Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Felix Ever After

For the first few chapters, I did not think I would finish this book. However, I'm glad I committed to giving it a chance. Felix Ever After is ostensibly a fiction book, but at many times reads more as an educational text, which can be a bit awkward and hamfisted at times, but it comes from a place of heart. When the book allows itself to step away from societally contextual exposition, it finds a lot of heart and also a sweet love story.

A bit of background about myself: I am a queer adult who, coincidentally, often goes by the name of Felix. I am nonbinary, and I related heavily to many of the different feelings that Felix experiences, despite our many differences. Some of the things this book does really well is explore the many different ways there are to be queer, and shows that while we may be thought of as a community, we are not a monolith, and there is plenty of internal dispute, bigotry, and conflict. I haven't read many books that directly deal with transphobia within the queer community, so I appreciated that as it's realistic. The book reminds us that we can be better, that we can respect each other's differences and support those more marginalized than ourselves, rather than keeping them down to protect our own privileges. What this book struggles with is the need to cram so many lessons into the narrative. Felix often gives little internal history lessons, folks monolouge about queer theory. I think this book shined the most when it let us learn through Felix's experiences and feelings, rather than by explaining everything. However, I understand that this book is for teens and presumably the author wants to help teens find all the words they need, all the keywords to look more into. I'm sure it's effective, but it does make for a weird balance in the book and takes away from the real emotional moments at times.

Another thing I deeply appreciated about this book was the lesson that loving someone does not mean it's good to be in a relationship with someone. This is a hard learned lesson for so many of us, and it made me wonder if I had read this book when I was younger, would I have thought a little differently about some of the patterns I later fell into for years? I really respected that this was a main theme.

Lastly, I like that the book deals with the way that your gender can be a journey rather than a destination. I didn't have books like this as a teen, or even in my early twenties. Too many people feel shame for not being able to figure out their sexuality or gender, books like this are important.

Overall, I liked this book, but the strange balance between educating and telling a story brings it from a 4 or 4.25 star book down to a 3.5 star for me.

Content Warnings

infinitenumbers's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

3.0

I was really excited to read this book, but it didn't hold my interest throughout. It was written well and I liked the theme. I don't know . . . I just couldnt wait to be finished with it.

Content Warnings

ktnl22's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

This is a wonderful story, Felix is a beautiful person whom as the story goes in starts to see that for themselves and gets to understand themselves (and those around them) better.

Content Warnings

allysonw_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

daya_fae's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad 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

4.0

This was such a good read even though it took me a while to finish it. There was a lot of emotions throw the pages of this book. It was way more of a rollercoaster than I expected. It was full of important conversation about self love, parental love, and how prejudice views from society can affect you. I felt so connected with Felix’s character as a young black queer person still figuring herself out. I especially connected with the parts he talks about feeling like no one can fall in love with him. Especially how my many marginalized makes me feel even more incapable of being loved just like Felix. But I like Felix I have to learn how to except my self and believe I deserve love. I believe that was a great message to share with this story.

Content Warnings