A review by smillas_tales
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have a lot of feelings about this book, and it’s been one of the most difficult to rate this year! I love so many aspects of it, and it sends so many important messages, but for the most part, I just felt that the execution was lacking.

I love Felix and Ezra! I adore their friendship, and them as individuals, even with all their flaws! However, other than the two of them, I didn’t love the character work. It’s amazing to have a book with an almost exclusively queer cast, but they’re all a little black or white. Every character also has a tragic backstory and bad parental relationships, which perpetuates the idea of queer people not being accepted by family, and that’s not a great message to send to young queer readers.

For the most part, I loved Callender’s writing! It has such a nice flow, so I flew through the book! However, the dialogue is a bit unrealistic at times. A couple of times throughout the book, a group of characters had discussions about sexuality and gender identity, and while I really appreciated the nuance to the discussion, it felt out of place. I almost got the impression that Callender couldn’t decide whether to write an essay on gender or a novel, and decided to just mix them. 

One of the things I appreciated most was the discussion about discrimination within the LGBTQ+ community, cause it’s very real, but not often talked about in queer media! 

All of this being said, I loved the ending! The book had a unique take on the love triangle, which I liked, and the conclusion to that aspect of the story was so lovely and believable!
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