I had a real stretch of books for a while that didn't just make me sad, they broke me and made me think humanity (or maybe sentience?) was a mistake, and this is the book I turned to to break that streak. This is the sequel to Boyfriend Material, which I absolutely loved, and I spent a lot of time while reading this one being reminded why and wanting to reread the first one again.

This is a bit unconventional as a romance novel, for many reasons but primarily because Luc and Oliver are together at the beginning of the novel and together at the end. (WHAT! THIS IS STILL A ROMANCE NOVEL, THIS IS NOT A SPOILER.) Luc & Oliver love each other, but they are both struggling with a number of issues, mostly due to some subpar parenting (to put it mildly), and in this second volume they work through many of those while also attending four weddings and funeral (yes, that is a deliberate reference.)

I loved that the partner who seems more together outwardly is actually the one with more to unpack here. I love that both of them have some fist-pumping moments of triumph along the way. I love that this book still managed to surprise me in the end. ( )

Now that they've been dating for two years what is the next step for Luc and Oliver?

Again, very funny and I would love to read more about their lives although I'm not particularly invested in them as a couple. ( )

I feel compelled to write a review for this one because my response is complicated.

The Four Weddings and a Funeral structure was cute, but distracted from the relationship development, which is what I wanted to read about. It's a structure that works well for an initial romance, rather than the development of a complex relationship between two people who both have big huge issues.

I don't know whether it says more about me, Alexis Hall, or what, that I found the most engaging and satisfying section of the book to be the funeral, and I think that might just be because it was the only section of the book where Luc actually focused on Oliver. So much of the rest of the book was very angsty, which, unless they're working through it, as Luc did in the first book, is not something I enjoy in my MCs in first person narratives.

The humour, the banter, the irreverence were all there. The secondary characters were fabulous - I adore the quirky wisdom of Luc's mom, the ott and more mature best-friending, the co-workers...

The thing is that through each wedding, Luc's pov grated even more, as did his absolute certainty that the vast majority of the conflict was "Oliver problems, not me problems," which felt deliberately delusional. It felt like all the character development took place in the last bit of the book, and it took place far too quickly for me to be convinced, especially since there seemed to be so little in the two years between the last book and this one.

What saved the book for me was the actual ending - it brought together what I felt were the themes that kind of popped up throughout the book but I couldn't really see through all the angst. And they are themes I absolutely love: Self-differentiation, self-exploration, authenticity...

And SPOILER now:

I just really really wish there had been more exploration of alternatives to weddings/marriage than the brief conversations with Pryia and her partners, the mother, and the very last couple of pages. I also wish there was more room for Lucien to face that the "Oliver problems, not me problems" were actually his own damned problems all along. If it had, this book could have been a brilliant satire about heteronormativity and convention. The entire discussion over the rainbow arch could have become a truly enlightening exploration on the conventions of the perfomance of queerness. Instead, it was an "OIiver problem" and got left at that, with only a glimpse that it could be more.

I do however, love that they walked out on their own wedding. Like, really really love it.

I was overjoyed to read a book that ends with a clear hea that doesn't require a formal commitment ceremony - this is something that is very counter-genre, and unlike many readers who freaked out about it, I am so very much here for the subversion.


So yeah... complicated response to this one. ( )

Ummmm

I have no words for where this one went.

( )

Husband Material is a loose, somewhat picaresque satire of the marriage parade that dominates our late twenties and early thirties, and what it means in the context of queer millennial relationships. Unlike the first novel, which (like its protagonist, Luc) is tightly wound from page one, this book takes a while to get going, the tension ratcheting up imperceptibly and incrementally until it explodes with one hell of a banger ending.

Is it as funny as Boyfriend Material? Probably not. Is it a touching, validating book about navigating this highly scripted time in our romantic lives? Fuck yes.