Find out why Queermunity has rated Kacen Callender's Felix Ever After 5 stars out of 5!
If you ever find yourself looking for a book that is as funny and heartwarming as it is queer, look no further than Felix Ever After. The latest novel from author Kacen Callender gives an inside look at Felix Love, a Black, queer, trans teen who wants nothing more than to create an awe-worthy portfolio, get admitted to Brown University with a coveted full scholarship, and fall in love. That's right. Felix Love has never been in love and he's still figuring out why.
I'll be honest, when I first picked up this book with my partner at Barnes & Noble, I was suspicious. I had been burned before by YA novels that had all the potential to be everything I was looking for in a queer book. Instead of edge-of-your-seat pre-relationship moments that make your heart skip a beat and cling to every word, you find a forced and clearly unrealistic portrayal of queer love that focuses much more on the 'burden' that being queer puts on a relationship rather than the actual relationship itself. Felix Ever After is not one of those books.
While there are many reasons that this book stands out to me (entertaining prose, wonderfully witty humour, queer and POC representation out the wazoo), the most prominent feature, in my opinion, is the relationship between Felix and his best friend, Ezra. So rarely do we see a loving, platonic, physically affectionate relationship between two men in mainstream media, but between two Black, queer men is next to unheard of. Felix Ever After shows this relationship unabashedly and I can't say how honoured I am to have read their story. Felix and Ezra spend the majority of the story holding hands, giving forehead kisses, and spending the night in the same bed (usually cuddling). Without spoiling the story, cause I promise you this book is worth a read, Felix and Ezra's relationship is probably one of my favourites by far of any book, movie, or TV show that I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot.
That's not to say that the book centres on Felix's romantic/platonic relationships. If anything, Felix Ever After is really about one teenager's struggle with identity, family, and acceptance from both the people around him and himself. He finds himself the subject of anonymous (and not so anonymous) transphobic attacks - some from within the LGBTQ+ community - but in the end, these are just roadblocks on his way to finding himself. Felix Ever After does not find itself in the same pattern that so many other queer stories do, showing queer/trans life as just a series of tormented moments that eventually end in despair, but instead shines a light on the hope and joy that can come from being your true self. Focusing on queer/trans/Black trauma has been the trend for far too long and I believe (and dearly hope) that Felix Ever After will usher in a new generation of queer and BIPOC stories that show those who are still figuring it out that there is more to look forward to than suffering. You will dance and laugh and create and most importantly you will thrive.
"Felix Ever After...shines a light on the hope and joy that can come from being your true self."
From the moment that I read the first page to the moment I wiped the happy tears off my cheek as I read the last words, I knew that this one was different. Felix Ever After is a coming-of-age triumph that truly reminds the reader, especially queer, trans, BIPOC, that deserving to be loved is not something that can be revoked. No matter your gender, sexuality, race, religion, or any other part of your identity, you deserve to be loved. Loudly. Openly. And without any hesitation. But Felix also learns another lesson, which I feel is more important than any other explored throughout the novel. I think this particular quote sums the message up quite nicely: "Without that [self-acceptance], we forget ourselves. Crumple under the pain of feeling isolated, unaccepted by others, without realizing that, above all else, we need to love and accept ourselves first." (Callender 2020:275).
Article Written By Emily Hill
(She/Her)
Works Cited:
Callender, K. (2020) Felix ever after. New York City: Balzer + Bray