A review by artemisg
Felix Ever After, by Kacen Callender

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

3.5

I genuinely really enjoyed this book while also not enjoying it. The themes and exploration into gender identity were wonderful, but the main character and narrator, Felix, was insufferable. He was selfish and seemed unable to treat others with a semblance of respect, be that his father, best friend, or classmates. This was the main reason this book didn’t hit the spot for me, a second reason was that I went in expecting a love triangle (not a trope I’m particularly fond of, but when it’s done well, I love it), and there was no love triangle at all. Or, there was the slightest hint of one, and it took over one hundred pages to reach that hint. I also think that maybe I just don’t like it when books mention pop culture or social media. This book had a particularly millennial take on pop culture and social media use, despite the characters being 17 in the 2020s (I believe this is when it was set), which really took me out of it. 
 
That doesn’t mean this book is bad, it’s not bad by any means, and more significantly, it’s important. This book is so important. The main character and narrator is a trans-masculine demiboy grappling with his gender identity, trying desperately to figure out who he is after his deadname and pre-transition pictures are posted on a gallery wall at his summer arts program. I have to sympathise with him, his life has been challenging, and this summer became significantly more complicated. However, his reactions to the gallery wall are extreme and borderline scary, which really cements his selfish nature. When the person who made the gallery wall was revealed, I was shocked, and not in a satisfying plot twist way, just in a “huh?” way. I think the central conflict could have been done a lot better, and the supporting characters could have been more multi-faceted, rather than just one thing Felix hates about them and then one thing that he realises is, in fact, nice about them. 
 
I guess I can’t genuinely complain about an aspect of this book; it’s a YA romance; I don’t know what I expected. It was still an enjoyable read, and it had some really emotional and important scenes and moments. And it was a story centred around LGBT+ characters with a happy ending, which we need more of. 
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