Author: Kacen Callender
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 368 Pages
Published May 2020
Hardcover, 368 Pages
Published May 2020
Summary: Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle....But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.
A bunch of our blogging friends recommended this book to us back when it first came out, and as soon as I looked into it, I knew it was definitely something that I wanted to read. I had really enjoyed Kacen's THIS IS KIND OF AN EPIC LOVE STORY, so I was really excited to read this one. And once I got the book in my hands, I was SO glad that I did. So without further ado, let's get into my review!
As the summary explains, Felix's last name might be Love, but he has yet to fall in love himself, and the irony definitely isn't lost on him. But he's worried that he's "just one marginalization too many" -- Black, queer, and transgender. He believes that those things could be potential obstacles toward him getting his own happily ever after. So throughout the book Felix learns to love not only himself, and those around him who he may find surprising, but he also learns a lot about himself in the process. Especially when he starts up a catfish scheme that doesn't end up the way he expected, leading to a potential love triangle and a whole lot of drama.
I absolutely loved this book. For starters, the cover is absolutely GORGEOUS. The colors and the art style reminded me a lot of WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo, which is another book that I really loved. The entire time that I was reading this book, I kept stopping to look at the cover again and appreciate it, because while I'm always a sucker for nice covers, I have to admit that this was particularly gorgeous and is probably one of my new faves. It's just so PRETTY!!
Another thing that I really loved about this book was the way that it dealt with Felix's emotions and the way he was questioning himself, and that it was okay to not know what labels fit you at any given time -- if any even fit at all. This book really tackles the important topics of transphobia and gender identity, which Felix seems to be a little bit intimidated by at first, but through time and talking to others, he's able to find a space to claim where he feels the most comfortable and things feel the most right for him in the current moment. It was definitely a really empowering part of the story that I really loved reading.
As for the love triangle -- I had a feeling from the second that Felix started his catfish scheme that things were going to get a little complicated, but I can definitely say that I wasn't expecting some of the plot twists that came along with that. There were several moments throughout the book where I found myself gasping and eagerly turning the pages because I just had to know what was going to happen next and who was behind some of the things that were going on.
My favorite character in this book (other than Felix, who I absolutely adored) was definitely Leah. At first I wasn't sure if she was going to be a main character in the story or not, but as she showed up more and more and got closer and closer to Felix, I found myself really liking her. And seeing her and Felix's friendship grow really made my heart so warm and fluttery.
Overall, I absolutely loved reading FELIX EVER AFTER and would recommend it to anyone looking for an emotional, incredible, important read. Once again, Kacen Callender blew me away with the quality of their writing, and I'm looking forward to reading even more of their work in the future!
Did you read FELIX EVER AFTER? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments down below! :-)
As the summary explains, Felix's last name might be Love, but he has yet to fall in love himself, and the irony definitely isn't lost on him. But he's worried that he's "just one marginalization too many" -- Black, queer, and transgender. He believes that those things could be potential obstacles toward him getting his own happily ever after. So throughout the book Felix learns to love not only himself, and those around him who he may find surprising, but he also learns a lot about himself in the process. Especially when he starts up a catfish scheme that doesn't end up the way he expected, leading to a potential love triangle and a whole lot of drama.
I absolutely loved this book. For starters, the cover is absolutely GORGEOUS. The colors and the art style reminded me a lot of WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo, which is another book that I really loved. The entire time that I was reading this book, I kept stopping to look at the cover again and appreciate it, because while I'm always a sucker for nice covers, I have to admit that this was particularly gorgeous and is probably one of my new faves. It's just so PRETTY!!
Another thing that I really loved about this book was the way that it dealt with Felix's emotions and the way he was questioning himself, and that it was okay to not know what labels fit you at any given time -- if any even fit at all. This book really tackles the important topics of transphobia and gender identity, which Felix seems to be a little bit intimidated by at first, but through time and talking to others, he's able to find a space to claim where he feels the most comfortable and things feel the most right for him in the current moment. It was definitely a really empowering part of the story that I really loved reading.
As for the love triangle -- I had a feeling from the second that Felix started his catfish scheme that things were going to get a little complicated, but I can definitely say that I wasn't expecting some of the plot twists that came along with that. There were several moments throughout the book where I found myself gasping and eagerly turning the pages because I just had to know what was going to happen next and who was behind some of the things that were going on.
My favorite character in this book (other than Felix, who I absolutely adored) was definitely Leah. At first I wasn't sure if she was going to be a main character in the story or not, but as she showed up more and more and got closer and closer to Felix, I found myself really liking her. And seeing her and Felix's friendship grow really made my heart so warm and fluttery.
Overall, I absolutely loved reading FELIX EVER AFTER and would recommend it to anyone looking for an emotional, incredible, important read. Once again, Kacen Callender blew me away with the quality of their writing, and I'm looking forward to reading even more of their work in the future!
Did you read FELIX EVER AFTER? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments down below! :-)
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