Sylvia Barry Reads: January 2025
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall – 5 haunted clamshells out of 5
Sylvia Barry read this book aloud in her best British accent to the clouds and seaspray from the top of her lighthouse, and the elements approved. Sylvia’s earthly avatars prefer the audiobook.
Luc and Oliver both need a boyfriend, stat; Luc because his job’s conservative demographic disapprove of his “wrong kind of gay” lifestyle, and Oliver because his judgmental family have deemed him “forever alone.” So, naturally, these barely passing acquaintances enter a mutually beneficial fake dating scheme and… nothing goes wrong and we definitely don’t catch feelings or do shenanigans. Perhaps even a tomfoolery. Wink wink.
We love this book, we loved it when it came out, and we’ve loved each of the more than two but less than five times we’ve reread it since.
We may even argue that it improves on each re-read, like a wine, or a stew, or a karaoke song. You start with grape juice, or meat soup, or a sad evening's air-drumming in your pajamas to Jamie O’Neal, but with enough time and contemplation you end up with something so damn complex and personal it’s a little bit in danger of becoming part of your personality.
There’s a wonderfully special sort of comfort inherent to a certain era of romantic comedy, and Boyfriend Material hits those beats exquisitely, but without feeling dated. The characters are lively and hilarious, but also heartbreaking and sweet: Luc is a Capital-M Mess who never misses an opportunity to self-sabotage, and Oliver is the hardest try of a Try Hard that ever tried hard, and all you want is to see them smooch.
Good news on that front.
