Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

64 reviews

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

Love the themes of the book and the conversations held by characters to discuss important subject matters. It was a little slower in the beginning of the book, and the pace and plot picked up close to halfway thru the story.

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

This was a lovely book to read. Felix endeared himself to me quickly, he has as many strengths as he does flaws, and felt like a teenager who could realistically exist. I really enjoyed getting to know his perspective and following his journey of self discovery. I also enjoyed that the other characters in Felix's world are given more dimension as the story progresses. Felix's fluctuating relationships with Ezra, with his father, with Leah, with Declan, and with all the other peers and adults in his life who he feels either judged or guided by, powerfully speak to the many types of love we can experience in this world, and how to learn which types of love are worth developing and worth our energy.

Many of the plot elements in this book didn't resolve themselves in the way I was expecting but I found that even more rewarding, since it showed how Felix and his values grew throughout the narrative. Overall I felt that this was a very strong and empowering novel and I love how the ending passages mimic the start, but with a new, more loving light glowing over Felix's world. Transgender youth, especially transgender youth of color, are lucky to have this book to read and relate to on their own journeys of self discovery and acceptance. I highly recommend this title to other readers and am grateful I encountered it myself.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful informative 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

Contemporary stories are hit or miss for me, but this one grabbed me and didn’t let go.

This book had so much power. It took me on this journey with Felix I couldn’t escape. I walked this path with him and felt so many emotions together with him, made me feel so much. It’s books like these that make you realise the power of OV stories. 
The characters, the plot, the relationships, the emotions: everything hit right. It was just so good!

There’s still so much I have to learn and I’m so glad I could look through Felix’s eyes the past few days by reading this. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional 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: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional funny sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I'm not really the target audience for this book, so my review needs to be read with a grain of salt. This book is brave in that it's so unapologetically queer. I appreciate the subjects this book tackles and can see the story would mean a lot to younger folks, but overall I don't think it was executed as well as people make it out to be. The romance part felt very rushed. Overall the story takes place within one month. I think it would've been better if that aspect had more buildup. 

On the other hand, this book is much more centered on character than plot. To be honest, I found Felix to be a bit irksome at times. There were very few instances of him being an actual nice, kind person. Most of the time he just complained about other characters and his own problems, and even got into arguments with a few that came across as "woe-is-me." And I get it, Felix has been through a lot in his short life, but still, something still felt off about his character.
What I disliked most about Felix was how he never knew how he felt romantically despite going on and on about how he wanted to know what love was like. I feel like he only started to like certain characters after they confessed to him first. Because of that, I didn't like the ending as much. I thought it really lacked the necessary build up to make it satisfying.

Anyway, it was a decent, quick read. Not bad, but not the best either. I think YA can only improve from here on. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings