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A review by asipofcozy
So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Book club pick with my best friend
When this book was pitched as a merlin and author parody with a found family band of misfits, robin-hood esque type situation, I was all for it. Already I loved Lukens In Deeper WatersIn Deeper Waters. I loved how In Deeper Waters included so much representation from different areas of life and So This is Ever After was not an exception.
Representation included:
Polyamourous relationships
M|M
F|F
F|M|F
Body positivity
Mental Health rep
Asexual rep
Bi-sexual rep
Sex positivity
Pansexual
Bi-racial rep
POC rep
I love a book where I can find myself within the characters, especially my sexuality. For me, that is the most important part of a book when I can connect to a character that shares similarities with my own life. It's what really brings the story together.
This stand-alone follows Arek and his band of friends as they take down the Vile One and end the years of darkness that have shrouded the kingdom. As a joke, Arek puts the crown on his head and finds himself tied to the throne. And there is only one option when it comes to abdicating the throne, death. Thrust into the role of King, Arek finds himself not only tied to the throne but thrust into a strong magic where-in if he does not find a soul-mate by his 18th birthday he disappears. Thus we follow Arek along trying to woo all his friends. Although, true love might be a lot closer than he thinks.
I loved the whimsical story telling that Lukens brings in. We are definitely in a fairy-tale land and anything goes yet it almost is a parody and making fun of the traditional fairy tales. Which I found to be very unique. I loved Lukens writing at times and how they brought forth the story in a colorful light.
I of course loved the representation that we were given throughout the book and like Klune, Lukens brings about the positivity of these representations. While "coming out", and realizing your identity in the real world can be scary and not always end well, it's sometimes nice to see the opposite in literature and movies. I can count on one hand, with queer literature, the more positive stories that are told. Most coming from Klune himself. In most literature and movies we always see the negative to being queer, the struggles, the failed "coming outs" to families and while these are all VERY real scenarios and happen quite often, there are also good stories that come from this as well. We just hear about them that often. That's why I love getting my hands on literature, like So This Is Ever After.
What I struggled most with So This Is Ever After was the world-building and magic system. We enter into the book at the end of Arek and his friend's quest. There is a whole backstory that happened that we aren't privy to and that, I find, causes a lot of holes in the plot. As a reader, I want to know where the magic is coming from, where the world is taking place, and how many other fairytales exist in this world (because many are mentioned). We are given very little of this.
Then you have the lack of character development. By the end of the book, besides knowing their pro-nouns and sexuality, I knew very little of our characters. I don't even know where half of the side characters came from and what they even look like. We were still being given physical descriptions of characters 200 pages into the book and these are the main characters. I get that this book was focused on humor and romance; however, when I have no real understanding of the characters and their wants, that humor and romance fall flat.
There is so much that this book could have done to make it a really solid stand-alone; however, in many places it was just poorly executed. I truly believe that 95% of the problems could have been solved with communication. Even the main character makes that realization, yet why not execute it.
I still believe that people should read this book, especially with all the representation that it contains. I will continue reading Lukens releases as their books are fluffy reads and read more like rom-com romance than that focus on fantasy. So This Is Ever After did make me laugh and there were cute moments that I think many people would like. There was just a lot not explained to us, the magic system was there but it was like anything goes, and the romance fell flat.
When this book was pitched as a merlin and author parody with a found family band of misfits, robin-hood esque type situation, I was all for it. Already I loved Lukens In Deeper WatersIn Deeper Waters. I loved how In Deeper Waters included so much representation from different areas of life and So This is Ever After was not an exception.
Representation included:
Polyamourous relationships
M|M
F|F
F|M|F
Body positivity
Mental Health rep
Asexual rep
Bi-sexual rep
Sex positivity
Pansexual
Bi-racial rep
POC rep
I love a book where I can find myself within the characters, especially my sexuality. For me, that is the most important part of a book when I can connect to a character that shares similarities with my own life. It's what really brings the story together.
This stand-alone follows Arek and his band of friends as they take down the Vile One and end the years of darkness that have shrouded the kingdom. As a joke, Arek puts the crown on his head and finds himself tied to the throne. And there is only one option when it comes to abdicating the throne, death. Thrust into the role of King, Arek finds himself not only tied to the throne but thrust into a strong magic where-in if he does not find a soul-mate by his 18th birthday he disappears. Thus we follow Arek along trying to woo all his friends. Although, true love might be a lot closer than he thinks.
I loved the whimsical story telling that Lukens brings in. We are definitely in a fairy-tale land and anything goes yet it almost is a parody and making fun of the traditional fairy tales. Which I found to be very unique. I loved Lukens writing at times and how they brought forth the story in a colorful light.
I of course loved the representation that we were given throughout the book and like Klune, Lukens brings about the positivity of these representations. While "coming out", and realizing your identity in the real world can be scary and not always end well, it's sometimes nice to see the opposite in literature and movies. I can count on one hand, with queer literature, the more positive stories that are told. Most coming from Klune himself. In most literature and movies we always see the negative to being queer, the struggles, the failed "coming outs" to families and while these are all VERY real scenarios and happen quite often, there are also good stories that come from this as well. We just hear about them that often. That's why I love getting my hands on literature, like So This Is Ever After.
What I struggled most with So This Is Ever After was the world-building and magic system. We enter into the book at the end of Arek and his friend's quest. There is a whole backstory that happened that we aren't privy to and that, I find, causes a lot of holes in the plot. As a reader, I want to know where the magic is coming from, where the world is taking place, and how many other fairytales exist in this world (because many are mentioned). We are given very little of this.
Then you have the lack of character development. By the end of the book, besides knowing their pro-nouns and sexuality, I knew very little of our characters. I don't even know where half of the side characters came from and what they even look like. We were still being given physical descriptions of characters 200 pages into the book and these are the main characters. I get that this book was focused on humor and romance; however, when I have no real understanding of the characters and their wants, that humor and romance fall flat.
There is so much that this book could have done to make it a really solid stand-alone; however, in many places it was just poorly executed. I truly believe that 95% of the problems could have been solved with communication. Even the main character makes that realization, yet why not execute it.
I still believe that people should read this book, especially with all the representation that it contains. I will continue reading Lukens releases as their books are fluffy reads and read more like rom-com romance than that focus on fantasy. So This Is Ever After did make me laugh and there were cute moments that I think many people would like. There was just a lot not explained to us, the magic system was there but it was like anything goes, and the romance fell flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
Actual Beheading (very first pages)