Title: Felix Ever After
Author: Kacen Callender
Genre: YA Contemporary, LGBTQIA+
Page Count: 320
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Date Published: May 12, 2020
You can find a copy here: Bookshop.org
Synopsis
Felix Love, gifted artist and high school senior, has two major life goals: snag a scholarship to Brown University and fall in love. Being Black, queer, and transgender means his path is anything but easy or straight forward.
Enrolled in summer classes at St. Catherine’s Art School in New York, Felix is struggling to come up with his submission project to Brown, grappling with his identity, and trying to get his well meaning father to stop dead-naming him. When a fellow student exposes pictures of him before his transition to the whole school and begins sending anonymous hateful, transphobic messages – Felix is determined to get revenge.
But he didn’t count on his revenge plan landing him in a love triangle. As Felix navigates all the swirling, conflicting emotions in his external relationships, he finds that it is his relationship with his self that will prove most difficult.
Discussion
This book is a gem.
This is coming from someone who really doesn’t enjoy YA Contemporary, but it was just so dang good. I loved this it, I loved it to pieces. Written with bravery, honesty, emotional intelligence, complexity and heart, it is one of my favourite books of 2020.
But, you know, I don’t like YA Contemporary!
What brought such honesty to the narrative was that this was written by a transgender man. While not a memoir, Kacen did state that he put a lot of himself, and a lot of vulnerability, into this story. It shows. It was genuinely so raw, and beautiful, and messy, and vulgar, and … real. That is what makes this book so special and what will remain with me.
This is a tough read. Obviously exposing society’s prejudices and treatments of transgender and the Queer community as a whole, cyber bullying, transphobic rhetoric, emotional/parental abandonment, tough language, and big emotions. It isn’t necessarily for the faint of heart that the “Contemporary” packaging would lead you to believe. The story will get under your skin, it will make you uncomfortable and angry, but ultimately its message of the power of self acceptance will leave you hopeful.
A fantastic, hard hitting YA Contemporary at its best. Kacen made me emotional – I was heartbroken, I was angry, I was horrified, I was elated, and most importantly, I came away with a deeper understanding and deeper empathy. Heartwarming and vulnerable, messy and unflinchingly human … Felix Ever After is a beautiful story of friendship, first love, self identity and acceptance. Just, you know, read it.
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