Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time around two YA titles that both ended up being solid reads.

Title: Felix Ever After
Author: Kacen Callender
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
First published: May 5th 2020
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Finished reading: October 3rd 2023
Pages: 362

“It’s easier to accept hurt and pain, sometimes, than love and acceptance.”


REVIEW

I’ve been meaning to read Felix Ever After for quite some time now… When I needed a banned book for the POPSUGAR challenge, I decided to give in and finally read it. I know that I don’t read a lot of YA anymore, but I would recommend this book for both teenagers and adults alike. The topic is such an important one, and it’s an own voices story at that; there is no doubt that Felix Ever After has a big impact, and it really is an eye-opener. That said, I do have to say that there were certain aspects about the main character Felix that I didn’t like as much. I get his struggles and they are both portrayed realistically and basically heartbreaking. BUT. He is also pretty selfish and vindictive, and the fact that others are hurting him is no excuse to do the same. I can’t say that I was a fan of the whole love triangle vibe either, which kind of put a damper on things for me… In fact, I wasn’t really a fan of the romance nor how it was developed and incorporated in general. I’m still giving this story four stars though just for its impact and how it can help people discover their identity and tribe.

Title: Letters To The Lost
(Letters To The Lost #1)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
First published: April 4th 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Finished reading: October 22nd 2023
Pages: 400

“One day isn’t your whole life. A day is just a day.”


REVIEW

I’ve had Letters To The Lost on my TBR for years now, and even though I’ve enjoyed her writing in the past somehow I never actually picked it up. I guess my TBR jar thought it was time to change that… Not that I’m complaining, because I ended up having a great time reading this YA contemporary. Sure, it took me a bit longer than expected to warm up to this story and especially to one of the main characters (Juliet), but once I did things improved drastically. I do confess that I liked Declan a lot more than Juliet, and especially the bond between Rev and Declan. There was also a lot less focus on the romance than expected, which I personally didn’t mind too much. Instead, Letters To The Lost is mainly about grief and trying to move on after the death of a loved one, and it includes other serious topics like (child)abuse, alcoholism, bullying and suicide. As a result, this story was a lot darker than expected, but there were some brighter moments and I especially liked the anonymous interactions between The Dark and Cemetery Girl. The emails gave the characters so much more dept, and it added a little something extra to the story. I do have to say that it was quite obvious that Declan was behind The Dark, but that might just have been me… The change in Declan’s home situation was also a bit too abrupt to be completely credible, but I still liked how everything else was wrapped up in the end.

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