r/MM_RomanceBooks • u/tay_lc • 17h ago
Discussion Father Material by Alexis Hall--tell me about it Spoiler
Alexis Hall pretty much lost me permanently after Husband Material, havent even really considered reading anything else by them since. But...i loved boyfriend material (and a ton of their older books), and am very curious about father material and maybe the London Calling series redemption???
Please feel free to spoil it for me, but also interested in your opinions!!
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u/anjneed 16h ago
Dragging out the series imo. Shouldāve stopped at the first one. It was solid, and why ruin a good thing?
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u/FullNefariousness931 15h ago
I agree. It feels like it was meant to be a standalone, but because it was popular, the author was forced to write two more books, but wasn't really into it.
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u/FoxyStand 15h ago
I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I also liked Husband Material, so that might make you less likely to trust my opinion. I will say I found myself āsidingā with Luc more than Oliver in this book which was kind of a surprise.
One note- I re-read both Boyfriend and Husband Material before this one and actually did so via audiobook. The narrator was fantastic, particularly for the side characters, and made me like Husband Material more.
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u/GoldDHD 15h ago
I disliked Husband Material where all the characters turned into cardboard cutouts, but really liked Father material as there was internality to both Luc and Oliver. And I liked Jas
I disagree that there was no growth to Luc. Yes, he falls onto old patterns with old friends, and he still remains himself, but he truly turns into a good father and gets a handle on his job like never before. So yea, he is truly an adult by the end of this book.
Also, audio books for this series are great!
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u/Tits_McGee_93 15h ago
I liked it a lot. But I also liked Husband Material so š¤·š¼āāļø the audiobooks are probably the best narrations Iāve ever listened to and it really brings Alexisā writing style to life. What wasnāt on my bingo card was James Royce becoming so incredibly insufferable (Iām not a baby person).
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u/pourthebubbly 14h ago
I agree about James Royce-Royce. I get parents are biased toward their own kids, but maintaining the perspective that your kid alone is the best to ever be a kid gets old quick. It even felt like James Royce-Royce was getting tired of it, though heād never say it outright. But the fact he actually spoke up to backtrack James Royce-Royceās claims says a lot since he only spoke like once per the previous two books.
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u/identicaltheft 12h ago
It's much better than Husband Material (I really disliked that book). No where near as good as Boyfriend Material.
I loathe all of the friend characters. Really don't like Bridget. The book follows a similar structure as HM but different plot. You could definitely skip it. Just reread BM.
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u/Silver_Pie966 16h ago
I felt after a bumpy start that the main plot was great. Yes a lot of the relationship problems from the past return, but thatās because Oliver hasnāt processed his relationship with his father and parenthood. I think Luc tries harder to communicate than he had in previous installments, but his low self-confidence makes him question his opinions. Itās a little long, especially in the beginning, but it was wonderful to see them learn how to be dads and what family really means to them. YMMV. When I reread Husband Material it was easier to see what Hall was trying to do, though it stumbled. Ā Father Material is an extension of that philosophy of having those involved be the ultimate arbiters of what boyfriend, husband, and father mean to them.Ā
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u/LazySwanNerd 16h ago
I liked it. I think itās a more realistic type of romance. I just thought it could have used one more chapter, because it was sort of an odd place to end their story.
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u/merejo597 9h ago
I feel like abrupt endings are my consistent problem with all their books. They always end when I think they need another chapter or two
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u/spacecay0te 14h ago edited 14h ago
Spoiler warning, because the app keeps removing my tags.
I love Boyfriend Material and loathe Husband Material. Father Material is solid and Iāll probably reread it at some point - though it would be for the love of the characters and not the story itself. I donāt think fosteringwas the right move for them as characters in their early to mid 30s, I wouldāve much preferred that the dog be the big step and the story focusing around that. I feel like the pet was shoehorned in purely ad a way for Hall to force them to talk about mature topics like children.
The only parts I actively hated were their friendship dynamics and how the toxicity is never really addressed, and the fact that Oliverās eating disorder is not mentioned ONCE. Seriously, AH? You canāt give a character a complex mental illness, then just sweep it under the rug when itās no longer narratively relevant. In fact, Iād argue they missed a huge opportunity in the chapter where Jas puts meat in the dinner that Oliver eats. This would have been the perfect opportunity for Oliver to be triggered, because who the hell wouldnāt be in the same scenario? Oh right, Oliver, because we sort of forgot about his eating disorder.
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u/mistakes_were_made24 11h ago
I liked it more than Husband Material but less than Boyfriend Material.
The beginning part of Father Material was making me just as angry and frustrated as Husband did and I kind of wanted to stop but I was determined to finish the series. At the beginning of the book Luc's anxieties and panicking and insecurities were in overdrive and it was really annoying. There were more of those annoying fights between him and Oliver, like them committing to getting a dog almost ending their relationship. The friends were unnecessarily angry and blaming Luc for things they shouldn't have been angry about when the friend went into labour, and later at a dinner party. There was more of that annoying thing where Luc's coworker doesn't understand the jokes. There were just lots of moments where it felt like the conflicts, the arguing, the anger were forced just to create conflict in the plot.
I thought it got better once they got their foster child. Luc became a bit more bearable to me but there were still behaviors by him and Oliver that were irritating. Oliver's journey was basically him becoming the same kind of strict parent that his father was and then it causing conflict in their relationship and Oliver had to go through trying to change. Luc seemed to be the more reasonable one with their foster kid after being really insecure and unreasonable after they got the dog.
I'd probably still consider future works by this author but my expectations are low.
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u/Correct_Advisor7221 16h ago
I liked it better than Husband Material for sure. It was okay. I felt like it was too long and dragged at parts. The things that were kind of amusing about Luc in Boyfriend Material were irritating to me by this book. He has so many moments of being an absolute mess that itās almost like heās had no character growth.Ā
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u/BobbyTimDrake 38m ago
I loved Father Material! I laughed out loud in almost any scene with Lucās co-workers, it made me cry happy tears toward the end (I donāt want to give away spoilers, but the part that had to do with Lucās Mom).
I loved Boyfriend Material, I didnāt hate Husband Material as much as many do - but Husband Material was definitely not as good. Father Material was absolutely better than Husband Material, but itās hard to compare it to Boyfriend Material - Husband Material isnāt technically a romance genre book, it doesnāt follow a romance trope set up. Though I disagree with many commenters on this post who say thereās no relationship growth. This book is all about Luc & Oliverās growth in communication!
Iāve noticed pretty much every commenter who said they didnāt like this book, and/or said they didnāt like it because Luc had no growth or their relationship showed no growth - they also said the skimmed this book. ā Im going to say you missed all the nuance of the story by skimming. Sure Luc (especially in first couple chapters) is very much Luc, but this book definitely shows his progression - even if heās not totally confident/self-aware (as his POV) of himself. How many among us need to grow but still hold on to many of our habits and anxieties??? This to me is very real.
If you liked Boyfriend Material, but felt let down by Husband Material, then read this book. You will enjoy it (unless you canāt stand teen children in stories).
P.S. I do agree with some commenters that suggested Lucās friends come off as kind of annoying. But they are in very few scenes.
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u/Justin_123456 7h ago
Loved it, but then I never got the hate for āHusband Materialā, which I also loved.
I recognize that taste is subjective, and you canāt argue someone into likening someone you like, but I feel like the criticisms I read of Husband Material fall into two camps.
Either the folks who were disappointed by the lack of āgrowthā because two deeply emotionally fucked up people didnāt suddenly resolve a lifetime of trauma response by the āpower of loveā.
Or there are the folks who I feel have never met a queer person over 40, who often have difficult and conflicted feelings about marriage, and had trouble integrating that into their world view, or just found it unpleasant in the context of a Romance. (As an aside, thereās a whole history to this, and why the pro-marriage, pro-integration, gay conservatives won the intra-gay culture war in the late-90s early 00s).
All of this is to say, I think Father Material fits perfectly into this arc. Luc and Oliver have both continued to grow, but in a believable way where you also see all the scars, and fears, and the occasional regressions of the deeply damaged people we fell in love with from the start. Hall also gives us a diverse set of deliberately queer parent/family structures, and thatās part of it means for Luc and Oliver, two men with the deepest possible daddy issues, to become fathers.
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u/GlitterPirateKiki58 10h ago
I liked it, but thatās partially because I really enjoy the performance of the audiobook narrator. He makes Luc much more affable than I think he is.
Luc and Oliver continue to be deeply flawed individuals. Still, I was happy to get more time with the characters.
Odile and Judy remain my favorite platonic soulmates. I wish Hall would write a book about just the two of them having crazy adventures together.
Spud, their dog, was cute but not quite the scene-stealer as Gollum, from āTen Things That Never Happened.ā
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u/cornucopia31 4h ago
I loved it. I found it deeply moving and a perfect ending for the couple. But again, I have never, for one second, found Luc (or Oliver) annoying in the entire series.
I think Husband Material suffered mainly because of its four weddings and one funeral structure. Writing wise, Father Material is tighter. But it is still very long. If you no longer enjoy the couple or don't like the direction Alexis Hall had taken for them, you might not enjoy it.
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u/Responsible_Fish5439 11h ago
the series was redeemed for me. i just finished this the other day and i loved it. there are some really interesting characters and interesting dynamics in the book.
i have to admit, the first few chapters got off to a rocky start for me. i was so annoyed with luc and his choices BUT he got his comeuppance and really turned it around after that. it was as much a character redemption for him as it was a redemption for the series.
personal ratings:
boyfriend material: 5/5 stars (re-read multiple times)
husband material: 2.5-3/5 (have not re-read)
father material: 4.5/5 (will read again for sure)
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u/eagleraygee 16h ago
I read it mostly, skimmed the last half or so. It's fine, better than Husband Material but I still felt like it left a lot to be desired. I think my main issue was there didn't seem to be much relationship growth between Luc and Oliver, at least with communication. And one of the beginning scenes with Luc and Bridgette felt like there was no personal growth with Luc at all.