'So This Is Ever After' by F.T. Lukens is a heartwarming fantasy romance novel that follows a group of diverse characters navigating life after completing a quest. The book is praised for its adorable and fun storyline, filled with magic, self-love, and growth. The characters, including queer individuals, are well-developed and relatable, making the readers fall in love with them. The writing style is described as humorous and sarcastic, adding a layer of charm to the narrative. The story starts at the end of the quest, exploring how the characters find their happily ever after in a world that has drastically changed.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include discussions of sexual themes and some mild humor related to sexuality that may not be suitable for younger teens.
Has Romance?
There is a strong romantic element throughout the story as it focuses on the main character's love for his best friend and the ensuing romantic complexities.
From The Publisher:
An instant New York Time bestseller!
Carry On meets Arthurian legend in this subversive, "delightfully original and whimsical" ( Kirkus Reviews ) young adult fantasy about what happens after the chosen one wins the kingdom and has to get married to keep it…and to stay alive.
Arek hadn't thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he's finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out magical swords yanked from bogs don't come pre-sharpened), he and his rag-tag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next.
As a temporary safeguard, Arek's best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except that she's dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a spouse by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing.
With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life-starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong…until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along.
Ratings (29)
Incredible (4) | |
Loved It (11) | |
Liked It (6) | |
It Was OK (3) | |
Did Not Like (4) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (66):
Read It (28) | |
Want To Read (34) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (3) |
2 comment(s)
Overall: 4.6 (always rounding up for the author)
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"So This is Ever After" is a 300+ page epilogue about what happens after the Chosen One fulfills the prophecy. Arek is a fantastic Chosen One with a believable amount of dumbassery to make him relatable. He makes competent decisions, has understandable reactions to the trauma he suffered before the book starts, and makes plenty of bad calls to remind us that even Chosen Ones are human too. The people he surrounds himself with (a party of five additional adventurers) are equally well fleshed out. Matt, in particular, is the mage in the party. He and Arek have the longest relationship being childhood friends and, as such, is given a great deal of page time to be brave, scared, clever, and obliviously dumb. When the five finish the prophecy and temporarily place Arek on the throne, the idea of a happily ever after goes immediately sideways and the antics of trying to get it back on track make up the majority of the plot points following.
Without going into detail and risking spoilers, the book handles a lot of tropes in a unique way. Never have I seen found family done quite so well and realistically, with all the struggles of clashing personalities and how quests get in the way of natural self disclosure. Trauma is acknowledged and addressed. Mistakes are made that hurt the feelings of others, and characters face the fact that ends do not justify the means. Lukens writes a romantic comedy style story but weaves in deep topics and a depth of emotion that stands out in a shelf of books.
My singular, solitary complaint is the heavy use of miscommunication as a plot device. Just past the point of suspension of disbelief. The characters and worldbuilding are outstanding enough to make me look past the choice, and some may very well see the use of that trope as a draw rather than a setback, but my own preference would have been less miscommunication keeping the characters apart. That being said, Arek is quickly and competently set up as a somewhat unreliable narrator. What I see as beyond the suspension of disbelief may be completely within reason for another reader.
"So This is Ever After" was an absolute treat to finish out the year with. I look forward to reading more from this author in the coming 2023.
A fine LGBTQ book, I thought the writing was a bit dry/too informal/too young for my tastes especially since the world is set in a medieval fantasy setting. I didn't really care about the characters much because the pining wasn't very strong. Where was the longing and the pizzazz??
I thought all the characters were pretty flat, but I did like the plot points that fell into romance fantasy tropes like being locked in a room, being taught a skill that needs close physical proximity, truth telling love powder and so on! It was a fun set of hijinks
What can you read after
So This Is Ever After?
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