Susan’s Book Blog

  So it's Pub Day for Alexis Hall's newest, Husband Material . (To read my early review of it, click here .)  I gave this book 2.5 stars out of 5. And I know I'm not alone in my feelings about this book, though the majority of reviewers seem to have no problems with it. I had thought about laying out more specifically and with evidence all the ways and reasons this book bothered me but at this point I’m pretty done with it. It broke my heart and I’m tired of thinking about it. I will just say that I heartily disagree with any and all 5 star reviews and any declarations of “it’s perfect!!”  I genuinely think that many of these readers have gone in already knowing they were going to give the book a stellar rating regardless of what they read.  That said, I stand by my previous rating and review. I’m not disappointed that they didn’t end up married, even though it felt a little bait-and-switch-y. I’m disappointed that Alexis Hall wrote what he did and thought it depicte...

  Husband Material  by Alexis Hall pub date Aug 2, 2022 Sourcebooks Casablanca  ⛪️ 2.5 stars out of 5 ⛪️  I am a HUGE fan not only of this book’s series predecessor, Boyfriend Material , but of Alexis Hall’s work in general. Literally everything of his I’ve read, I have loved. His writing style, his amazing characters, his facility with language and wordplay, his deep understanding (and inclusion) of complex social issues, these are all huge draws for me. I love everything he writes and trust him as a writer more than anyone I have ever read. I had ZERO doubts about this book. I was so excited to get to revisit one of my favorite fictional couples, Luc & Oliver - especially under the guise of seeing them move their relationship forward. Look at the cover! That title! They’re tying the knot! This is going to be wonderful! I thought. This book is cruel. Nothing about it makes sense. Does Alexis Hall hate us? Did he resent having to write this? I don’t know. I don’t...

I’ve just made some recent acquisitions for my ever growing library of My Favorite Books Of All Time. For years now I’ve been studying Russian off and on, mostly on my own in addition to the college course I took many years ago. I recently started learning Swedish via Duolingo  (which I’m having a lot of fun with and making excellent progress on!) so I decided to seek out copies of my two favorite romances in those languages. I enjoy paging through them to see how much I can recognize and translate - and it’s good practice! I knew from Instagram and some googling that Russian editions existed of Red White & Royal Blue as well as Boyfriend Material , and also discovered that RWRB has also been translated into Swedish. (I may actually be able to read most of that one 😂)  The Russian editions I got from Ruslania.com (a very good website for a lovely store based in Finland - I can vouch for their excellent customer service) and the Swedish edition I got from Book Depositor...