SOPHIE LI

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle….

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve.

It took me a while to get used to Felix’s character. He could be disagreeable and confrontational on the outside but deep down he cared for his friends and he wanted to experience true love. Over the course of the novel, Felix learned to embrace his own identity and accept love. He also learned to let go of certain things that he decided would no longer matter.

The relationships between Felix and his friends were complex and profound. Of note was his relationship with his best friend Ezra with whom he shared his deepest thoughts, and his rivalry with Declan, a boy from a privileged family. I liked that Felix’s relationships with his friends morphed throughout the novel as he became closer to some friends and drifted farther from others.

I liked learning more about the LGBTQ community, or at least this fictional rendition of it. An interesting nuance was that although surrounded by the LGBTQ community, Felix was not immune from racism and transphobia, and that he was targeted by members of his own group. 

Although this wasn’t a fast-paced novel, the characters and the relationships between them hooked me from the start. Because I cared for Felix, I was eager to continue reading in hopes that he would get his happy ending.

Although I liked reading about the relationships in this novel, I wasn’t fond of the love triangle (and that’s because I don’t like love triangles, period.)

4/5 fishies!

Felix Ever After is a heartfelt contemporary YA novel about a transgender youth’s journey towards discovering his identity and his first love. I loved seeing the world through Felix’s eyes and I cheered for him to find his happy ending.

Have you read this book yet? What are your favourite LGBTQ+ reads?

Photo by Alex Harvey 🤙🏻 on Unsplash