WL's Mainstream Gay Book Reviews - 66. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall Book 1 of London Calling (British Gay Romance/Contemporary Comedy)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50225678-boyfriend-material

Have you ever read a modern British gay romance novel? They’re usually not Jane Austen in terms of depth or social critique, but sometimes you do find interesting nuggets within the ether about contemporary society or have insights about human psychology. I might not be British in terms of nationality or culture, but it’s interesting to learn different viewpoints from non-American authors. Alexis Hall’s novel Boyfriend Material came up a few times during my various scavenger hunt for new books to read, including at one point being one of the best-selling books in Amazon’s gay romance category. The book was published in 2020, but the popularity appeared to have prompted a sequel published on August 2^nd, 2022. Alexis Hall is one of the few British LGBT male writers within the gay romance genre, who has gained notoriety even in the US. So, I was curious as to why so many people were drawn to this novel. As I read the first novel, I discovered a very self-aware novel with complex characters and ugly truths about social norms, even among those who claim to be “supportive” of certain causes. It was worth a deeper dive and review.

Length: 427 pages and 13 hours 11 minutes long on audible. It’s a bit of a long reading for most people. My advice is to make sure you take your time and be ready for a slow-burn romance with various twists and turns. There’s a certain type of sensitivity needed to read this kind of romance novel, probably over a week or two.

Plot: Lucien “Luc” O’Donnell is a young man trapped between the worlds of his parents, who were former rockstars with scandals, and his tight conservative workplace, a UK non-profit that supports an unattractive sounding insect, Dung Beetle. Things come to a head when his father begins to make waves again by being a judge on a reality TV program, and he starts getting notoriety from the press. After a very bad night, which ended up with pictures of him falling face first in a gutter after a house party with bunny fetish gear on. A potential gay lover from the party turns out to be a journalist and used the incident to write an unflattering opinion piece on him. When those events become public knowledge, Luc was under pressure from his conservative donors and his boss at the non-profit to be less controversial, or else he risks being terminated. Through a group of LGBTQ friends, he seeks a temporary boyfriend that can help tamp down the tabloids. Oliver Blackwell is introduced as a barrister/lawyer, who acts as a public defender defending people to the disdain of his family, who are emotionally abusive towards him, but he continues to take it out of a perceived obligation. There are many loosely connected plots throughout the novel that detail their courtship and various connections to friends, colleagues, and family members. In the end, after many souls searching and self-reflection Luc grows and learns to let go of some of the bitterness in his past to pursue a future with Oliver. There are several comedic scenarios thrown in the overall plot, along with details concerning various things related to the couple.

Review: This was extremely funny in the dry snarky wit that the reader would appreciate from a British author. I think readers enjoyed the comedic moments throughout this book with epic setups for comedic payoff throughout the story. From the very first house party to a meal at a very “posh” British country club, you get a comedic setup that pays off for great laughs at the situational humor and utterly idiotic reactions that some people have to certain things. My favorite jokes came from a judge at the country club, who displayed a dislike of Luc due to his last name being Irish. Then, due to his senility, he warns everyone, including Luc, to watch out for unsavory characters. It was a racist comment about certain British attitudes from older generations, but it also made for great humor at how senile and nonsensical these arguments are. I liked how Alexis Hall dealt a backhand to the ideological incoherency through the jokes.

The story’s emotional core had a lot to discuss with human interactions and fame, I felt shame that Luc had such a rotten life throughout the story due to his negligent father and horrible tabloid media. However, to most of the world in the novel, Luc appears to be the self-entitled child of celebrities. If I were to remove the first-person narrative and just viewed his actions from the outside, maybe I’d see him as self-entitled in some respects, which is kind of sad with how our society perceives famous people and their families. Society created a lot of the problems that Luc faced like his social awkwardness and fears were made possible because modern popular media created a narrative based on unrelated things from his father’s rockstar career, such as drug and sexual promiscuity. A twentysomething gay guy will have times when he’s trying to let loose, except for celebrities or relatives of one, it becomes a tabloid scandal that affects their lives. This revelation makes me regret watching TMZ or reading celebrity gossip news websites; I am part of the problem, too, as a consumer.

Another aspect of the story that was interesting is British non-profit supporters among what Americans would consider liberal causes while holding very conservative ideologies. A good example of this can be seen with the vegan couple, who were major donors of the Dung Beetle charity. They were claiming themselves to be non-homophobic, but throughout the meal were very condescending to Luc and his sexual orientation. Also, this couple appeared to be fame seekers, trying to legitimize their wealth by appearing liberal, but apparently, their vegan habit was more a trend than a genuine interest in vegan ideals as exposed by the restaurant proprietor. I’ve worked in the non-profit world for a few years and I can say that people like that do exist. Some big donors are fad-seekers, who care more about influence than about actual issues while maintaining ideologically divergent concepts that harm the same cause they fund. Sometimes you have to work with the devil to get him to release his purse strings, but it is well known. I am glad Alex Hall highlighted this hypocrisy within the non-profit world, but very few were aware of it outside those who work in it.

As for the characters, I think Luc was developed extremely well throughout this book, along with Oliver in terms of their romantic chemistry. The fake boyfriend storyline can get a bit dull at times as it’s a common trope in the gay romance genre, but these guys make it work with their character quirks and flaws. They were opposites of one another, both having different attitudes and different approaches towards life. While Oliver tries to work diligently through the problem without expressing his emotions, Luc is unable to hold his tongue and unleashes his emotions without problem-solving. Their opposition is complimentary.

As for side characters, Alex, Luc’s work colleague, is one of the funniest clueless characters I have read in gay romance. He’s an elitist wealthy British aristocrat, who believes everyone must be from one of Britain’s premier universities or be part of certain clubs. He lives in a sheltered world, where nothing can touch him, it’s funny and scary that someone like that still exists, but British nobility is a real thing along with generational wealth. He’s not offensive or bigoted, unlike certain characters from the previous generation. Alex doesn’t even understand what being gay truly means, even considering being Luc’s fake boyfriend with his equally posh girlfriend offering support to the idea. He was allowed entry into everything in life due to his privileged upbringing, making his lack of knowledge understandable and funny.

The major flaw in this novel may be Oliver Blackwell’s family, who were not introduced until the last few chapters of the book. They were abusive and homophobic toward Oliver, who appears to show subservience to their attitude. I find this to be quite a shock in terms of revelations and I wish we got more time to deal with this. Oliver’s psychological profile was not developed as much as Luc, so introducing such a harsh dynamic near the end of the book to me felt a bit too much to accept. With Book 2 now published, I think it will be a good idea to see what Alexis Hall does with this late plot development, but it is a weakness.

Rating: 4 out of 5, it’s a romantic comedy worthy of reading for everyone, who wants a bit of British snark and wit, along with deep character stories and some refreshing change of tone outside American viewpoints.