Reviews

Boring. Didn’t care about the characters. Only really liked the love interest. Didn’t care about the friends at all, very uninteresting. Too much work talk (which personally isn’t my thing, don’t like focus on work). Won’t be reading the next one.

Okay edit: looking back at my annotations before getting rid of the book I think I was to hard on the book in this review. The book isn’t bad. It just wasn’t my type of book really I guess. And I did like the two main characters relationship I just found the main character unlikable but that also might be the point. I don’t like fake dating trop, I don’t hate it but I don’t like it either. And really I think it was just to boring for me and there wasn’t enough plot to make up for that. I like slow burn romance so when they are together sooner than the end I rely on some subplot to keep my attention but for this I was just bored. Once they got together I was like ok it can end here. Overall I think it was too long. Still don’t like a lot of the characters tho. . .

Updated rating: 2.5

tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Context: I'm queer and love rom coms (the cheesier the better in my humble opinion) so naturally this had been on my TBR for awhile. What possibly wouldn't there be to like?

Hoo boy.

The main character is insufferable, unlikeable, and his narrative voice is annoying. It's a bad rom-com that happens to be gay, except the leads have no chemistry and its attempts at humour are genuinely unfunny.

Not to mention the plot's driven by the main character trying to appease his homophobic boss, who wants him to get a respectable, straight-passing boyfriend to be a "good gay." And it's supposed to be... funny and light-hearted? What a bizarre choice of story to market to a queer audience by a queer author.

As for the main character POV: Luc reads like a stereotypically sarcastic, insecure teenager but since he's supposed to be almost 30 it makes him come off really poorly. Like I'm almost 30 and can confidently say nobody has their life together at almost 30, but holy shit at least my inner monologue doesn't sound like an angsty 2010s YA protag. He ain't a lovable, quirky disaster gay. He's just rude and emotionally immature.

And his queer friend group are huge stereotypes and not in the fun way. Like two indistinguishable married dudes named James Royce-Royce who are literally only ever referred to as "James Royce-Royce" (yes, first name and surname) so you never know who's talking kind of way. I actually can't believe this was published recently - and by a queer writer!! - because all this is giving me vaguely homophobic early 00s rom-com vibes.

Anyway a very queer ragey, I've-never-felt-so-disrespected-by-a-book: DNF and 1🌟

Sidenote: And for the love of god, will people stop using Red, White, and Royal Blue to recommend this?! It's a cash grab at the recent mainstream popularity of contemporary MLM romance with none of the polish to the characters or plot. Boyfriend Material is to RWRB what every knockoff YA dystopia love triangle was to Hunger Games. Stop doing free (and misleading) marketing for the publisher!!

Content Warnings

itsmytuberculosis's review

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5.0

This book can teach you how to love.

Yourself. Other people. Dipshit assholes who don't deserve it.

I started this book in hard copy (Thanks McKenna) but couldn't get through ten pages before calling it quits because much like Luc, I too wanted to throw my duvet over my head and take a never ending nap.

The person listening to the audio book couldn't be more different. One, Joe Jamison deserves some kind of award for his narration, the Auscars, if you will. Everything was bathed in so much care, for oneself, for ones family, for those we love, and I am so glad to have given it another chance. Luc learning that love will not fix you, it just makes you believe you deserve better, and picking himself up for himself, not Oliver, got to me in ways other books haven't.

Also Oliver needs a lot of therapy.

I also feel lke Oliver is the type of guy to to the Mr. Darcy hand clench thing. He just has that vibe.