Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for providing me with an audio arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ophelia After All is a coming-of-age story about a high school senior navigating friendships and figuring out who she is, who she loves, and who she wants to be.

This description doesn’t do the book justice. I don’t know how to talk about this book without bias, because all of it felt so personal to me. The only way I really know how to put it is, I wish I’d had this book when I was a teenager.

Every character is so well written and somehow all relatable. They’re all flawed beings, all growing on their own and together, with plenty of teenage angst. Somehow, they managed to pull me back into my high school years; their relationships and struggles and crises all felt so realistic and familiar, and I found that a lot could apply to me even now as an adult still trying to figure everything out. I swear, I spent half of this book sobbing. It’s really not that sad a book—there’s just something about seeing both my teenage and adult fears and thoughts put into words that made me feel so seen.

The writing itself was stunning. The plot was wonderful, ridiculous in places as only teenagehood can be, and beautifully paced. My emotions ran the gambit; I haven’t read a book that can invoke my emotions so strongly in ages. This couldn’t be anything but 5/5 stars.

I really love the cover of this book. I like that it's just a girl up close surrounded by her flowers, and I love that you can see her freckles. I know that I am not the target audience for this book as a white, het/cis adult female, but I actually really appreciated the conversations/topics that the book broached.

I'm glad that the youth of this generation have the opportunities to have open discussions about identity, sexual orientation and gender. I understand that society puts pressure on people to put labels on everything, but having conversations as a teenager is a great way of starting to figure out what your identity actually is and what that means to you.

There was great representation in the book and I appreciated that the characters were actually talked openly about themselves to their friends. I liked that one character said "Sexuality doesn't define you but it is a part of you."

Thanks to the publishers & netgalley for providing me with an audiobook arc for an honest review!

Ophelia After All is a moving young adult contemporary that explores important themes such as friendship, family, growing up and exploring your identity and sexuality. With a great diverse cast, this is the coming-of-age story I wish I had back in the day. This story follows Ophelia, the girl with a passion for gardening and a tendency to crush on boys way too easily. Ophelia thought she knows herself and her friends but with Talia coming into her life weeks before Prom, uncertainties is thrown into what Ophelia thought is her predictable life.

So many aspects of Ophelia's coming-of-age story is handled and written so well. It is heartwarming but also messy in a realistic way. For example, one of the main plot lines is Ophelia's exploration of her sexuality and I like how the journey is not linear. It is difficult for Ophelia to come to terms with the fact that she might like girls the way she like boys and it is even more difficult to come out to her friends and family. Ophelia is terrified of the way her friends and family might react not only because of possible homophobia but also of the ramifications uprooting her 'boy-crazy' image they have of her might bring. Stepping out of the comfort familiarity brings requires bravery and I love how Ophelia gains that courage through herself and the support she gets along the way.

Similar sentiments can also be applied to the way I feel about how themes like identity and labels are handled—the portrayal of how complicated the journey could be is my favorite thing. For me, the book is able to convey lots of important messages without being 'preachy' because of how likable and realistic Ophelia and the cast of characters are.

Ophelia and her friends are flawed but at their cores, they are just good-hearted teenagers trying their best to navigate the last of their high school years. I like how this story highlights how not knowing whether your friend group can survive after high school can be a terrifying prospect. Without spoiling anything, I will just say I think the conclusion Ophelia reached is one I like reading about. Anyways, my fav characters are Ophelia (of course), Agatha, Wesley and Sam. They got me smiling and yelling at my book.

I also love the role Ophelia's parents plays in the story. As someone quite close with their parents, I can relate to a lot of Ophelia's struggle with her parents. How your parents could be your best friends but at the same time, when it comes to important aspects of yourself, it could be so difficult to open up to them. The conversations that occur melt my heart. In particular, some of the things Ophelia's mother said got me quite emotional and it's 10/10.

The reason this isn't a 5 star for me is that I don't think I'm really the book's target audience. As I am way past my high school years, sometimes the amount of relationship and teenage drama is a bit too much for me. And whilst it speaks to how realistic the portrayal of these teenagers are, it's just not my thing (a total it's not the book it's me issue).

Ophelia After All is quite a perfect YA contemporary. The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job and I recommend listening to it!!

I absolutely recommend Ophelia After All for anyone looking for a YA contemporary about the complicated, messy aspects of growing up that leaves you with a warm, wholesome feeling.

Usually at this point in my life, I like to stay away from YA books, because I can’t be bothered with high school drama. I also stay away from coming-out books because honestly, who wants to rehash that trauma? Ophelia After All has both. But. It is a wonderful, wonderful book.

Ophelia’s sense of self comes across superbly here, and it’s all thanks to the writing. We know who she is, what she wants, even when she doesn’t necessarily understand it in her teen self. We see her as a flawed person, someone who is scared of change, who has pigeonholed herself into places and situations. But we still see her character shine, and it’s all thanks to the writing.

The teen sense of questioning, of inner turmoil, of expectations and defying them are all encaptured in a very gripping and very very real way.

I absolutely also loved the friend group, the typically high school situations, and the ending was amazing too!

This one is for the queer teens, and thank god for it! I know I will comfort read this and keep coming back to it.

Awww I liked Ophelia Rojas as well as her relationship with her parents. I loved when Ophelia’s mother explained why she named her Ophelia instead of Juliet. (Mom is a College Professor).
The prom drama did get to be bit much.
I working in a high school for many years, I know that it is not unusual for students to go to the prom
without a date but with big group of friends. So this to me this part of the story seems to go on longer
than necessary.
LGBTQ+ coming of age and identifying who you are was presented very nice by the author and kept my interest.
I know I am not the target audience for this story. However, as a high school Guidance Counselor, I always enjoy a good YA that I can share with my students. I did not like all the profanity: I know teens use it, and I also know there are worst things but it doesn’t mean I like it. In fact, Ophelia’s profanity rant with her parents overhearing was unbelievable. Ophelia wasn’t in the least embarrassed 
~)Personal Note: As I mentioned I worked with high school students for many years, I found that my
students were able to filter their nasty language when talking to me. I believe that is respect and
something teens are not taught in school or at home.

It was interesting reading this story at this time as many parents of students in Texas are banning novels
that have to do with sexuality ~Really? )

The narrator Maria Liatis did a beautiful job with the Spanish, as well as performing the characters.

Want to thank NetGalley and RB Media ~ for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 8, 2022.

'Ophelia After All' is a beautiful queer coming-of-age young adult contemporary novel that follows 17 year old Ophelia and her group of friends. Ophelia is known for two things: her interest in botany and her notorious crushes on boys. The book starts out just a couple weeks away from their high school prom and graduation, when Ophelia develops feelings for her friend Talia.
It is a story about self-discovery, growing up and navigating complicated friendship dynamics, about owning up to one’s mistakes and standing up for what you believe in.
I was so excited for Racquel Marie’s debut novel and this incredibly well-written story did not disappoint me one bit. I’m so glad this book exists - especially for all the teens (and adults) who are still figuring things out - and I can’t wait for the world to see what a light Rocky is to the YA genre when this book comes out on February 8th!

Also, the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job!

ARC of audiobook provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 ⭐️

When I first heard of this book back in October of 2021, I was so excited to read it once it came out. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, the story sounds so good and, honestly, I am just a sucker for queer stories set in highschool. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. Understandably, with all these expectations, I was a little apprehensive about actually starting this book. However, it was absolutely all I wanted! Racquel Marie did an amazing job for her debut!

This book follows Ophelia Rojas as she navigates through coming to terms with her identity, friendship dramas, and familial pressures. While the book definitely explores these issues through a YA lens, I still believe it did an excellent job at unpacking and highlighting their impact and importance. In particular, Ophelia's relationship with Talia did leave me gasping at times and I didn't have any idea how their story was going to end. The fact that we are inside of Ophelia's head for the entirety of the book really leaves the reader as confused as she is: does Talia like her? Should she text her? Are they really just friends? It blurs the lines in a way that makes the plot twist the all more surprising when it happens. Nevertheless, while romantic love is a focal point in this book, we cannot deny that the heart of Ophelia After All is friendship. Each relationship that Ophelia has with each character feels unique from each other, as well as highlighting the different types of friendships which young people may be faced with (not just the typical best-friends-till-death type of friendship normally found in YA books). I adored how this book perfectly depicted tensions that may happen in groups and how unsaid things can later affect the friendship dynamics. While many will say they liked Ophelia and Sammy's friendship the most, I actually found that Ophelia and Wesley's budding friendship was just so cute and wholesome. What they shared was a strong bond of common respect but still maintained the awkwardness of new teenage friendship. It was so well done!

Another thing which definitely stuck out while reading Ophelia After All was the diversity that was present, including various letters from the LGBTQIA+ as well as various characters from different racial/cultural backgrounds. Notably, Marie not only took time to include these identities in the book, but spends a considerable amount of time trying to contextualise and explain them to the reader, which is common for YA coming-of-age novels. Nevertheless, this was not done in a pretentious and preachy way. I really appreciated how Marie was subtle in many of the references to diversity, but still took time to explain the most obscure/unknown ones, such as what aromatic and asexual meant. Furthermore, as an immigrant myself, I really liked the conversations around the feeling of displacement that some younger people feel in regards to their cultural roots, not just from a queer lens but also just them existing in another country. This is something which I seldom find in books, which is a shame since I think it's something which is very prevalent among teenagers. Although I believed that the breadth of diversity in Ophelia After All was amazing, I can definitely see (and read a few reviews discussing this) some people thinking that this is highly performative. I would stand to disagree with those people; in today's world, thanks to the internet and different definitions of queerness becoming more known and accepted (e.g., ace/aro, demi, pansexual, etc.), many young people are able to find definitions for how they are feeling more easily. What I appreciated this book for doing was to normalise how queerness is not something which is strange or unusual, which is a message that is so important nowadays.

Note on audiobook. I thought the narration was done really well and was very engaging; Maria Liatis did an excellent job at bringing to life the inner monologue of a teenage girl.

Overall, I really recommend this book! It was cute and wholesome, while still discussing important topics. I cannot wait to read more of Racquel Marie's books!

TW: light homophobia, unconscious/not planned coming out

Rep: Cuban Irish Sapphic/Queer MC, Black Latine bisexual SC, POC aromantic fat SC, Korean biromantic asexual SC, pansexual SC, Pakistani questioning/queer SC

A coming of age story about a Cuban-Irish girl in her last few months of high school. Ophelia has to deal with prom, graduation, friends, change and discovering her sexuality. Everyone knows her for being a certain way, so she’s scared of how they will react when things change.

It’s a really cute and light hearted story. It doesn’t focus much on romance.

I love all the queer and POC rep! And an ace character explaining their sexuality!! There was also an aromantic character. It was nice to see them talk about it and have the terms on page. There’s not a lot of aro & ace rep out there, so I always love seeing my sexualities in books. There was so many different sexualities in this book and a few of the characters are still trying to find the right label.

I related to the friend groups being mostly queer. When I was in high school, none of my friends were out, but after graduating, it turns out most of us were actually queer this whole time. It’s cool to see how queers often flock together even before knowing. It’s like we just have this vibe.

It focuses a lot on friendships. Some are long time friends, others maybe more acquaintances or friend of a friend, and there are new friendships too. It also focuses on culture. There are lots of tasty sounding food and some conversations in Spanish. It was really nice to see their cultures being shown.

Ophelia loves botany and I really liked how it was integrated into the story. I can appreciate flowers in real life, but I don’t have any of my own. But I just love when characters are into flowers in books.

It’s definitely a great queer and latine read and has lots of great diversity.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

4.25 stars I'm not one to actively seek out YA contemporary stories much anymore, but this queer coming of age story called to me for many reasons so when I got approved for the audio on Netgalley, I was stoked. And I'm really glad I requested it, because it was not only incredibly written (which is amazing considering it's a debut) but the characters are so precious and they don't have all the answers and they get a little messy and that's okay. I fell in love with Ophelia and her friends and I want the world for them all. I certainly related to a lot of this, even at my advanced age, and I hope anyone who's interested gives this a chance because while it's a bit of a punch to the gut at times, it's also like finding a friend. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Queer coming of age stories never get old. I will read them forever. They are so special to me. This story is well-written with excellent character growth and learning. I love the value of friendship and the importance of community, especially among the characters who are lgbt+ and are learning about their own identity. I especially love that this story is a coming of age through self-discovery over a romance.

I definitely think this is a book that would make many teens (or young adults) coming to terms with or questioning their identity feel seen. <b>It's the sort of book that's there to hold your hand</b> through a confusing and sometimes scary time in your life, to be a friend that tells you that you are normal and everything will turn out ok, even if it doesn't turn out how you thought it would.

But I'm not the person who needs that. I can totally understand what books like this mean to some people, but I'm just not the target audience here, and that really impacted my enjoyment. <b>The ending felt very contrived</b> and unbelievable, the way that it turned out none of her friends were cishet (save one). I know that LGBT people have a way of gravitating towards each other even before they know it, but like...all of her friends? AND she had no idea about any of them? AND two of them basically came out to her as soon as she came out to them? AND they ALL had different labels? A bit over the top here, I think.

This sort of fell into that genre of books for me that just clearly wanted to represent all kinds of diverse identities rather than wanting to represent *people*, which happen to have diverse identities, if that makes sense.

Still, I did really appreciate some aspects of the book, including this specific paragraph near the end that <b>covered a range of reasons that make it hard for someone to come out,</b> even if they aren't feeling a risk for their safety or the love of their friends and family.

<blockquote><h4>I know what they are. An accumulation of every questionable joke made by Sammy. Every hateful comment made by people like Jeremiah. Every expectation of mom's. Every assumption of dad's. Every judgement of Lindsay's. Everything that made me so scared to admit to how I felt about Talia.</h4></blockquote>

I think all of these little things aren't usually addressed in books regarding sexuality, or at least not many that I've read.

One maybe nitpicky problem I had was when one of the characters refers to Ophelia as queer without making sure she is okay with it first. She questions him on it and he explains that some people don't like it but some have reclaimed it, which is a good little addition here, but if you understand that, why did you just assume <i>she</i> would be okay with it? 🤔

Anyway, while a bit heavy handed with its attempt at being educational, <b>this would make a solid read for teens who are questioning their sexuality or just learning about varied identities.</b>

Oh wow, this book is pure pleasure.

The story follows Ophelia, a Latina girl who always has a crush on a boy or two, who grows roses in her garden and... who might be developing a crush on a girl. And so everything she has always thought defined her comes crumbling down as she tries to figure out who she actually is.

A random list of my favourite things:
1. There's no central romance! I know, I was surprised as well, but it's mostly a book about Ophelia, about her figuring herself out and her wonderful group of friends.

2. The group of friends! Everyone was amazing and so so queer. Because of course queer people always travel in flocks, attracting each other even if they haven't figured themselves out yet and I'm glad that books finally start acknowledging it.

3. Ophelia's relationship with her parents.

4. There's a biro ace side character and an allo aro (!!!) side character

5. All the questioning and also the fact that Ophelia never settled on a label. Because questioning is a process and it might take a long time to find labels to suit you and not everyone needs them and it doesn't make you any less queer.

It's just an amazing book, definitely a new favourite and I'll be getting my own copy so I can reread it as often as I want.

I enjoyed Ophelia After All. I think it's a great young adult novel and explored so many different identities. I think the existence of this book will help a lot of teenagers to feel seen in the literature they consume. As an adult, it was hard to connect with the plot as much but I know that this was written for a younger audience and I think it more than accomplishes what the author set out to do.

I enjoyed the narrator's voice and pacing. It was also consistent throughout the book.

Overall, the book was just okay. There was not a lot of plot. The writing did a lot of telling as well. I think this could be good for very young teens who are looking for things to be explained to them.

I received an ARC of the audiobook from NetGalley. Overall I enjoyed the book however at times I couldn't stand Ophelia because of some of her actions in the second half of the book. However I did enjoy the ending and found it quite satisfying. I just could not get past the conflict that occurs between Ophelia and Talia.

4 stars

Refreshingly honest and heartfelt, Racquel Marie's YA debut Ophelia After All does not shy away from taking her readers on an emotional journey as we watch our protagonist begin to discover her sexuality. It is often hard to watch Ophelia reckon with her truth, especially as she navigates the end of senior year and the inevitable fracturing that her friend group begins to undertake as they look towards college.

However, while there is despair, anger, and hurt, there is also an abundance of joy. Marie is careful to balance tough conversations about the complicated process of coming out with the utter happiness that comes with recognizing and becoming who you truly are. I might be more than a few years removed from the roller coaster of feelings that is the high school experience, but Ophelia After All thrust me right back into its messy glory. And you know what? I'm thankful that it did.

Thank you to Recorded Books for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley and Recorded Books for the audio ARC of this!

This was absolutely adorable. I loved how diverse the cast of characters was, it didn't feel like an afterthought to tick boxes or a lesson, just a fun, true to life group of friends. The story was absolutely sweet, and I had so many feelings about Ophelia's relationships with her parents and friends. I would recommend this for fans of Cool for Summer, cute contemporaries with a few crying moments, and LGBTQ teens wanting to see someone like them in a book.

Ophelia After All is a beautiful coming of age story about Ophelia, a Latinx teenager on her journey of finding herself and understanding her sexuality. It was incredible to watch her slowly become more comfortable with herself and grow throughout the course of this story. This book really captured the challenges of being a senior of high school - learning who you are, wanting to hold on to the people and experiences around you, and being excited and terrified of change at the same time. There are so many aspects of Ophelia's feelings and journey that so many people will be able to relate to. In addition, Ophelia's group of friends were all so unique and added so much to the story - an added bonus is that they were a diverse group both in terms of race and sexual identity.

This was one of the most realistic and relatable coming of age YA stories I've read in a long time. This one is beautiful and worth a listen. The narrator was amazing and really managed to use her voice to capture the confusion that Ophelia was experiencing.

Ophelia after all is one of my most anticipated reads for 2022 and despite having high expectations, it easily became one of my favorite queer books. As someone who devours every sapphic book you can see on the internet, it has become unavoidable for me to find some books repetitive but this book surprised me in a very good way.

This is one of those books that you couldn't put down because everything seems to play out perfectly inside your head. The characters are also lovable and I liked how each of them are still getting to know about themselves which is why I really felt the coming of age aspect of the story. Also, it makes me happy how there's an aro-ace representation in this book which I think was executed very well.

The best thing that I liked about this book was the ending. Most queer books end with either an extremely happy ending or a tragic one. But this book managed to somehow break your heart into pieces and then put it back again bit by bit, leaving you with so much hope. There's just something just satisfying with endings like this that doesn't require two people getting together just for the sake of a "happy ending". This has to be one of the best debut novels out there. Will definitely recommend this to everyone.

This book is a MUST READ! Ophelia is a senior in high school. She loves gardening in her rose garden, knows a lot about Shakespeare (given her namesake), is very close with her parents and is known as boy crazy to her family and friends. As the end of the school year draws closer all she should have to worry about is prom, graduations, and going off to college in the fall. However, she finds herself in the midst of a sexuality crisis she doesn't quote know how to handle. In this book, we follow Ophelia grow the confidence to question her sexuality, do something about it, and create a giant mess with her friend group as she works through her feelings. I found this book to be very relatable, emotional, and beautiful. Its's the kind of book I imagine a lot of people can relate to as well and will help a lot of teenagers in similar situations to Ophelia.