Summary: 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. (Summary and pic from goodreads.com)
This story is really pertinent right now, and unless you’ve been completely unaware of your surroundings, I’m sure you know people who have different gender identities than the normally accepted cis identity are now speaking out and demanding to have a voice. As you surely know, this is not going as well as might be hoped and the recent political climate is unfriendly to these sorts of voices. So there’s been a lot of conflict, hurt, and misunderstanding. Felix Ever After attempts to help the reader understand what it is like to be someone who is questioning their gender identity, and also face racism and all that comes with that, and I’m telling you, it’s intense. Now I’m not saying that all people who question their gender identity have the same experience. Felix is, indeed, someone who feels loudly and brightly and burns with an intensity that one would expect from a high school senior who is the exceptionally talented hot shot of their private art school in NYC. As is the case with teenagers (and I’m searching my feeble mind for what that was like for me), being a teenager is intense and the feelings are intense and so, therefore, when you live inside their brain for a full day and a half and try to understand them, it’s just…a lot. So, I’m giving that warning and caveat—this book sucks you in. It makes Felix’s hurts your hurts, and I feel like it felt like a very real representation of what a high school senior in this situation may feel like.
My Rating: 4 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment