Felix Ever After was every bit the feel-good, optimistic story I expected it to be and I wish I had read it when I was younger.

It follows the complicated life of seventeen-year-old Felix Love. Having to face the daily challenges of being black, queer and transgender means that Felix has a guarded personality, hinging on fear. He believes that he is unlovable and struggles to socialize with others.

This is only made worse when an anonymous person who also attends his summer school program begins making transphobic taunts over social media and even an outright attack. As well as this, Felix also grapples with questions surrounding defining his identity and finding true love.

Felix Ever After felt like a very familiar young adult coming out story. It follows a similar methodology common to most books of the genre, whereby the hero is presented with a conflict and in trying to overcome it, he severs important friendships only to realise that true love was there all along.

But judging this book independent of all the clichés, it was a deeply affecting and sensitive read. It speaks to mainly queer people of colour whose experience with feelings of fear, dysphoria, imposter syndrome and self-deprecation often leave them more vulnerable than most.

The stripped back narrative made this book a quick and easy read as most of the plot was revealed through the dialogue and therefore didn't require much fleshing out. I thought this style of storytelling was executed well, though events became more and more predictable as we got closer to the end.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Felix Ever After and would definitely recommend it. It was an uplifting own voices novel with an equally optimistic message.