"Ophelia After All" is such a standout in the YA genre and has such a promising future for Racquel Marie. Opehelia stands out in its nontraditional romance which I personally loved and she is a character so many readers will be able to relate to. The audiobook makes it feel even more flowery and beautiful. This is such a hidden gem in the genre and I hope more people discover its beauty soon.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

I've really been fluctuating with contemporary lately, more interested in adult than YA, but this book reminded me of why I loved YA contemporary when I was younger. I know this would've been a 5 star had I read it in 2016, and if I'm honest, it was close now - probably a 4.5/4.75. (I'm very picky with what gets my 5 stars now!)

Ophelia felt REAL. Usually "boy crazy" characters don't resonate with me, as someone who is likely somewhere under the ace umbrella. Maybe I've done more growth and just understand it better now, that it is a true experience people have and just because I've never really felt a crush the way book characters do it doesn't make it unrealistic. Regardless, I really enjoyed this and the writing style.

As a bisexual woman who often spent time with a queer friend group, this book hit home in a way I was not expecting it to. Reading this made me feel like a teenager again, reading John Green for the first time and enjoying the complex high school friend groups that the book revolved around. Racquel Marie truly captured the experience of coming to terms with bisexuality expertly, in ways that differed from my own experience but rang true.

I will always recommend this to lovers of YA of any sort.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 4.5, this turned out to be a very cute read! would recommend for sure, great YA book.

cute inspiring and got exactly what i expected out of it!

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

4.5 stars rounded to 5 stars :)

This was a really good read. Sweet, queer, even wholesome. I love that it encompasses so many queer identities (queer, bi, pan, ace, etc.) especially for younger people who are still trying to figure themselves out.

I would have appreciated a little more story development between Ophelia & Talia, but their story was still believable and fit the high school senior mold.

I would likely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA or queer fiction.


(ALC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you!)

This book was so good. I loved how the cast of characters were so diverse. Ophelia just had my heart. She is learning about herself and just trying to understand how she feels and who she is. Who hasn't been there? Her group of friends are so supportive. I cannot wait to read more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a good read about coming to terms with your sexuality and the blend of culture and sexuality.
Ophelia is a relatable character going through high school issues

Ophelia After All is an honest look into the journey of finding yourself and all the missteps that happen on the way. Ophelia is a great story that is balanced and has great depth. Ophelia as a protagonist is honest, real, and raw in how she is portrayed. The plot is steady and compelling, keeping the reader engaged till the last page. The narrator was clear and filled with emotion. They also changed their voice enough to distinguish between characters

I loved this story. I really hate it when books are called a "coming of age" story, but that's exactly what this one is. When multi-racial, boy crazy Ophelia finds herself crushing on a girl for the first time, she finds herself in uncharted waters and insecure about what her position is now within her friend groups. She learns to open her heart to new, unexpected friendships and perceptions of herself, who she is, and what she's capable of.

The pain of Ophelia's insecurities and uncertainty felt so genuine and I remember how difficult teen years can be, especially when you don't know enough about what you need to know to even ask the right questions or know who to ask. This one tugged on all my heartstrings. The diversity within the characters is exactly what teens today expect to see in their literature. Fantastic story!

The audio narration was perfect.

Every year, there are a couple of very hyped books that I am therefore worried to read because I'm afraid the hype is too much and I'll be disappointed.
This was one of those very hyped books, but let me reassure you, I was definitely not disappointed by this book!
This book about Ophelia, who thinks she knows who she is – boy-crazy, flower obsessed, Ophelia – until she suddenly grows closer with Talia, and isn’t sure how to process the fact that she might be, possibly, falling for a girl this time.
Ophelia such a relatable character. From the little things that I remembered doing in school, to her overarching theme throughout the book of having to accept that you aren’t set in stone as a teenager, that you have so much more life left to live and you will probably change and that’s okay.
I don’t usually read books that can firmly be put in the “questioning representation” category, and so for my first book, I loved it! Coming out to yourself isn’t a straight line, and this book definitely shows that. And speaking of “Q” words, I loved that the word “queer” is discussed, and Ophelia has a tiny little arc with her thoughts on queer as a label.
The friend group is one of the best I've read in a YA contemporary in a long time. I want more of them all. Like, you know how capital-R Romance books follow a whole group of friends/family? I want that kind of series with Ophelia. They don't have to be romance books, as Ophelia's isn't, I just want to experience this friend group more. Wes was my favorite, providing us with the true "it's always the quiet ones" representation I didn't know I was craving!
I do recommend the audiobook for all fans of audiobooks! There were points where I was confused by who was speaking or whether it was dialogue or inner thoughts, but overall the narrator did a great job!
I rated this book 4.5 stars! This was an amazing debut! If you don’t yet have this book on your TBR and enjoy queer YA, then fix that right now!

Ophelia navigates high-school heartache and the bittersweet feeling of graduation approaching. All while struggling to fit herself into the same boxes she always thought she belonged in. Suddenly, she’s not so sure who she is anymore if she’s not boy-crazy Ophelia.

This book owns my heart. It is effortlessly diverse in so many beautiful ways, it’s funny and soft but most importantly it made me feel seen and represented on so many levels. I dearly appreciate how Racquel Marie captures that specific high-school experience of being a questioning queer teenager. I saw so much of myself in Ophelia, I too have looked at girls with gay panic I didn’t know how to label then. Most importantly, Marie treats these experiences with such care, nuance, and an utter softness that makes Ophelia After All feel like a hug for queer teens.

To me, Ophelia After All fills a gap in my heart I didn’t know I even had. I didn’t have a lot of queer friends as a teen (or at least none of us had grown into our queerness yet) and even less queer rep in media. So to get to read a book that makes up for all of that now, as a proudly queer adult? That’s magical. My heart is so happy for all the queer and questioning kids out there who can see themselves in these characters now. I hope your journey is easier for it.

I love how this book treats all the identities of its characters with nuance and ease. Their individual struggles and intersectional identities are given the space and depth they deserve even though their stories aren’t the main focus. Racquel Marie manages to impart the knowledge that there is nothing to be ashamed of, that queer existence is beautiful and worthy of celebration with such care and softness. I am honestly crying just thinking about it. As a white reader, I can’t speak to any of the other identities and cultures represented in this book, but I loved how those experiences shaped the characters and the story. Again, Marie treats these intersectionalities with respect and care. All of the characters feel complex and nuanced and like their own people, not just sidekicks with plot purposes. The story treats them as equally complex as Ophelia and I think this goes a long way to allow readers to identify with them.

Additionally, all of these characters form such a good high school friend group and found family situation. and I love all of them to pieces. A special shout-out goes to my ace buddy Wes, teenage me would’ve been absolutely ecstatic to know you!

All of these elements are elevated by Maria Liatis and her wonderful narration. The softness that is present in Marie’s writing translates perfectly into a performance full of heart. We feel with Ophelia as she navigates the struggles of growing into herself. To me, a truly great audiobook performance transports me into the world of the characters and Maria Liatis achieves this with stunning ease.

Overall, Ophelia After All is an effortlessly diverse coming-of age story about identity, friendship, and growing into ourselves. Whenever we invent time travel, this book is coming back with me so teenage me can feel less alone.

This story follows Ophelia in her last few weeks of high school struggling to understand her crushes, identity and sexuality. The story follows Ophelia and her friend group as they figure out who’s going to prom with whom and who likes who it’s a very small scale story but has lots of teenage angst and drama and really delves into different types of sexuality and identity.
I enjoyed this book but it was not for me. I am usually a fan of ya fantasy or thrillers where the plot is the main focus. This book was definitely more of a slow character focused drama but I think it would be a great book for the right audience. This book would be great for anyone struggling with their sexuality or trying to understand sexuality in general this book at great rep for bi sexual ,asexual and pansexual. For me personally I could have done without the prom drama I think it was different when I was in high school and not as big of a deal with the promposals so that was a little hard to relate to. I did listen to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator she kept me interested and engaged. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

It was interesting but I wasn't able to finish the audiobook. I'll probably switch to the book and finish it.

As a half-Cuban lesbian, I was super pumped to read this one. When I read that Talia was Puerto Rican (like myself), I was over the moon. I was listening to the audiobook and reading along with my Kindle when two things happened that immediately affected my appreciation for this book:

The first was that the narrator mispronounced alcapurria as alcapurría (even though the word has no accent in the printed book).

The second was that, in that same scene Ophelia introduces Talia to the main character's favorite Cuban comfort food: papas rellenas. Talia decides to order it after Ophelia raves about them. The problem is that in Puerto Rico we have papas rellenas, we just call them rellenos de papas.

You might think this is much ado about nothing, but readers like myself are excited about seeing our own cultures represented in text, and it is annoying when authors make these kinds of mistake that take away from the authenticity we seek from texts written not just by fellow Latinx authors, but from fellow Caribbean authors. Couldn't the author (or the editor) have run this past a Puerto Rican reader?

(Another annoying moment in the audiobook experience is that there is an important conversation between Ophelia and her Cuban father where the father has a very distinct Argentinian accent.)

The story itself is okay. I was expecting a love story, but the book was more about Ophelia accepting parts of herself that she had chosen to ignore and becoming frustrated as she realizes how her family and friends see her. My disappointment doesn't lie in the fact that Ophelia doesn't get the girl, but in the fact that the plot of the book and the characters' conversations center too much around vapid, prom-related things.

I do appreciate that the author included a lot of LQBTQIAP rep, but it was not enough to make me like the book.

Unfortunately this was archived before I could complete and therefore I am unable to give a comprehensive view. However, what I read was enjoyable and a very positive novel.

I would like to now purchase this and, for that reason, I will give 3 stars.

I really wanted to like this one, but it wasn't for me. I started it but just couldn't get into the story. But I can definitely see others really enjoying this one.

From the realistic friend group and their drama to Ophelia’s relatable struggles of figuring out who she is and what defines her, I loved every second of Ophelia After All. The characters were flawed but very lovable, and I really enjoyed the dynamics of the friend group. There’s a lot of banter, unrequited crushes and both old and new friendships. Seeing the cast of characters interact with each other was a lot of fun. I loved that Ophelia’s friends were such a big part of the story and really enjoyed how their relationships with each other were developed. I also appreciated how diverse the cast of characters is (almost all of them are BIPOC and/or LGBTQIAP+).
Ophelia After All is not a romance and I loved that it’s a coming out story that doesn’t focus on the main character getting together with their love interest but instead on their journey of self-discovery. Ophelia’s struggles of figuring out her sexuality and who she really is were very relatable. I also really enjoyed her passion for roses and how the flower was a theme throughout the entire book.

A heartwarming coming-of-age story about friendship and family, the ups and downs of discovering new things about yourself and the bravery it takes to show the world who you are.
Ophelia After All is my favorite book of the year and I can’t wait to read everything Racquel Marie writes in the future.

Ophelia After All was the March Diversify Your Shelves book club pick.

As soon as I finished the book I posted: "i'm okay i was listening to the audiobook and it only made me cry a little bit on the bus and on the walk from the bus stop home" and I stand by it. This is one of my favorite books I've ever read, I loved it so much. It was so good, and while I expected to love it (it was one of my most anticipated books of this year) - it somehow managed to exceed that even.

Ophelia After All is a book about Ophelia Rojas - she is Cuban-Irish, she is finishing high school, she takes care of her roses, she crushes on boys, and seemingly everything is figured out. She has lovely parents, who she tells everything to, she has great friends she loves. It seems like absolutely nothing can go wrong, right until absolutely everything does. She finds herself getting closer and closer to Talia Sanchez, and suddenly everything that made perfect sense doesn't anymore.

There were so many things this book managed to cover and it did so amazingly. There were so many things I absolutely loved about this book. This book is definitely character-driven, and I love how all of the characters were written, they seemed very real and they were multi-faceted and complex. Most of the characters are Ophelia's friends, they're teenagers, graduating high school, and I loved how this book let all of them be messy and less than perfect. The way characters were written made it so easy to emphasize with them even when they're doing everything wrong and making mistakes.

Ophelia especially, as the main character, was absolutely lovely to follow. She and her friends are all going through changes, they are going through something and this book did a great job of showing that you don't have to have everything figured out. That it's okay you don't know where you're going, and most importantly, that you're allowed to change. Ophelia's numerous crushes on boys, got everyone calling her "boy-crazy", and while she was trying to figure out her sexuality, it seemed like that label was holding her back, like she had to satisfy everyone's expectations rather than her own. I loved seeing her work through that and figure out what she wants. I think that this book does a great of describing a "sexuality crisis" and just how confusing and messy it can get.

A significant part of this book is also in her heritage and identity that comes with it, and her feeling of not being "enough" one or the other. It is not my place to comment on this in terms of if it's good or bad but I enjoyed reading about it. This book definitely is very diverse in characters, with Ophelia's friends coming from all kinds of backgrounds.
I also loved Ophelia's parents and her relationship with them. While issues arise throughout the story, their relationships are so lovely and bring so much warmth. They are all complicated in their own ways, and some of the things they do make it harder for Ophelia to figure herself out, but they love her unconditionally and they work to understand her.

As I already mentioned, I loved Ophelia's friend group, and in general how their high-school experience was presented. I do not live in the US, so I can't comment on how accurate it was but I felt more honest and real than high school sometimes appears in the media.
I enjoyed the writing, and how real and raw both the dialogues and the internal thoughts of the characters were. I loved seeing how they worked through their issues, how they talked and interacted with each other. While the story is mostly focused on Ophelia figuring out her sexuality, it gives so much more. It gives family, both found family and blood family, lovely friendships, platonic and romantic. It gives talks of identity, both in terms of cultural heritage and sexuality. It gives characters growing and becoming better versions of themselves as they figure stuff out.

If it wasn't clear enough by now, I would absolutely recommend this book with all my heart. It made me so emotional and I cried more than once listening to the audiobook (in public). If that doesn't tell you how much I loved it, I don't know what will.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.