.

5) why did luc contact his dad for help with a wedding venue just to have him never call back. i completely forgot that happened until the dad popped back up later.

6) oliver's father. while the funeral monologue would have worked significantly better as a full visual spectacle in specifically a bbc live action miniseries, it definitely was a highlight of this book. it was a great exploration of how the way you view relationships with those who have passed change dramatically after you die, and how you now have to make peace with the lack of closure you will now have to live with forever. however, the interactions between luc and oliver and the death in general were so tonally strange that it felt a bit like the death was shoehorned in just to add more conflict and societal pressure for the two of them to get married. also the homophobic uncle coming out also felt terrible and shoved in.

the main criticism i have is that it feels like even though they've been dating for so long, that they are trying so hard to be perfect versions of themselves for each other, and that in doing so they are hiding their emotions and failing to communicate. this really reduced the impact of their declarations of love, where they say things like how this relationship has freed them and changed them and whatnot, because the way they interact with each other and especially luc's internal monologue makes it feel like he is being disingenuous with his boyfriend almost all the time. it was never the two of them against the problem, it was always them fighting with each other, and that really showed to me that the two of them were actually incompatible unless they could learn how to come together as a team, which they never did.

the ending really highlighted that, with them both deciding that they couldn't get married literally 10 minutes before they were supposed to walk down the aisle. both of them had bottled up their feelings about marriage and that not really being for them, so now in the last two pages there was finally communication and resolution, but that catharsis of this is really their authentic selves came so late in the book it was almost too late.

the only other highlight of this book to me was the CRAPP team. every interaction they had made me physically laugh out loud. they really saved the book for me. besides my frustrations in the character narratives and the story decisions, the actual writing of the book was solid in a way that means my dislike is solely personal preference. i hope other readers enjoy this book a lot more than i did.

“You know you are the truest thing I have ever dared choose for myself. And we are the only thing I’ve ever had that I haven’t let other people define for me.”

It’s incredibly difficult to write a sequel to a romance novel that has achieved a fanbase as rabid as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL has: we readers want to read something familiar yet surprising, angsty while still comforting, all without the traditional narrative fixture of a romance novel (i.e. the couple getting together) - and of course, we are seriously attached to the characters, who’ve lived rent-free in our heads for months or years. With HUSBAND MATERIAL, Hall has achieved the near-impossible: a romance novel that simultaneously sweeps you off your feet and makes you feel right at home, with a twist at the end that made my little gay heart burst with glee.

The premise of the sequel is this: Luc and Oliver, our fake-dating-turned-real-lovers from the first book, are two years into a happy, fulfilling relationship, both working on their emotional baggage (yay therapy!) and falling more in love every day. When it suddenly seems like everyone around them is getting married, from best friends to coworkers to ex-boyfriends, Luc and Oliver start to consider moving their relationship to the next level  - and what it might mean for them in particular. Along the way, there are plenty of wedding-related shenanigans, a fair bit of emotional tumult and existential dread, and an intimate romance that managed to sweep me off my feet all over again.

I don’t usually worry too much about giving away spoilers for a romance novel (we all know it ends with a happily ever after, duh), but the path this particular story takes felt so fresh and unique to me, I really don’t want to take the fun of the journey out of it for anyone. I do want to say that this novel means so, so much to me as a queer person. On top of the joys of being back with our gay disaster Luc, our stern daddy Oliver, and their entire gang of quirky and beloved community (friends, colleagues, and of course Luc’s mom & Judy, my actual BFFs), Hall has created a book that gets right to the heart of two prickly issues that come up in queer relationships: our connections (or lack thereof) to popular queer culture and our engagement with the institution of marriage.

HUSBAND MATERIAL asks questions that so many queers can relate to: What does it mean to be a queer person when you don’t see major parts of yourself represented by mainstream queer culture, and when the understood markers of queerness don’t fit with how you express yourself? What does it mean if your partner loves rainbow balloon arches and bucking social conventions and you don’t? How do you try to fit your partnership into that established relationship trajectory of living together, getting married, having kids, etc., when aspects of that pathway have been (or still are) denied to us as queer people? How do we arrive at those benchmarks when for many of us, for much of our lives, we haven’t been able to imagine achieving such things, and the things themselves have often been used as a tool to exclude us? HUSBAND MATERIAL hits the questions on the head, and it hits hard.

I started off reading this thinking of it as pure joyful romance candy, adoring being immersed in Luc’s hilarious and insightful narrative voice again, before sinking my teeth into the deep, meaningful core of this novel and realizing just how much Hall has to offer with this sequel. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I strongly considered becoming a vegan for ethical reasons, and I felt the warm embrace of seeing conversations I’ve had with my girlfriend and feelings I’ve struggled to articulate represented in print.

In sum, HUSBAND MATERIAL is many things: it’s a 100K post-canon domestic fanfic with all the angst and comfort you could want, it’s a completely absurd and utterly delightful queer homage to “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, it’s the extended BOYFRIEND MATERIAL epilogue of our dreams, it’s a deep exploration of the intersections of queerness, relationships, and culture, and I adored every minute of it. Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC and to Dreamscape Media for the ALC; the audiobook narration by Joe Jameson (same performer as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL) is fantastic. This book is out in August.

Content warnings: homophobia, minor incarceration, death of a parent, self-harm

This book has everything you love from Boyfriend Material...the characters, the charm, the wit...and of course, Oliver, Luc and their quirks. I was laughing and smiling from the first page all the way up until the very end. This book tugged at my heart, and I wanted to wrap Oliver up in so many hugs. And while the ending felt a bit rushed to me, it was the ending that was perfect for Oliver and Luc <3 Any fan of Boyfriend Material will enjoy this book!

While this was not the book I was expecting to read, and perhaps not the book I hoped to read, I have great respect for the author for taking the story in this direction. I think this will be a marmite kind of book. Two years have passed since Luc and Oliver went from fake dating to falling in love. With all their friends getting married, Luc is feeling pressured to propose to Oliver, and in this loose play on Four Weddings and a Funeral, we're taken on the stormy journey of that fateful question.

Oof. So. Feelings? Many; complicated. I love Boyfriend Material, the first book in this series. It's one of my favourite books, and I think it's objectively an excellent novel. Some of the strengths of Boyfriend Material follow through in this sequel, namely Oliver and Luc's playful dynamic; Alex's ridiculously upper-class British humour; Luc's chaotic disaster personality and how it is soothed by Oliver's steadfast calm. By far I thought the strongest part of the story was the section that focused on the funeral. I found the monologue powerful and affecting, not to mention the unexpected exploration of isolation in the older gay community. When Luc and Oliver were doing well, they were beautifully supportive of one another. When they weren't... it felt a bit like pulling up the floorboards and finding all the hidden unpleasant secrets hidden below. I guess it wasn't what I wanted to read? But in some ways it was, important ways. It's realistic and quite creatively brave.

What Husband Material lacks compared to Boyfriend Material is a clear, purposeful storyline. In BF, you've got your fake dating enemies-to-lovers grumpy/sunshine dynamics all over the place, and no matter how messy Luc is, you're on his side, because he's been dealt such a rough hand, and then Oliver starts defrosting and it's all handled beautifully well. With HM, for much of the book, I felt Luc and Oliver's page time was pushed out of focus to spend time with all the side characters and their various mishaps and wedding escapades. With the best will in the world, I want Luc and Oliver first and foremost, because they're the strongest characters in the book, and I'm invested in them most. I'll say again that I respect the author for making both characters intensely messy, and making clear there's no magical HEA without constant challenges. I really like that both Luc and Oliver appear to have been in therapy (unconfirmed for Luc? but I felt it was implied at least), and we get to see exactly how Oliver has been damaged by his strained relationship with his parents. The ending... that was certainly a decision. I'm inclined to say I think it was the right one? all things considered? plus a beautiful final line.

Overall my feelings are complicated. Probably 2* for overall enjoyment of the story, boosted to 3* in respect for the author going there with that ending. It won't work for everyone but I can see how it's appropriate, based on the story. I just wish the story had been a bit different! :|

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of Husband Material. These opinions are my own.

Wanted:
One (very real) husband
Nowhere near perfect but desperately trying his best

Two years ago, Luc O'Donnell and Oliver Blackwood met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends...and somehow figured out a way to make it all work.

Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc's feeling the social pressure to propose. That's what you do when you love someone this desperately, right? But it'll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a hotly contested rainbow balloon arch to get this semi disgraced son of former rock stars and his tightly buttoned up boyfriend from I don't know what I'm doing to 'I do'.

Good thing Oliver is such perfect husband material.
A really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and SourceBooks Casablanca
I just reviewed Husband Material by Alexis Hall. #NetGalley

This was one of my favorite books I've read so far this year! I forgot how much I loved not only Oliver and Luc, but all of the side characters too. This book had me laughing out loud the whole time reading it. I can't wait till it comes out so I can buy a physical copy!

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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