aztlan's Reviews (238)

How does so much happen yet I felt so utterly disinterested? I was intrigued at the start and I kept listening because I wanted to know how events unfolded, but there was so much time spent on fairly mundane things and I just didn't care that much. At the point I finished, I didn't feel like picking up the book again, so I just read the synopsis and that was enough for me. It's not actually a bad book, it's just that literary fiction is not my usual genre and it was too long for me to subsist on vibes.
It also didn't help that there was a lot of slurs in this book. They made sense in context (the cast consists of young, privileged white men in their own little bubble) but it still did not make it any more enjoyable to read.

Ah, Katia Rose, the love of my reading life. Girlfriend Material is the fourth book I've read by Katia Rose, and it did not let me down. Every single one of Rose's characters has a unique personality, with interests and passions. While both Allison and Kate love costume and fashion, they love it for different reasons, and they have very different (but complimentary) personalities. 
I've heard people call the best-friends-to-lovers trope idiots-to-lovers, and this really does apply in this situation. Right from the start, both Allison and Kate are staring with love heart eyes at each other, but both are convinced they couldn't possibly work together/the other couldn't possibly be interested, etc. As their story plays out, we get to learn about both characters and their past, and the reason they make the mistakes they do, and they both just felt very real and thought out.
I appreciated how Rose took into account the experiences her characters had had, and the fact that they had a healing journey to go on. In particular,

I appreciated how even after the main conflict had happened and Kate and Allison had made up, Kate had to go to therapy and start the process of healing before she could consider calling herself Allison's girlfriend. It wasn't a change that happened over night, which healing never is.

Special shout out to Miguel, because I always love non-binary characters turning up where I didn't expect. I love how Katia Rose makes sure to include a variety of queer identities in her stories.
I recommend this book to any romance fan, especially if you like best-friends-to-lovers or costume.