Reviews - Felix Ever After

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10.3k reviews for:

Felix Ever After

Kacen Callender

4.28 AVERAGE

miraclesantana's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful medium-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

Content Warnings

hardcoverhuntress's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring 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

soyboycyrus's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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: Complicated

lizzie_purplephoenix's review against another edition

4.0

I'll start by addressing why I've dropped 1 star.
First of all, on a personal level, I recognise that this book is of a genre that is not my jam (i.e. it includes romance, which I often struggle with in books,

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including a kind of love triangle, or square?, one of my least favourite tropes

; it's a bit too "teenage" in tone for my liking - I love me some YA but I wanted to shake a few of the characters in this one even though thinking back to being age 17, it hits the nail on the head a little too sharply!). I confess I actually found it hard to like Felix some of the time (I'm not one for revenge, which didn't help, and I can't stand the idea of

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catfishing

), and while technically a protagonist ought to be flawed, to make mistakes and have things to learn, I just usually at least like characters like that ...
I was also a bit bored through some of the middle.
I think that's all down to my own personal taste, but I rate based on both how much I personally enjoy a book as well as for more objective reasons.

Secondly, on a more objective level, there were a couple of things that drove me nuts. Instalove -

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Declan got on board with Felix way too quickly in their messaging - I think I'm right in remembering that during the second day of messaging, Declan confessed he was falling for Felix. wtf? Also found it very hard to believe that Declan wouldn't figure out who he was once they started talking on the phone, and why he wouldn't bug Felix more to find out who he was... All that felt a bit unrealistic, and out of character for Declan.

However, on the plus side -
The discussions in this book (between the characters, and also Felix's own internal journey) about the LGBTQIA+ issues and conflicts it is addressing are excellently written. It was really interesting, as a 45 year old woman, to have a peek into what it might be like to be an LGBTQIA+ teen today - and with the internet - and to note that even though on one level it seems like it might be 'easier' and more freeing now than it was back 'in my day', it isn't always. Adolescence will always be hard, no matter what is going on in society, simply due to the nature of teenhood, but this book addresses some of the current issues facing teens today pretty well. I loved Felix's journey of self-discovery, towards

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identifying as demiboy

, how it wasn't simple.

The story (as in the plot itself) did become a bit more engaging for me over around the halfway mark, once

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Declan told Felix Ezra was in love with him

and I absolutely loved how it all ended.

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I'm so happy Felix got a happy ending, both with his dad and with Ezra (I really liked their relationship throughout), and with his painting.

Thankfully, I liked Felix by the end!

I also loved the portrait stuff, what his teacher said to him made me want to paint my own!
Overall, the book has a wonderful empowering message about self-love, self-acceptance and self-expression.