Felix Ever After

Ezra is Felix’s best friend and, eventually, his romantic interest; he has known that he is in love with Felix since they first met three years prior. Ezra is a stable character who questions himself much less than Felix. Like Felix, Ezra is a queer person of color. Unlike Felix, Ezra is extremely wealthy.

Ezra has a safety net in terms of money, but he does not feel loved unconditionally by his parents. He has little parental oversight, living alone in an apartment they pay for. This leads to Ezra’s primary anxiety, which is wondering if he is on the right path in life. His parents had a specific, corporate vision of Ezra’s life, and now that he is not on that path, his parents are uninterested in him, leaving Ezra to figure things out on his own.

Ezra is motivated by his love for Felix, perpetually validating and supporting him. As Felix is misgendered by his father, bullied by a troll, and plagued by self-doubt, Ezra validates Felix’s feelings and provides a level-headed point of view to help Felix process these experiences.

Declan is introduced as an antagonist, but as the narrative progresses, he proves to be a dynamic character and a potential romantic interest for Felix. He is a talented artist and a popular and outspoken student at St. Cat’s. When Felix started at St. Cat’s, Declan and Ezra dated, and the three of them were best friends. From Felix’s perspective, Declan abruptly broke up with Ezra and then started to ignore and bully them; in actuality, Declan broke up Ezra because he knew Ezra was in love with Felix and did not want to get his heart broken. Declan and Felix are competing for the same scholarship at Brown, which is another source of tension in their relationship.

However, as the two get to know one another better under the cover of anonymity, Declan’s character gains more nuance. Although nobody else knows it, Declan’s father kicked him out and cut him off financially for being gay. Like Felix, Declan has familial trouble and wants to fall in love, but he fears heartbreak. Both characters are motivated by the desire to love and be loved unconditionally. Unliked Felix, Declan deals with his insecurities by having superficial friendships and acting superior to others.

Austin is white, cisgendered, and gay. He is motivated by his desire to date Ezra. For most of the book, Austin is a peripheral character whom Felix finds annoying and unlikeable, but they are forced to hang out because Austin is dating Ezra. Once it is discovered that Austin is the troll behind the gallery wall and the hateful messages, he becomes the real antagonist, showing his true transphobic colors. He does these things because he is jealous of Felix’s relationship with Ezra and believes that by reminding Ezra that Felix was not born a biological man, Ezra will fall out of love with him. Austin feels like his identity as a gay man is threatened by Felix and trans folks in general.

Leah is a positive character, always sticking up for the underdog and attempting to spread happiness. For example, she hacks into people’s phones to leave them positive affirmations. At the beginning of the book, Leah and Felix are merely acquaintances, but when he asks if she knows who his troll is, she becomes an active ally and friend, hacking people’s phones to find the troll. She eloquently explains to both Austin and Marisol why their actions were violent and transphobic, and then sticks by Felix’s side. By the end of the book, Leah is Felix’s best friend aside from Ezra and an important part of his journey toward accepting real, unconditional love.