CWs: Homophobia, racism

This is a beautiful coming of age queer story about a romantic girl discovering herself.

Ophelia is a complex and compelling protagonist who I really enjoyed following.

There was also a side character who discovers she might be aromantic and I will CLING to any aro rep I get with both hands. This was handled so well and I loved to see it.

Overall this book was a beautiful queer YA story about community, identity and finding yourself and I recommend picking it up!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been wanting to read “Ophelia After All” since I saw Raquel Marie’s book announcement on Twitter over a year ago. Even after a year of waiting and building it up in my head, this book still exceeded my expectations.

The way this book talks about sexuality and gender identity transparently is so important for a young adult novel. The characters were gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, aromantic, and queer. Seeing these identities represented in an authentic way was so moving for me. Ophelia’s journey of accepting her sexuality was empowering, and the novel explored how heteronormativity is harmful to so many people, especially teenagers who are still figuring out their identities. I am in love with how authentically Marie portrayed a queer experience. I feel validated and forgiven and loved because of this book.

I thought I had fallen out of love with YA contemporaries, outgrown the high school scene and all that, but then this book came along and I can't say a single bad thing about it. It was perfect.

This is a story about friendship, about figuring out who you are, about coming to terms with the fact that who you are is constantly changing and you don't owe consistency to anyone. It handles sexuality, race and identity with such care that you feel seen no matter how you identify as. It's the kind of book that any struggling teenager should read. It's the kind of book that could mean the world to someone and change their life.

Also, I highly highly highly recommend the audiobook. The narration adds so much to the story and makes you connect with the characters all the more.

Rating: 4.5
I really liked this book. I liked the main character and I appreciated that all the friendships and teenage drama felt realistic.

Hello to one of the best books I've read.

This is practically a love letter to Ophelia After All and to Racquel Marie. This is everything I want in a book, especially in a young adult book. From the start it was immediate I'd enjoy this.

Every character had a present voice. The friend group is diverse and realistic, and so much fun. I actually found myself laughing a few times wishing I could've had this friend group when I was in high school. Even the characters you get angry at you still kind of love. (I especially adored Wesly.) The structure of the friend group was handled so well, dealing with the hierarchy. secrets and jealousy.

Our main character is "love crazy" Ophelia. Her growth throughout this is incredible. Ophelia reminded me of myself so many times. Her rollercoaster of discovery has to be one of the best I've read. Not only is it honest but so different than what I've read more (as of coming out stories.) You're learning as she's learning, you're feeling as she feels. You're also looking at this through the years of a Cuban-American girl. Though race isn't a huge topic, it's brought up a few times and handled well, in my opinion. I personally love hearing about her culture, her connection, and/or lack thereof.

But as much as this is about friendships and self-discovery, it's also about expectations and reality and change. The fear of change happening around you as well as the change inside. Both are frightening and Marie captures that perfectly. I cannot applaud the writing more. I was in Ophelia's head. I was in the lunchroom with them discussing prom. I was tearing up, I was clutching <i> my pearls </i> - one of my favorite reading experiences.

About the audiobook:

Give Maria Liatis her flowers! Her voice was perfect for Ophelia. Soothing, easy to listen to. I was impressed with the way she handled voicing the male characters (as sometimes I feel they give them a goofy voice I can't take seriously.) Liatis lends a lot of vulnerability to everyone and even some venom when needed. I'll definitely keep her in my radar when searching for other audiobooks.

Ophelia After All is a beautiful, authentic insight into sexuality and discovery all while being in high school. Somehow remaining familiar while subverting so many tropes, Marie manages to create a classic- yes, I'm calling it now. This will be a classic in queer literature.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Ophelia After All is a sweet coming of age story of a young woman discovering her queerness.

High school senior Ophelia is known for two things: her beautiful rose garden and always having a crush on a boy. So... what happens when it's a girl on her mind? Author Racquel Marie wrote with care about how it might feel to reconsider not just your reputation, but what you thought you knew about yourself. And how scary that can feel.

In general, this is a "big feelings" book. It brought me right back to how monumental things felt as a teen, like tensions in friend group dynamics. But this also is a really sweet and affirming YA novel. Rest assured, there's a happy ending.

Ophelia is Cuban American; most of the other characters are people of color as well. There also is a range of queer identities shown.

I alternated between the audio and text and found both to provide a good reading experience.

Ophelia’s nearing the end of her senior year of high school, and knows who she is. She’s a talented rose gardener who dresses in florals and, well, has a reputation for being boy-crazy. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise when she starts to develop familiar feelings for yet another crush. Except this time it’s Talia Sanchez, a quiet girl who has always existed at the periphery of her social sphere, and Ophelia begins to question everything.

There is far more that I loved about Racquel Marie’s debut novel than I have room to express here.

I’m at a point in my life where coming out stories don’t pack as big of a punch as they used to (and how fortunate are we to live in a world where this is now true!) That said, I felt like Ophelia After All brought new things to the table in ways that made me only imagine what this story would have meant to me when I was a teen. This is probably the best depiction I’ve seen so far of the role of compulsory heterosexuality on sexuality development, and how that also impacts internalized homophobia. I also really appreciated having the representation of a main character who is shown as queer (and validly so) while still appearing to have a gender preference for guys.

Other things I loved here:
Bisexual, Pansexual, Aromantic, Biromantic Asexual, and Questioning side character rep.
Discussion of cultural identity and how being bi-cultural and not feeling enough of one thing mirrors/compounds sexual identity.
Ophelia’s relationship with her dad.
How the Spanish was not always directly translated into English (though the important parts are conveyed).

Readers should be aware that characters here do contend with homophobia and biphobia that is challenged and mostly resolved, but that does include the cut-off use of a homophobic slur.

I think this book will hit the hardest with young adult readers, questioning readers, and readers whose journey in identifying their sexual orientation mirrors Ophelia’s, but I think other readers of queer and/or contemporary YA will also find a lot to love here.

I received an advanced listening copy of Ophelia After All thanks to Netgalley and Recorded Books, so I read this one exclusively via audio. Maria Liatis’ narration was incredible. She gave the characters here heart and depth in ways that made them so relatable and kept me fully engaged in the story. As someone whose Spanish is a little rusty, there were points where I wished I’d had a physical copy to reference, but though I didn’t always catch enough to make a 1:1 translation, I never felt like I was missing anything.

I received an advanced audiobook copy of Ophelia After All so I could share my review with you!

Ophelia Rojas is a hopeless romantic, a rose gardener, and a good friend (or at least she tries hard to be that last one). Her family and friends have watched Ophelia stumble through more crushes than she can count, an endless line of boys holding space in her heart. But, when Ophelia begins to develop feelings for Talia Sanchez, she doesn’t know what to do. She has only ever liked boys before, but what she feels for Talia seems an awful lot like a crush. Ophelia’s sense of her own identity and sexuality is suddenly under question. Her crush could change Ophelia’s whole life in ways that she isn’t sure she’s ready to deal with.

You can get your copy of Ophelia After All now from Fierce Reads!

This book is downright incredible! I loved the value it placed on different types of love and the many different identities that had on-page representation and discussions. Ophelia After All is easily one of the most nuanced and fun contemporary novels I’ve ever read. After this incredible debut novel, Racquel Marie is officially on my instant-buy author list.

Audiobook narrators can be hit-or-miss for me, especially for contemporary novels, but Maria Liatis was the perfect fit for Ophelia After All! Her voice was easy to listen to, and helped pull me into the character narration of the story. She had the right spirit and light to voice Ophelia, making this an easy five-star audiobook for me!

My Recommendation-
If you need a sweet story about queer self-discovery and acceptance, you should definitely pick up a copy of Ophelia After All! I would especially recommend this book to anyone looking for a darling valentines read!

"my sweet, loving ophelia." loving. not boy-crazy. i'll take it." -> swipe for a synopsis!

i loved this so very much; this book genuinely felt like a warm hug and it was so loving, i had to love it back. ophelia, the main character, was such a sweet, multi-layered and likeable character and yet she was far from perfect; she made mistakes and learned from them, over and over again and i haven't seen such great character development in a long time. i also liked ophelia's friends and her love interest: they too felt like real people, not at all flat or boring.
this book touched onto so many topics and they were actually allowed to be explored, which was amazing; the many sexualities represented, family struggles, navigating through high school life, coming out, having a friend group- it was all so real. while reading this, i felt everything ophelia felt and now, after finishing it, i mostly feel proud of her. the story was nothing like i expected: i thought of this as a cute and fast, sapphic story and while it was so not that, it has still-easily-become one of my favorite books ever. the way ophelia thought and the way this book was written just worked so well together and drew me in completely.

contrary to my expectations, there was no so-called happy ending, but i couldn't have imagined a better one. this story made me laugh and cry and changed the way i look at things.
thanks to netgalley and the publisher for letting me get an arc of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book through netgalley!

I don't think I've ever loved anything as much as I loved this book. I loved every single aspect of it and I refuse to hear anything but positive things about this book. If you don't like it you are wrong.

The book follows a girl names Ophelia as she navigates through the end of her high school years, friendships and sexuality.

I loved how raw this book was, how human the characters felt and how well written the representation was. It's filled with representation of people of various sexualties and races which fills my heart with joy.

Given that me and Ophelia aren't that far off in age I could really see myself in her character and feel the pain and confusion she was going through.

The side characters were all multilayered and I finished the book feeling I had met and made a bunch of really really awesome friends. Seriously you all need to read this RIGHT NOW!

“I’ve spent most of my life telling myself I know who I am - a lifeboat of identity in the turbulent waves of growing up. A hopeless romantic, a rose gardener, a chismosa, a girl who falls for every boy who looks her way. I forgot that there are parts of me I’ve yet to discover, versions of me I’ve yet to become.”

OPHELIA AFTER ALL is a heartwarming and exploratory young adult novel about coming into your queerness and reintroducing yourself, changed yet the same, to the people in your life. Ophelia is a Cuban-Irish girl who loves roses, Cuban food, and crushing on boys. In the last few weeks of her senior year, as her friend groups are merging and prom drama abounds, she develops feelings for another girl, pushing Ophelia to re-examine how she’s always thought of herself.

This is such a messy, tender, beautiful book. I loved Ophelia’s gradual journey into queerness and the representation of a “boy-crazy” girl who realizes she’s also into gals, too. Marie captures high school relationships so well, how tumultuous it can be with family, friends, and crushes as you navigate different histories and alliances and secrets, on top of your own growth and revelations about yourself. It’s a book where much would be solved with proper communication, but where Ophelia’s ability to say clearly what’s going on for her is so understandably difficult; you get why she needs a bit of time to be a gay disaster first. The parallels between Ophelia’s feelings about her racial and cultural identity, and her feelings about her queerness, her insecurities about understanding herself and claiming a label (or not) are really powerful. There’s some lovely asexual and aromantic representation in the side characters, and though some parts of the book feel like LGBTQ+ 101, it also fits where Ophelia is at in her journey. While there’s a sapphic romance subplot to this, it’s ultimately a coming-of-age story most of all. Plus there’s lots of fun bits about Shakespeare, literary theory, rose gardening, and seriously delicious-sounding food.

It’s the kind of book that’s a balm of messy acceptance to adult queer readers and, I imagine, a comfort and a door for young adults as well. Thanks to Feiwel & Friends and RB Media for the ALC!

Content warnings: some homophobia, biphobia, and acephobia, racist microagressions

I usually don't like driving, but I'm glad that I had to drive so much this week, because I used that time to listen to Ophelia after all, and I had a great time. This is a beautiful story, full of love and flowers, about teens figuring out their identities and learning about love in all shapes and forms.

Thank you netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
The beautiful flowers really attracted me to this cover and I heard so many cute things about it. Thanks to @netgalley and Feiwel and Friends for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication.

💜 What I liked:
This book was a cute and touching look at the journey of self exploration. Ophelia likes boys, but also finds herself liking a girl. This brings about a lot of questions about who she is and if her family and friends can accept her new identity. But her journey includes her friend group and their identities as well. The way these friends come together is amazing.

😱 What I didn’t like:
This was a snapshot in an important time in Ophelia’s life and I would have liked to see more of the community together. But this is not a typical or formulaic romance and I loved that!

🚦 My face at the end: 🥰

💬 The Narrator:
Maria Liastis narrated the audio book and she was very clear and pleasant to listen to.

💭 4 Reasons to Read:
1. Hamlet
2. Roses
3. Latin Culture
4. Sexual identity



🕧 Mini-Summary:
Ophelia is about to graduate, but she starts to wonder if she even knows herself.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

💯 For more details on the books we read, be sure to follow me on TikTok (@zaineylaney) or check out our Podcast - Elated Geek!

One of the most stunning, heartfelt, tender and touching coming of age novels (or novels in general!). To quote a great modern philosopher - I laughed, I cried etc etc. I couldn't help but get invested in no time in Ophelia's story and it felt like both an honour and a joy to follow her journey of self discovery and self acceptance. I loved Ophelia as a protagonist, and I LOVED every single side character just as much. I think people who enjoyed the found family aspect of ONE LAST STOP are particularly going to enjoy this! (&special mention to the most wonderful fictional parents!) Racquel Marie's writing was absolutely stunning and had a great flow to it, so it felt impossible not to get hooked by the story in no time.
Special mention to the GORGEOUS narration, which really brought this story to life so beautifully.

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
Audiobook edition, narrated by Maria Liatis

**Special thanks to Recorded Books Media and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of this audiobook, in exchange for my honest review.

This book reads like a well-worn t-shirt: comfortable, familiar, and very well-loved. This novel has certainly cemented its place as one of my favorite favorite YA contemporaries of all time.

Rating: 5 🌟

Narration rating: 5 🌟

The premise & comps: This book is described as a coming of age story centered on Ophelia, who loves constantly and falls hard instantly, usually for one of the many boys she has had a crush on, until, one day, she starts to realize she has a crush on a girl. This story lives up to every aspect of its premise and more. I couldn’t find specific advertised comps, but can confidently compare it to Darius the Great is Not Okay, especially on the themes of change and expectations.

Characters: The cast of characters is beautifully diverse, and every character gets considerable development, even with how many characters there are. The story very quickly throws you into the thick of Ophelia’s friend group, and even though you meet quite a few characters right off the bat, I remembered their names instantly, which demonstrates just how unique each character is. I can’t imagine how to better describe this group than by saying that reading about them feels a lot like coming home.

Topics/Themes: The book is a coming of age story, first and foremost, and features expertly crafted discussions on queerness, friendship, and a lot of the feelings that high school graduation tends to stir up, as is expected from any period of massive change.

Plot: The plot is compelling and so perfectly paced that I never once felt that the story was being rushed or trudging along. I can imagine that some readers that tend to steer clear of high school centric stories may dislike when stories focus on high school related plot points, but these topics were genuinely covered in a unique and refreshing way. Also, as a huge bonus, if you want to read a story about senior year that doesn’t involve the college admissions process, this is the book for you. There are, naturally, a couple of mentions of going off to college, but the story is set at the end of the year, so the applications + crushing expectations + crippling anxiety thing is well in the past for our characters.

Narration conclusions: The narration for this novel was beautiful, and brought every character to life. Every character’s voice was distinct, the narration was clear, and she brought a perfect additional layer of emotion to the story.

Conclusions: I genuinely and wholeheartedly loved reading this book. This is an expertly crafted narrative on coming to terms with queerness, with equally beautiful examinations of friendship. I imagine that I’ll reread this book frequently. This is absolutely a book I wish I had in high school, and I am so glad that it is now out in the world. I hope there are kids out there, a lot like Ophelia, that get to see themselves in this book.

This is such an essential piece of contemporary YA writing, with vast queer representation. Ophelia is a romantic, known for her boy crazy tendencies; however as she navigates high school and her friendships evolve, Ophelia starts to question what she's previously thought about herself and those she's attracted to. This book tackles so many common high school scenarios, even the dreaded prom date conundrum. However my favorite part of this book was how effortlessly it represented and educated the reader on various sexual identities. It isn't a one size fits all and the education in this book will be so powerful for future young readers. From an audiobook production standpoint, I felt the narrator did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life and I thoroughly enjoyed listening.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not let me down whatsoever. the audiobook is also really well done, and i had a fun time with the narrator.

this book, if i can describe it in 1 word, is grounding. it's very hard to stay objective here when this book from the very first chapter feels like a huge hug to me, and i fell in love w ophelia and her friends so quickly that at the end i felt so sad to have to leave them. i would call this book grounding because i love how comforting ophelia's story is, and how i felt seen by a lot of things that she did in this book. i love ophelia, and although i've read a lot of contemporary about a girl finding her sexuality and her identity, ophelia's story still feels like a breath of fresh air to me, and i love following her on her journey.

also another reason why i would call this book grounding is because her journey on discovering her sexuality and navigating through her senior high school life were never something that was forced upon. in every single problem she had to deal with here, there was this sort of reassuring tone to it and i was hugely comforted because i know no matter how bad life is, it's still going to be okay somehow. i also just truly love the ending of this book, and i love the friendships that was written here. i especially love ophelia's friendship with sammie and agatha, and also the newfound friendship she has with wesley.

thank you to netgalley for the arc!

I haven't really read much YA in such a long time but when I first saw this one book something called for me and even though I wasn't so sure of what I was expecting to see, definitely didn't expect to enjoy it so much <3

If there is something I absolutely adore about this story is how real Ophelia's personality and struggles feel like to be according to her age group and context. Even if we can remember how, it felt back then, it can be so tricky to put into actual words and the author did a superb job about it.

So, we have sweet Ophelia a flowers lover and much known by her friends- and anyone around really- as that one girl who has so many boy crushes. Deeply in love with the idea of love. As the story develops, she faces not only the uncertainty of finishing high school, friends going away for college but the most real and raw journey toward questioning and figuring her sexuality out. Prom season seems to be the trigger point for Ophelia to question who she likes and what she actually wants in her life. It was adorable to see her fall in and out of love, and then back in love and then realizing that it's ok if she doesn't have all the answers right away.

Also, in books we tend to have the typical dysfunctional family as a given but here, it was nice to see more of a support system, and that doesn't only refer to her parents. Ophelia gets the chance to learn a lot from other Queer people close to her and their stories, who help her and support her journey, so rare in real life but so precious.

I wouldn't say it tries to portray a perfect nor easy journey into coming out as queer at all, instead it feels like a needed spot of hope for those going through similar situations specially teens. Even if so many people and things can go wrong in life or not support you, there are also good people out there who will love and treasure you just the way you are.

We still have the usual high school drama I'm sure most us remember from our own experience but also we find a group of solid characters doing their best while trying to find themselves in this chaotic moment in their lives.

I cannot finish this review without mentioning the latino representation in it, because it is done in such a good and fulfilling way. Sometimes, books can make it sound gimmicky and simply can't capture the essence of the culture nor how it truly is for those who come from a latino family but are born and raised in a different country. However, Ophelia, Talia and all of their friend group are so close to their culture and its own characteristics in such a realistic way I absolutely love.

I received the arc through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks again to both NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the chance.

I wanted to like this book so bad but I just couldn't get into it. I read the whole book hoping more would happen but I felt like nothing was happening in this. The character never seemed to actually learn anything and the background characters all felt so flat i couldn't care any less about them. Overall this whole story just fell so flat for me.

3 stars

In an overall sense I liked this book. I was definitely not the target audience but even I could relate in some ways.

I liked the discussions on heritage and identity. The not feeling like one thing or another especially when you are from two different cultures (even when a lot of people see us Latin Americans as a monolith) i like how we saw her struggles both the ones with herself (her sexuality) and the ones with the outside (the society).
What I didn't enjoy was the too much drama. The miscommunication and over the top drama was a bit too much for me. Also some parts felt to PSA-ish. Like someone was giving me a lecture about it and although I appreciated that, it felt weird in the book and within the story.

Despite all this, I did liked this book even with its flaws. I feel this is one of those books that especially younger generations of Latin kids should read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.