Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Felix Ever After

a story abt love, identity, friendship that's insightful, important and refreshingly queer. i wish i liked it more, but the writing and some parts of the story just didnt click w/ me.

there were abt a thousand 'i guess'-es in this book; it was annoying as hell and actually put me on edge lol.. and the teen characters all had the same voice, they didnt sound very distinct from one another. i also didnt feel like the declan-lucky subplot have a lot of plausibility; for someone supposedly very on guard, he was surprisingly--almost unrealistically--trusting of a random stranger on ig.

those were my two qualms, but felix ever after also had a plethora of positives: great depiction of the messiness of ppl's feelings and relationships; insightful and layered exploration of the issues around and w/in the lgbtqiap+ community esp in regards to the intersectionality of class, race, and gender, reinforcing that they're not a monolith; ezraaaa who's hands down my fav character--he was just so supportive and sweet but also complex; and ofc, prolly the best rep for a trans character ive ever read. felix's struggles were surprisingly relatable, and his questioning and inner thoughts were so insightful and revealing; i learned a lottt abt ftm trans folks from this book.

felix ever after might not have totally clicked w/ me, but it's a surpremely important book--esp an #ownvoices one--that i cant wait to reread for all the hints and clues.

Content Warnings

davidbythebay's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

4 5 Stars. I really enjoyed this book. Not only was it from a unique perspective, it was also committed to being honest and frank. One of the greatest things I think this book does I'd contribute to and foster conversation about gender identity and sexual orientation. Filled with wonderful insight and a few new-to-me terms, it was a fun story despite the transphobia, homophobia, and racism. It was amazing to have an intersectional look at a character. Felix is trans, queer, and black. It's a perspective we don't get very often at all.

My drawbacks were the pacing was a little slow at times and I really didn't like how with each new direct message (DM) on Instagram we began at the beginning of the conversation to see the new message. It just took the wind out of the sails for me. But it didn't happen very often, so that's good. Another quibble is how I know Felix is 17 and all, but damn can he come across a little immature and amazingly single minded. From the fixation on every new possible transphobic suspect to how he can hyper focus on how his dad won't use his name, Felix just comes across as though he is immature masquerading as mature. With his dad, he never once considers the changes his dad has gone through and has to go through. Another gripe is how quickly turns happen with explosive emotional moments and then they seem to disappear - like with (no spoilers!) finding out someone you thought you knew is actually a transphobe and yet it just seems like they are still around in the background with other friends of yours.

Overall, however, it was an interesting take on a suspenseful mystery mixed with a little MM romance love triangle sort of thing, mixed with a self exploration of identity. Just plain identity in all its iterations. I really recommend this to anyone who has felt lost, anyone in the LGBTQ community, or anyone who wants to know what it's like being queer in our "enlightened" age.

Content Warnings

mirireads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

puhlowmuh's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a YA coming-of-age story about Felix, a Black, trans, queer teen who loves art and hanging out with his best friend. But when someone posts photos of him pre-transition and begins bullying him online, he decides to fight back by catfishing the person he thinks is responsible.

One of the main things I liked about this book is the way it portrays teenagers being messy and complicated, and gives them the space to grow and make mistakes. Felix's actions aren't always well-thought out or honorable, but they come from a place of wanting to stand up for injustices and defend himself.

Something else I loved about this book is the way the author encourages us, through the narrative, to be our authentic selves. Felix wants to be able to be his authentic self without worrying about prejudice but he fears that he's 'one label too many'. Throughout the story, we see him begin to accept every aspect of who he is, while also discovering new things about himself, like the fact that he's a demiboy.

The book also shows is the beauty of unconditional love from parents, even those who make mistakes. Felix's father makes a lot of missteps throughout the story (misgendering and deadnaming Felix) while he's trying to unpack his own internalised transphobia. This irritates Felix at first, but he begins to realise that his father is really trying and only wants him to be happy and loved.

Friends-to-lovers is so underrated (especially when it's childhood friends or they've been friends for YEARS) and Felix Ever After does it so well. The gradual realisation that Felix likes his best friend romantically is exciting because he has an inkling that those feelings are mutual. Plus, the two of them already know each other so well that Felix can envision how good they'd be together in a romantic relationship.

The only downsides to this book are that I think I lost some of my connection to the characters by listening to it on audio and there were also a lot of HP references that didn't really need to be there.

Other than that, this was a hopeful, uplifting story of love, friendship, and acceptance. It feels like a heart-felt love letter to trans and queer readers and teens saying, you're loved and you're enough.

Content warnings for transphobia and homophobia, outing, deadnaming (Felix's deadname is never mentioned on-page) and misgendering, bullying and cyber bullying, toxic friendships, absentee parent, casual use of drugs.

Content Warnings

diana_raquel's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

*4.5 stars*

"It's easier to accept hurt and pain, sometimes, than love and acceptance."

Look at me! I'm late for the party! Again! Honestly, because of the hype that this book got when it let's try". Turns out I really liked this book. It has really good character development (especially when it comes to issues of identity). True, sometimes, Felix came across as a little whiny to me (look, I understand that a lot that happened in the book was horrible, and for the most part I was on team "Felix", but there were instances when I was rolling my eyes because I don't have patience for "teen/ schoolyard bullshit"), but I still was rooting for him and I really liked his development as a character because that development felt realistic and measured, not rushed.

Another thing that I really appreciated was the pacing. Things were not rushed and everything fell into place at the right time, giving time to the characters to digest everything good and bad that happened. It also gave time to the readers to get to know the major characters. Also, I couldn't figure out who was the one to outed Felix, and that's a thing that I liked about books that involved mysteries because it gets me engaged in the book.

I think that the only thing a little more negative that I have to say is that I don't agree with the end. Look, this has nothing to do with the book itself because the end actually makes a lot of sense

Spoiler

(but, I'm a sucker for the "enemies to lovers" trope and, because of that, I would prefer that Felix ended up with Declan instead of Ezra)

, it just that the trope used its not my kind of trope. It's more of a "me thing" than a "book thing".

Overall, I really recommend this book. It's a solid story about discovering your identity, perfect for every lover of "YA" literature.

Content Warnings

e_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved this book! The characters felt so real and believable to me, which is sometimes hard to come by as a high schooler reading books written by people that were in high school 10 years ago. Felix is sometimes clueless, but in an endearing, human way. I think it’s a fine line between that, and making them irritatingly obtuse—but Kacen nailed it here. It’s clear they’re speaking from their own life through Felix, but I never got the sense that they were projecting so much so that Felix couldn’t be separated from them. That is, Kacen drew upon his own experiences but Felix was still distinct as a character. Also, maybe it’s a small thing but the way Instagram is used feels authentic. That’s easy to mess up, but everything there made sense.

Overall, I really enjoyed the window into the life of a Black, trans, and queer art student in NYC at a preppy high school.

Content Warnings

saaraah's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...