Take a photo of a barcode or cover
fortheloveofqueerbooks's review against another edition
3.0
It was Ok. Took a long time for the actual shoe drop. I like their book but its not my favourite. I like Alexis Hall quite alot and i’ll read anything they write.
h4rpaper's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
bookishval's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Omg the beef I have with this book!
But first let’s start with the good things. I decided to go for the audiobook at the recommendation of some of my most trusted booktokers and I’m so glad I did. This has to be one of the funniest books I’ve ever listened to. Alexis Hall has shown me before what a unique and hilarious humour he has. It’s truly a laugh-out-loud level of humour.
However it was Will M. Watt that brought these characters to life.
To be honest I didn’t expect the strong Scouse accent. But as a Derry Girls lover it was a wonderful surprise. As English is not my first language, I did have to listen to this while reading the ebook, but I didn’t mind the hassle, it was so worth it! Sam Becker as a protagonist was so relatable and hysterical. Alexis’ humour combined with Will’s narration… I could listen to this for hours (and I did lol)
Another aspect I really liked and it’s related to the top-tier comedy of this story is Jonathan’s family. What a variety of characters that brought such interesting dynamics to the story! Sam’s POV was funny all on its own, but Jonathan’s big family were also hilarious as fuck.
Besides Jonathan's fanily, the other side characters were also so good and relatable. I was laughing so hard because of Sam's staff and their whole shenanigans.
However, that's pretty much all I liked about the book. Now let’s move on to the many reasons why I can’t give it any more than 3 stars.
The romance… or should I say lack thereof? Oh my fucking god, it was zero! I couldn’t believe for the life of me that these two were in love. In my opinion, Jonathan was too much of an asshole for me to buy that he liked and was in love with Sam. He treated him awful for far too much time.
This may go into spoiler territory, but something else that really bothered me is how long Sam took to tell Jonathan the truth. What do you mean we were past the 90% mark and still nothing? LIKE WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHYYY? And because of that, Jonathan’s response and forgiveness afterwards felt rushed and lacking. I needed more! I wanted angst, pleading, intense conversations about trust broken. But we had none of that.
Also as a side note, the way Jonathan found out the truth was so unnecessarily cruel? I expected it to be like the movies, where they find out while overhearing the liar talking with someone else, or from another person. But why did it have to be like that? Why did you have to have his whole staff gossiping about this scheme and making fun of their boss?
Something I found weird was the whole omission of Sam’s family for it to be revealed in the last chapter what happened to his family. There was so much potential to have him be a more flesh out character with more depth if it was brought up and talked about earlier. The real reason he moved, why it made sense for him to quit his job so easily (he was avoiding working as a plumber because it reminded him of his dad).
About 80% of it I was so tired. The wittiness and humour were all that kept me going instead of DNFing.
stetzenmeyer06's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I hadn’t realized it until the last chapters, but this is just the gay men version of “Overboard.” I had seen both the original and remake, and those were funny - and knowing that makes this book cute too. I will say both main characters getting into a relationship still didn’t really make any sense and it felt kind of forced to fit that narrative. At the end, ended up being a sweet book but not my favorite.
highladyofdelulu's review against another edition
4.0
Somehow, this book cured a fraction of my burnout caused by a toxic boss.
Because Jonathan is mostly misled, not toxic. An asshole but one that has a heart and just forgot to use it.
I loved this so much and am thoroughly impressed that an amnesia book actually worked so well for me and Alexis Hall actually pulled this of in a way that - as all his books seem to do - made me all emotional and even had me tear up. And once again I realized only at the end of the book that it didn’t even have spice. Bc it really didn’t need it, the emotions fucked me up enough
Because Jonathan is mostly misled, not toxic. An asshole but one that has a heart and just forgot to use it.
I loved this so much and am thoroughly impressed that an amnesia book actually worked so well for me and Alexis Hall actually pulled this of in a way that - as all his books seem to do - made me all emotional and even had me tear up. And once again I realized only at the end of the book that it didn’t even have spice. Bc it really didn’t need it, the emotions fucked me up enough
bakespeare_'s review against another edition
4.0
Look it's fun. It's not revolutionary, and I liked Boyfriend Material more. But Alexis Hall has a very genuine way of making messy protagonists actually be bad-ish people. It's nice to read of characters that don't always have to be the victim and still deserve to be forgiven. Also delightfully ordinary setting.
violet_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
catladymg's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I similarly loved Boyfriend Material and Husband Material and would recommend this to anyone who is fans of those books and to anyone who's a fan of the 90s romcom While You Were Sleeping.
shiradfrankel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0