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frasersimons 's review for:
Felix Ever After
by Kacen Callender
I’ve been putting this off because, as well regarded as it is, the premise as written isn’t really appealing. Revenge for being outed by catfishing the guy? Sounds not “fun” to read.
Luckily, as this is young adult and so comes with the diction and sentence construction you’d expect, I think the characters are really well realized. They’re contradictory in a way few queer characters are, because of the demand on them to be archetypical and fit into a heteronormative lens. I loved that the author wasn’t afraid to be critical of different aspects of the queer community, especially when it isn’t inclusive. That’s a massively difficult topic to tackle well. And while I was apprehensive at first, it does feel like it comes together into a dramatic plot that also seeks to interrogate some of those notions. It doesn’t have prescriptive answers to some of those questions either, which is even better, in my opinion.
These kids don’t have it all figured out, and why should they? It wouldn’t feel real if they did. They hurt each other, intentionally or otherwise, all the time. It’s messy, but it’s full of forgiveness too. Making this deceptively complex for such a fairly simple plot. There isn’t that many characters either, so the draw to this book should not be figuring out who outed Felix. The plot beats are all pretty predictable, and sometimes feel like merely a vehicle for the larger issues. But, I think it wears that on its sleeve, and so is expected and less grating than it is in other books that try to hide it, and subsequently feel even more after-school-special.
I will say that in the beginning, when Felix and his best friend are generally the only two characters having interactions, it can feel quite siloed. I’d urge you to keep reading though. It does feel like it navigates to a satisfying place and becomes more nuanced as it goes. Pleasantly surprised. Also, I am a cis white man, so I urge you to look for reviews from people of colour and trans people, because I simply am neither well informed or have the lived experience to detect if those aspects are well handled. I’ve certainly missed important things in other texts.
Luckily, as this is young adult and so comes with the diction and sentence construction you’d expect, I think the characters are really well realized. They’re contradictory in a way few queer characters are, because of the demand on them to be archetypical and fit into a heteronormative lens. I loved that the author wasn’t afraid to be critical of different aspects of the queer community, especially when it isn’t inclusive. That’s a massively difficult topic to tackle well. And while I was apprehensive at first, it does feel like it comes together into a dramatic plot that also seeks to interrogate some of those notions. It doesn’t have prescriptive answers to some of those questions either, which is even better, in my opinion.
These kids don’t have it all figured out, and why should they? It wouldn’t feel real if they did. They hurt each other, intentionally or otherwise, all the time. It’s messy, but it’s full of forgiveness too. Making this deceptively complex for such a fairly simple plot. There isn’t that many characters either, so the draw to this book should not be figuring out who outed Felix. The plot beats are all pretty predictable, and sometimes feel like merely a vehicle for the larger issues. But, I think it wears that on its sleeve, and so is expected and less grating than it is in other books that try to hide it, and subsequently feel even more after-school-special.
I will say that in the beginning, when Felix and his best friend are generally the only two characters having interactions, it can feel quite siloed. I’d urge you to keep reading though. It does feel like it navigates to a satisfying place and becomes more nuanced as it goes. Pleasantly surprised. Also, I am a cis white man, so I urge you to look for reviews from people of colour and trans people, because I simply am neither well informed or have the lived experience to detect if those aspects are well handled. I’ve certainly missed important things in other texts.