Ophelia After All

Written by Racquel Marie

Narrated by Maria Liatis

A teen girl navigates friendship drama, the end of high school, and discovering her queerness in Ophelia After All, a hilarious and heartfelt contemporary YA debut by author Racquel Marie.

Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys—way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.

So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling
a little out of control. But the course of love—and sexuality—never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781705051641

Reviews for Ophelia After All

[Corinne Percy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is an absolute gem. Equal parts hilarious, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, Ophelia After All is a standout of YA LGBT+ fiction. The one word I would use to describe Ophelia’s story is “realistic”. Everything about Ophelia’s character, from her feelings of diasporic disconnect to her reevaluating her sexuality was so realistically depicted, making for a refreshing perspective in YA fiction. The author brought so much authenticity to the depiction of high school drama, teenage relationships, and end of senior year stresses with a tenderness that elevated the coming of age elements of the story. I loved Sammie and Ophelia’s friendship, they’re both so supportive of each other and Sammie offered the story a wicked sense of humor that made for great comedic relief. Racquel Marie is a new voice in YA fiction that we all should be listening to.

[danyelle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read this while trying to get out of a reading funk, and I'm so glad I did!! It's not too long of a read but the emotions of being young, having complex friendships, relationships, and all the other things that come with being young from the eyes of a poc is something I definitely wish I had when I was in high school!

[Christine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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. Content warning for homophobia (challenged).

[Ulonda Evans · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book started off great, but felt forced toward the end. Not really what I was expecting.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction - Cuban-American 12th grader who has always been considered "boy-crazy" finds herself crushing on another girl; things get complicated among her friends (each of whom is dealing with their own messy feelings).Despite all the self-inflicted angst and overwhelming FEELINGS being thrown about in the midst of all the prom drama, this was a fun read with complicated characters and complicated relationships. It's amazing the difference that can be felt from learning the different LGBTQAI+ labels that people can choose to use, so I think (and hope) that this will help a lot of kids who may be going through some confusing times.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OPHELIA AFTER ALL delivers a unique and memorable YA and Adult gay coming out.The early gradual pace allows the finely tuned distinct personalities of friends and parents to evolve, with major diversity from Irish to Islam, via Lation/a.Readers may agree that the book could be subtitled "OPHELIA FINALLY" since it takes a really long, long time for OPHELIA to decide that simple honesty to BOTH parents would have made both her life and her Mother's career go incredibly more happy.It was challenging to read how all of her friends dealt with their own angst while moving forward with art, college, prom queen, fashion and more...and Ophelia just basks in unforgiving angst.The plot moves smoothly into many unexpected directions while weaving in both gardening and Shakespeare's HAMLET to connect with the main character. There's also great Rose advice to add banana peels to soil while naming Roses for friends.Lotsa Vegetarian eating was also a welcome surprise.

[alliepascal-876024 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ophelia is a high school senior, and while the contemporary high school setting isn't my favorite, it's necessary for this story. The last year before college/adult life is a big turning point, and it's especially true for Ophelia--she's about to graduate, she thinks she knows herself and what she likes, but she's thrown a curve-ball. With graduation means prom, and despite daydreaming about the perfect male date for years, she can't stop thinking about Talia, a female acquaintance-turned-friend. This book isn't a romance; it's about Ophelia finding herself, and her relationship with her friends. I loved this book's lovely descriptiveness of food, the unapologetic use of Spanglish throughout, and Ophelia's love for roses and gardening. The direction the story took was unexpected, but it was good. It's a wonderful queer coming of age story!There's one thing I didn't really care for, and it's a couple of scenes where Ophelia is being taught, like, queerness 101, including what different flags represent. Maybe it's just me, but it felt a little forced. Other than that, I adored this book! Definitely a new fav contemporary YA.