FELIX EVER AFTER by Kacen Callender
FELIX EVER AFTER by Kacen Callender
PSA: this will be on every single book recommendation list I give from here on out. I loved loved LOVED this book. I read it in less than a day, which is something I’ve never done before.
From the very first page, this book will hook you. I cried and yelled and had tingling in my fingers in the first few chapters. I felt every emotion that you should feel when reading YA (or honestly any book for any age range). Safe to say, this will be making my top 10 reads of the year, probably of all time.
Okay now let me tell you why. This is a coming-of-age love story of a Black trans youth in NYC, at an arts-based summer program. Reading about characters falling in love for the first time is why I always come back to YA, even as an adult. Here, we have that narrative woven around multi-faceted themes of discovery: Felix learning how to love himself, discover his gender identity, his passions, his future, and everything in between.
Felix is a talented artist, using acrylics to create masterful portraits. But when he turns his brush inward, he faces questions that have gone unanswered: why hasn’t he fallen in love? What would it feel like to be in love? Would that vulnerability hurt him, like he has been hurt by his family? Felix also has lingering questions about his gender identity—he knows he is trans, but he hasn’t quite found an identity there within that matches who he is. Over the course of this novel, Felix’s paint brush grows more confident as he finds answers to these questions, resulting in a breathtaking self-portrait on canvas and in his heart.
Kacen’s characters effortlessly discussed everything from college admissions stress, to racism, to intersectional feminism, to bigotry and hate, to love and heartbreak.
While this novel centers around Felix, every character is developed richly: from Ezra, Felix’s best friend, to Marisol, Felix’s ex-girlfriend of two weeks.
Buy this book. Read Felix’s story. Feel the magic within these pages. Then I challenge you to go buy a second copy and donate it to a school or community center near you. Do what you can to get this book into as many hands as possible. I think a book like this can change the world.
FELIX EVER AFTER was equal parts funny and inspiring. Equal parts teaching and comforting. Simply put, it was beautiful and it was PROUD. I cannot recommend it enough.