okay, I love a good coming-of-age queer read, but this might be my favorite one ever. It's heartfelt and so tender; it just really touched my heart. These are the kind of books that I wish existed when I was in high school.

this was a really cute, sweet read! It took me a little while to get into it, but I ended up really enjoying it by the first quarter and was hooked by the end!

If you want a cute contemporary read that covers some deeper issues, this is a great choice.

ophelia is a high school senior with a great group of friends and a series of crushes. she’s been boy crazy for as long as she remembers, grows roses, wears floral clothing, and plans to go to college for botany.

her current crush is her best friend sammy, who has always loved their other friend lindsey (as johnny of bachelor in paradise would say, it’s geometry beach- love triangles and quadrangles and pentagons). a new group of friends enters their lives- thalia, wesley and zach. ophelia starts to notice thalia in the way she normally notices her crushes, and after spending more time with thalia, she feels more for her than a friend but still can’t figure out what that means about herself.

this was a gorgeous portrayal of a teenager coming of age, exploring her identity, friendships, interests, and the things that she had always assumed to be true about herself. i loved that this story didn’t require a happily ever after in love in order for the friends to find a way forward happily in their lives, which is *chefs kiss* because we all know that graduating high school is not the end of life 💖

i liked the exploration of queerness which featured queer characters from across the spectrum as well as the diversity in the story. i also have never read about a cuban-american MC, so that was unique, although i can’t speak on the quality of the representation.

but i don’t know if this is just me growing out of YA or what but i was mostly bored by this book. it was basically all friend group drama about prom (who’s going with who. literally if i had to describe the middle of this book that was pretty much it) with very little plot which did not work for me. i didn’t feel connected to any of the characters and mostly skimmed the end. i don’t really know why i continued other than to finish a book to add to my GR goal lol. i would’ve probably DNFed otherwise because it didn’t feel like it was building to anything.

i was really looking forward to this one, but i’m feeling pretty disappointed :( i’m probably in the minority though!! if this book interests you, do go pick it up and support a debut queer author!

Absolutely outstanding debut from Racquel Marie. Such a perfect portrait of what it means to be a disaster queer! Not everyone knows right away how they identify or how they want to portray themselves to the world, and Ophelia’s anxieties were relatable and raw. Ophelia’s quirks were endearing and cute—I am obsessed with the way her love for flowers was intertwined the whole book.

Excuse me but this was perfect?????? It was so beautifully written and I couldn't have dreamt up a better ending for Ophelia if I tried. Racquel Marie has an absolute gift and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life reading more queer stories from her. This is a must read!!

CW: homophobia

Yes, Ophelia Rojas is named Ophelia because her mother has a love for Shakespeare’s strong female characters. But Ophelia Rojas is the author of her own story. Ophelia shares a strong affinity for flowers with the other Ophelia and also like the other Ophelia, is misunderstood. Ophelia’s friends are a diverse, creative group (each one worthy of their own story) and although they know her as the boy-crazy member of the group, they are supportive when she explores her queer identity. Perfect for teens in late middle school and above, Ophelia After All is a must for libraries and readers wanting a queer love story that develops as the character learns about herself. The book includes characters who identify as ACE, pan, and biromantic and are from a variety of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Ophelia After All is a beautiful book exploring identity and all types of relationships in life, including romantic, platonic, familial, and relationship with self.

It follows Ophelia Rojas, who is known amongst her friends and family for two things, her beautiful roses and being absolutely "boy-crazy". However as she starts to develop a friendship with the quiet girl in class, Thalia, she begins to question all that she knows about herself and what that means for the expectations her friends and parents have for her.

What I loved about this book was that exploration of identity. As Ophelia tries to deal with the changes in her life, she is forced to adjust her people pleasing tendencies in order to live as her authentic self instead of how she things everyone wants her to be. The story really did a wonderful job of showing us Ophelia's internal struggle and confusion and all the emotions that come with these changes she is experiencing

I also appreciated that it showed the importance of finding acceptance in community. I did find myself getting frustrated with Ophelia's friends at times and I do wish they were slightly more developed, as they did feel fairly surface level at times, however I did like that it did authentically show the way friendships grow and change with time and age.

Overall, I really enjoyed this very genuine queer coming of age story.

Another unfortunate victim of my YA and general book slump, I found Ophelia After All a fine enough read for the YA category but was unable to get past the first 30%. Should definitely appeal to the flower/garden girls who enjoy YA stories.

Lovely book! Ophelia is a strong leading lady who adds so much flavour to the plot with her personality. I loved the theme of the story and the general message emphasised through it.

Ophelia After All is now one of go to recommendations. So yea l loved it!
I've been craving a book where BIPOC fox just get to be messy and live and there's drama and there's a friend group all over the place. Because growing up I loved those YA books but they typically' didn't have BIPOC characters or stories
.
Ophelia is a girl who has a lot of crushes and wears her heart on her sleeves. But for the first time she's developing a massive crush on a girl and she doesn't know what to do or what to say. So her perfect answer becomes to merge her friend group and her crushes friend group, cause nothing could go wrong. Lies! There are love triangles, love squares, secret crushes, secret kisses, and just wonderful young relationship chaos in the best ways possible. Ophelia After All is full of Latine representation so much queer representation and love, a BIPOC
friend group, and it's a story about living, growing, and figuring it out. There is bi, pan, ace, aro, and questioning representation and inclusion that is thoughtful, and never feels like a checkbox.

Honestly, as a debut this isn't bad. I think there was a lot that was missing in Ophelia's arc that I wish the author had taken more time writing out; focusing on those aspects over the friendship group drama would've improved the whole story.

Probably my favorite read of 2022. I will not stop recommending this book ever. As a Latina, I couldn't help but relate to this book. Representation is so important and Raquel Marie did such a good job at portraying such a lovable character and such a strong story.

I enjoyed the ensemble cast but didn't connect with Ophelia at first. I felt like some of the concerns she was raising were not concerns that teens are aware of. As the store progressed, I enjoyed it more and more and Ophelia started to feel more like a teenager. I really liked the ending of the book and felt like the plot was well developed. The beginning was rough, but the end made it worth it.

There’s a teen girl in the mid 00s who really needed this book. A great addition to a YA collection. Loved it

I loved this honest and raw story of how teenaged Ophelia navigates her sexuality, as someone who is not straight but also not sure how to label her experience.. This book is so needed for all youth to understand that they don’t need to have it all figured out, and that they can take all the time they need to grow into who they are.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me access to an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I wish I hadn't procrastinated in reading this ARC. Life got away from me, and here I am almost four months late reviewing this wonderful WONDERFUL YA novel.

This novel could have easily leaned on the "I'm 17 and about to graduate from high school and I don't know who I am!" tropes of so many other novels, but it really took that trope and turned it on its head. Ophelia thinks she knows exactly who she is - slightly boy-crazy, hopeless romantic, gardening obsessed, Cuban-American teenager who is going to major in botany in college. When a chance interaction with a girl in an offshoot of their friend group flips everything she thinks she knows about herself on her head, Ophelia has to dig deep and figure herself out.

Ophelia's turn inward was so true to life for a teenager, particularly a queer teenager, who isn't sure what's going on or who they can talk to. Her whole discovery plot line is very grounded in reality, with heartbreak, hurt feelings, and introspection along the way. Throughout, she has several deep conversations with other characters about the queer identity and the stigmas surrounding different sexuality labels. These conversations (for example, bisexuality being 'erased' if the person is in a relationship that presents heterosexual) are faced head on, but with a lot of care.

The teenager-teenager dynamic is so real throughout, and so is Ophelia's relationships with her parents. The fact that she turns to her dad in these moments and has deep conversations with him first is uncommon, but so welcome. Her fear of disappointing her parents (her mom in particular) feels very grounded in reality and relatable.

I loved this book start to finish. Between the cultural representations and the queer representations it could not be a better book to have out there for the YA (and adult!) audience.

A heartwarming and poignant coming of age story that was fun but also deftly taps on some more serious themes. Ophelia’s struggle with who she always thought she was, who she has become to her very close family and group of friends — a boy crazy, constantly falling in love with the next cute guy that could come out of a TV show, with the feelings that continue to percolate and push to surface and be acknowledged, that kiss she can’t forget and the girl who always catches her eye, was all the angsty teen drama and real life struggle I was looking for.

It was great to see the touches of Hispanic culture weaved in throughout, especially how coming out in that community can feel. The friendship dynamics was also helpful in adding in more of that teen drama that we all know and love. Everything always feels much bigger and consuming, but also there are friendships we have during this time in life that really do leave a mark on your life and and become lifelong family and friends.

How Ophelia confronts her own prejudices and envy, even with her friends was refreshing and made her feel relatable. What I didn’t love as much is that this felt a bit slow to start and the pacing wasn’t always there. At times, even though this book is short, it felt much much longer as I was waiting for something to happen, whether it be an interaction with Talia or just Ophelia taking more action of her internal strife. Overall, a fun read I couldn’t put down.

THIS BOOK!!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! 100% A NEW FAVORITE! Ophelia After All is a standout among a plethora of YA novels — with vivid characters, a realistic questioning-your-sexuality storyline, and powerful, necessary conversations, this book is a joy from start to finish.

This novel follows 17 year old Ophelia, who is known for her love of roses and "boy-crazy" tendencies. With a long list of crushes on boys, Ophelia is a hopeless romantic who has to navigate the world of questioning her sexuality when she starts to develop a crush on a new female friend. In addition to friendship drama, family tensions, and straying from the Ophelia everyone knows her as, Ophelia struggles to come to terms with how much things are changing. It expresses the whole experience of a sexuality crisis in such a realistic way — as something that is non-linear, really scary, isolating, but also beautiful that can breed community. While romance is a part of this book, it isn't the end-all-be-all because the novel really focuses on Ophelia and her journey towards self acceptance.

The cast of characters in this novel all feel very fleshed out and are super lovable. Ophelia's friend group is messy and realistic, dealing with issues that a lot of teenagers can relate to (the struggle of having friends you may drop when you leave for college, the awkwardness of bringing new friends into the group, the different allegiances that form, etc). My personal favorites were Agatha, Wesley, and Zaq, but the whole cast is really well established and easy to differentiate from one another. I also loved how generally supportive everyone was, even when they were struggling with their own issues. There is so much love that goes around in this novel, and seeing happy, accepting yet realistic queer stories is something sorely needed in media.

Another thing I absolutely LOVED about this book is the diversity of racial and ethnic representations. Ophelia is Cuban-American, and she struggles a lot with feeling caught in the middle with her identity. Her friends can empathize, with characters with a range of diverse backgrounds who offer new perspectives that are often underrepresented in literature. I also loved the range of sexualities, with characters who openly identify as asexual biromantic (!!), aromantic, bisexual, pansexual, unlabeled, etc. The whole "one friend comes out and everyone else does too" trend happens here, which is just so realistic. I also loved how there were deep, necessary conversations about the difficulties of being queer and the stigmas some sexualities face. The discussions about asexuality being a result "of not meeting the right person yet" or bisexuality being erased if one is dating someone of the opposite gender are handled head-on yet with care, and I really loved every aspect of the queer experience explored in this book.

Words cannot really describe how much I love this book. I can't express how important this book is for younger (and older) audiences, whether you are queer or not. It was painfully relatable and authentic, and I would make the stretch to say this is one of the best — and the most important — YA books recently. It is a must read!

One of my favorite books of the year! Loved all of the representation in Hispanic culture and the LGBT+ community. Reminded me a lot of Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda and Felix Ever After. A really beautiful coming of age story.