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A review by siavoosh
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
5.0
I started this book thinking I'm not going to really care for it. I thought it was going to be weak and predictable and badly-written, and in the first couple of chapters, with all the unnecessary info dumping about the way characters looked or dressed, I thought that might had been a correct assumption.
It was not, though.
I never use words like 'the most', 'the best' etc. I always say 'one of the best', 'one of the most'. Today, I dare say that Felix was the most relatable character I have ever read. I felt his pain and joy and questioning, I felt his confusion, I felt his yearning to be something. It hit even harder than it would usually because recently, I have been been going through the same things Felix has been going through; I've been questioning my gender, my labels, my worth, what I'm gonna do with my life after school ends (or even before it ends), my talents, if I have them in th first place and how to use them and how to be confident of them, self love and acceptance, finding platonic and romantic love in life, maybe, at some point, getting to fucking understand the difference between those (and other) kinds of love, and finally, how to be a happy, sure, functional human being, I guess.
And so this book was kind of painful in that way: as if someone was making fun of me in front of me and I couldn't do anything. But it was also a bit reassuring, to see someone having an experience so close to mine, seeing them fuck up the way I would, and knowing that it's going to be ok for them, so it probably would, for me, too.
This story had many queer characters, but that did not mean everything was rainbow and butterflies and no prejudice was seen anywhere near anyone. Transphobia (and biphobia. And misogyny) in the queer community was addressed, and the complicated truth about how each and every queer person faces a different level of bigotry in their life, how all the experiences are valid and need to be talked about and at the same time, some face way more than others.
I loved how friendship was handled in this book, and loneliness in crowds, and family, and the awkwardness of meeting someone in real life for the first time after you've been texting practically 24/7 for some time now (which is an experience I think more people have now, because the pandemic didn't let us meet new people as much as we used to).
And since Felix's pain and embarrassment felt like mine, his joy felt like mine also. By the end of the book, I felt like I'm all glittery and gay myself (I am gay though), I felt like I'm in NYC pride march or something, screaming my throat out and laughing and crying and surrounded by music and people who accept each other.
And it was one hell of a feeling.
It was not, though.
I never use words like 'the most', 'the best' etc. I always say 'one of the best', 'one of the most'. Today, I dare say that Felix was the most relatable character I have ever read. I felt his pain and joy and questioning, I felt his confusion, I felt his yearning to be something. It hit even harder than it would usually because recently, I have been been going through the same things Felix has been going through; I've been questioning my gender, my labels, my worth, what I'm gonna do with my life after school ends (or even before it ends), my talents, if I have them in th first place and how to use them and how to be confident of them, self love and acceptance, finding platonic and romantic love in life, maybe, at some point, getting to fucking understand the difference between those (and other) kinds of love, and finally, how to be a happy, sure, functional human being, I guess.
And so this book was kind of painful in that way: as if someone was making fun of me in front of me and I couldn't do anything. But it was also a bit reassuring, to see someone having an experience so close to mine, seeing them fuck up the way I would, and knowing that it's going to be ok for them, so it probably would, for me, too.
This story had many queer characters, but that did not mean everything was rainbow and butterflies and no prejudice was seen anywhere near anyone. Transphobia (and biphobia. And misogyny) in the queer community was addressed, and the complicated truth about how each and every queer person faces a different level of bigotry in their life, how all the experiences are valid and need to be talked about and at the same time, some face way more than others.
I loved how friendship was handled in this book, and loneliness in crowds, and family, and the awkwardness of meeting someone in real life for the first time after you've been texting practically 24/7 for some time now (which is an experience I think more people have now, because the pandemic didn't let us meet new people as much as we used to).
And since Felix's pain and embarrassment felt like mine, his joy felt like mine also. By the end of the book, I felt like I'm all glittery and gay myself (I am gay though), I felt like I'm in NYC pride march or something, screaming my throat out and laughing and crying and surrounded by music and people who accept each other.
And it was one hell of a feeling.