Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Felix Ever After

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

64 reviews

sharontriestoread's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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: Yes

Content Warnings

rosenau's review against another edition

3.5

emotional informative 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

Content Warnings

kayden__reads's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense 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

Content Warnings

robin_iguess's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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: Complicated

Content Warnings

o_alioth's review against another edition

4.25

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

3.25

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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

4.5

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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