Felix Ever After By Kacen Callender

I HAD to read Felix Ever After after I saw everyone praising it on pretty much every social media app since Spring. I’m trying to read more adult books, but I wish something like this was available when I was younger, so I really wanted to read it. Plus I do like a bit of romance in books now and again. This was a definite 4/5 stars for sure.

The Plot

Felix Ever After follows Felix, an art student in New York. In his own words, he feels like he might be too much for some people, as he is queer, transgender, and black. Someone at his school displays pictures of his past self in a gallery for all to see, and he also begins receiving bullying messages on Instagram. He creates a fake Instagram account with the intent of both catching the bully, and to get revenge. The book also explores Felix’s attempts to understand his gender identity more, relationships with his father and absent mother, along with attempting to get a scholarship to college. Mainly though, Felix just wants to fall in love, so the book explores Felix’s relationships with different characters. Some could be friends, some could be foe.

What I liked

The plot and story – Felix Ever After has a really strong plot. The book wasn’t too long and managed to mix a coming of age novel with a romance, revenge plot, and a couple of “guessing games”. I was constantly engaged, wanting to find out who was behind the messages on Instagram? Who was behind the pictures in the gallery? Who was Felix going to fall for? Would he get contact from his mother? Would the fake account be revealed?

Representation and diverse cast of characters – The book features characters of various sexualities and differing backgrounds.

What I wasn’t keen on

Harry Potter references – a few too many, not really needed in 2020 as not every reader will have read Harry Potter to get the joke / reference

Felix came across as a little whiny in places, which most of the time I totally get why he’d be on edge, but I seemed to feel like his default was to automatically dislike any other people from the get go because they were not like him.

Swearing. I get people swear, but there was a lot of swearing in this book which could put people off.

Who would I recommend this to?

Everyone! Teens of 16+, any young adult, anyone wanting to read more into a transgender character’s experience from an own voices author, fans of the rivals to lovers trope, and fans of the “cat-fishing” trope.

Content warning: Swearing, some drug use, sexuality and gender discussion, bullying.