CWs: some explorations of racism and colorism; some internal and external experiences with homophobia/lesbophobia; brief allusions to homophobic slurs

Frankly, I'm upset that this book is so unbelievably incredible. It played with my heart and my emotions, and now I just can't stop thinking about it. This story is perfect for fans of Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun, which is about the highest compliment I can pay. (Though it should be noted that while FHMFTS is overtly a romance, this story is not.)

This is a phenomenal coming of age story that's equal parts heartfelt and heart-wrenching. It is perfectly set towards the end of Ophelia's senior year in high school, right before prom, when it feels like anything could happen and everything could change. It is, perhaps, the scariest, most exciting, most tumultuous time in a teenager's life, and I think the story beautifully captures the highs and lows of that experience. Not only is it a great time period for the story to be set because of all the life-changing things happening at once, but also because the pressing fear of the unknown really adds to Ophelia's inner turmoil and her irrational desire to freeze time before graduation.

That aversion to change is a major tenet of the story. With all the stress and worry that comes with the end of high school, Ophelia is desperate to hold on to "the way things have always been" in hopes that at least she and her friends won't have change before everything else does. Her friends and family all know her as the flower-obsessed, hopeless romantic, "boy-crazy," heart-on-her-sleeve girl, and when she begins to develop feelings for a girl in her government class, it feels like that image of herself is crumbling around her.

The misconception that queerness changes or undermines everything that came before it, is such a pervasive myth that keeps so many young folks, especially, from being able to claim their queerness. I appreciate how the story confronts that idea head-on, and painstakingly shows how Ophelia is both the same person she's always been and also someone who is continuing to learn about herself and grow into something new—which is a change, yes, but a welcome one.

But far and away my favorite thing about this story is the dynamic friend group and the prevalent sense of found family. This is one of the most authentic high school friend groups I've ever read about. There's such a mixture of dynamics and complexity between all the different characters that really adds texture to the story. Some of the characters have been friends since childhood, some of them only met through mutual friends, or because of classes they had together, and others still became acquainted just because sitting together at lunch was convenient. They all come from different levels of the social hierarchy, so to speak, and the loyalty and affection between them is not the same across the board for every single person in the group. To me, that was perhaps the most realistic detail, because even in a large group, "friendship" doesn't always get equally disseminated on a one-to-one basis.

That's part of what makes the story feel so real. There are friends in this story who love each other, who are *in* love with each other, who are fighting with each other, who are competing with each other, and even some who feel indifferently towards one another—and that is true to the experience of having a big friend group. Over the course of the story, these friends are not only changing together, but their bonds are being tested. They're figuring out how they understand themselves as individuals outside of the group, but also trying to figure out their place *within* the group while also trying to learn about how they can be better friends.

I just really appreciate how forthcoming the story is in how it shows that growing into the person you were always meant to be is often accompanied by messiness, ugliness, discomfort, and uncertainty. Ophelia, especially, is dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia, convincing herself that she cannot possibly be anything other than the romantic, boy-loving person who she's always been, which leads to a lot of internal strife.

She ends up making a lot of mistakes, hiding her feelings, lashing out at people she loves, detaching herself from people and activities that used to make her happy and give her a sense of purpose, and I think all of that tracks when you consider the immense burden that is repressing or hiding an important part of yourself. While the reader feels almost helpless watching Ophelia have to go through that, getting to witness as she hits her breaking point and then has to try to come back from it also comes with a profound sense of catharsis.

Ultimately, I think the story is about learning to trust the foundation that you've built for yourself. It's about hoping that the person you've always shown yourself to be is strong enough to endure any change or any hardship. It's about hoping that the relationships you've maintained and nurtured over the years are strong enough to hold you up in your darkest moments and enduring enough to prevail against any imaginable obstacle.

Most importantly, what struck me about this story is how it celebrates the fact that one of the most important kinds of love is the love we have towards ourselves. This isn't a story about "landing the girl" or realizing your queerness through a relationship. Instead, it's a story that says maybe the happily ever after begins with discovering, seeing, and accepting yourself. That doesn't mean that Ophelia has everything figured out by the end of the book, or that everything about her life and herself neatly falls into focus. But rather Ophelia finally comes to understand that she—in all her messiness, uncertainty, and imperfection—is really and truly enough.

I truly cannot put into words what this story is going to mean to so many readers. To have such a profound story about a queer biracial Cuban-American girl that is full of so much fun, humor, heart, emotion, and love is truly a gift. This story will deftly take you through the emotional whirlwind that is the end of senior year, but it will also offer a balm of hope and compassion. It reminds us to look inwards and realize that change is indicative of life itself, that there is beauty in the fact that we are constantly growing and discovering new things.

This debut is not one to miss, and if it's any indication of what we can expect from Racquel's stories still to come, then we are all the more fortunate!

Ophelia After All healed something within me as I was reading it. The confusion of figuring out your identity and evolving as you do so, to adjusting not your worldview, but everyone's around you - it is all too familiar and incredibly to see in this story. Preorder it asap for your shelves!

At first I thought I had this book all figured out as your typical happily ever after prom night trope, but it was a lot more than that. Recently I’ve started becoming aware of and reading more books with LGBTQ+ While many of the other books I’ve read focus on the coming out aspect and the reactions of others, this is the first time I get to witness a character navigating the road to self discovery and acceptance in such a way that I almost felt I was living the experience with her. Some aspects of the book were clearly intended for a younger audience (I’m well past the age of getting excited about the prom night trope) but I still give this book five stars because I know it will be very helpful and empowering for its intended audience.
Ps. I enjoyed the bonus of learning more about Shakespeare’s characters

I really loved this book. Not only does it cover the exploration of sexuality, but it also hits at the complicated feelings of being bisexual in a straight-passing relationship. The friendships in this are really amazing and I was rooting for Ophelia the whole time

I love this book so much! This is such a beautiful book about self-discovery. Ophelia goes through the relatable experience of being afraid to realize that your view of who are you isn't quite accurate and that it's okay to change and learn new things about yourself. When questioning your sexuality it's so hard to know who you can talk with about it because, even if they haven't given you a reason to believe they're homophobic, there's always the terrifying possibility that their love is more conditional than you hope. This book made me cry in the best way and I'm so glad teens will have this book, because I definitely needed it when I was younger.

Loved this warming story of identity and self-awareness. The voice is fun, the characters well developed and multi-faceted, and I adored the gardening aspect. Ophelia is a favorite for sure!

Ophelia Rojas (yes, named after Hamlet’s Ophelia) loves rose gardening, gossiping with her besties, and crushing on boys. But senior year of high school is bringing up all sorts of new drama. Her best guy friend has been hopelessly in love with another friend for years, but might lose out on his chance to ask her to prom with a new guy on the scene. Her other bestie is determined to get that same friend voted prom queen and is pouring everything she has into the campaign. And Ophelia, feeling distanced from her two best friends, finds herself growing closer to a quiet girl in her class. This new friendship, along with the fear of figuring out life after high school, has Ophelia questioning everything she thought she knew about herself.

Ophelia After All is a heartwarming exploration of how old friendships change as we grow up and how new experiences shape who we will become. Ophelia makes mistakes, is often overwhelmed with emotions, and feels like a true depiction of the teenage experience. I loved how realistic every character’s interactions are, even in the dramatic moments. And I found myself invested in many of the character’s side stories, beyond just how they fit into Ophelia’s life. There are also great examples of kids having open, honest, and tough conversations with each other and their parents. It is wonderful to see examples of positive communication and how it can begin the process of healing fractured relationships. This is the kind of novel I wish existed when I was in high school. I’m happy this story is being told now.

ophelia after all has become my new favorite YA fiction of all time. i found myself immersed in this friend group and their dynamic with each other. each character had incredible development and i want to know each and every one of them personally.

ophelia after all follows ophelia, a “boy crazy” botany lover, deal with some of the most relatable senior year problems ever. between figuring out her sexuality, the merging of 2 friend groups, and a love triangle, this book has the best representation of high school i’ve read.

one of the many, many things i loved about this book was how ophelia’s sexuality journey was written. it was messy. it was hard. it wasn’t linear. while some days she felt more accepting of herself, other days she outright rejected the thought of being queer. getting the support and stories she needed through an lgbtq+ center, her family, and her friends showed just how real and raw the coming out process can be.

as a senior in high school, this book tugged at the heart strings. i’m currently dealing with my own sexuality struggles and end of the year senior anxiety, and seeing it on paper made me feel so much less alone. ophelia talked about how she knew some of the group wouldn’t still be friends when they went to college which is something many books don’t cover. thinking about losing hometown friends is terrifying, and this book brought up feelings of that, but the relief i felt knowing this was a ton of other peoples experience outweighed that.

this book also provided a lot of cultural depth between her and her friend group. most of the friend group was non-white, one of her friends is plus-sized, and so many queer identities so often forgot about in media showed up throughout this book.

with all that being said, ophelia after all will, no doubt, become one of my top five reads this year. i am so, so excited to promote this and shove it into every customers hand!!!

It was easy to keep up with the characters, endearing rascals for the most part. Usual teenage drama and it feels reachable & realistic for teens.

This book said: you will end up with a queer friend group even before you know you're queer.

This book is for you if you like messy, complicated stories, if you want great questioning rep, if you want an amazing friend group, and if you're in the mood for a coming-of-age contemporary that's really focused on figuring yourself out instead of a romance-focused story. The characters in this book felt so real, and I especially loved Wesley and Agatha.

I love how animated and alive all the characters were because it made them so relatable. It was a lot of fun to read about them and get to know them since they, much like myself, are all in their final stretch of senior year.
I completed related to Ophelia and her fear over the questioning of her sexuality because I have definitely been there. And I understand that’s it’s really hard to discover a new part of yourself when you, and the people who surround you, are so used to you being in a certain box. I also loved all the new friendships and discoveries Ophelia was able to make along the route of her story. It was so empowering as a reader to watch her grow and step outside of her carefully crafted boundaries. And her coming out scene to her friends and family was such a beautiful moment that was so perfectly captured.
I also thought that the symbolism behind Ophelia’s garden was a beautiful connective to her life and so well done. Much like her namesake Ophelia’s story isn’t perfect. It’s messy and there’s sadness and anger but ultimately it’s genuine. I think a lot more books today are filled with the perfect Cinderella story ending with only minor bumps along the road but what I liked about Ophelia After All was that it ended happily but not in a traditional fashion which was so refreshing and I’m so happy I got to see Ophelia grow and flourish over the course of her journey.

Sigh. I really expected more. I liked Ophelia's story and her interactions with Talia, but I really didn't care about her friends' dramas, especially since so much of the book is about one of the blandest love triangles I've read in YA in a long time and it barely concerns the protag.

There's also the fact that while the cast is super diverse both in terms of race and sexuality, the book still seems outdated. For one, it's a coming out story, which is becoming less of the norm in queer YA and this book kind of reminded me why. And for another, I'm still scratching my head at how a contemporary teenager in Northern California doesn't know what "queer" or "asexual" means.

This might be me because I wasn't 100% in the mood for this kind of story, but it still wasn't exactly what I hoped for.

this book punched me in the gut several times but still managed to feel like a warm hug. i loved these characters, especially our darling ophelia with her roses and big heart. reading her internal struggles with identity, sexuality, and culture was heartbreaking at times, enlightening at others, and there were certain parts that i related to that really hit home. an absolutely fantastic debut.

This was an original and heartfelt book. As a soon to graduate senior, Ophelia is looking forward to attending prom, hanging out with her close group of friends, and heading to college to study botany. She feels like she has a strong sense of self, and does not expect much to change. But then she finds herself that she cannot stop thinking about her classmate, Talia. And it seems like many of her friends are also going through their own changes. As Talia faces this uncertainty, in her own identity and how relationships, she struggles with that means for herself, her relationships with her family and friends, and her future.

This was an enjoyable book. Ophelia is a compelling character, and the supporting characters make for a rich story. This is a great coming-of-age novel.

Highly recommended!

Okay wow. This one made me cry, a lot, like full nonstop tears running down my face. Ophelia’s journey in discovering her queer identity makes me feel so many emotions. (I’m still crying while typing this review)

I loved Ophelia and the way she handled herself. I absolutely adored her relationship with her parents. It can be hard to break those traditions in a Latine household or feel the weight of them bearing down on you.

Now the friendships. The friendships were quintessential high school but also so much more. The connections Ophelia was able to create with these people were incredible. I loved the way she was with Sammie and Agnes. Because we all had friends in high school who were more like acquaintances but not all of us were lucky enough to have those super solid, long-lasting friendships.

Ophelia After All is really about Ophelia learning and growing and carving out an identity for herself. I absolutely loved her and I’m grateful that her story is out there. If this had been around when I was in high school and questioning my identity - it would’ve rocked my world. I mean, it still did. It’s one of those books that will be impactful, no matter your age.

Thank you so much to Macmillan for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

Ophelia After All was a book I’ll carry in my heart for years to come; a loving and beautiful narrative of what it means to question—your life, your future, your sexuality, and yourself—that smashed my heart into pieces before tenderly gluing it back together with gentle hands. Ophelia was a beautifully flawed character, and I was rooting for her every messy, drama-filled step of the way. This book captured the heart of YA with its unflinching and raw depiction of how scary it feels to not know yourself, to navigate high school and sexuality crises, have old friendships that feel like they’ve become frightening fragile, and struggle with identity. There’s absolutely nothing I love more than connecting to a book, having it hit that chord deep inside that lets you feel known, less alone—but if there’s one thing I love more it’s knowing that a book that connected with me will be even more impactful for the teen audience it’s written for. Ophelia After All is the kind of book that will soothe hearts and fears, share a glimpse of light when the future seems clouded, and give love to teens who need it more than ever. A gorgeous book inside and out that I can’t wait to talk about for months to come.

This book is absolutely beautiful and everything I wish I had as a questioning teenager. The cast of characters are absolutely realistic in their portrayals of their identities and there is so much nuance in both their cultures and their sexualities. I also adored that this book doesn't end quite the way you would expect, but it's still heartwarming and doesn't leave you wishing for more. Ophelia's journey of self discovery is heartfelt and endearing, making for an amazing debut by this author.

Seriously, this book is a breath of fresh air, and I can see myself recommending this book quite frequently. My only issue was there were sometimes TOO many details, which is really not a huge issue compared to everything else.

What is there to not love about this book? Huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. 4.5/5 stars

First off, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS COVER? This is seriously the most beautiful cover. The illustration really pairs with the vibes of book. It’s bright, but subtle, and extremely sweet. Plus, it’s got the roses on there as needed.

Overall plot is pretty standard: Ophelia is a high school senior who has had a dream about prom for as long as she can remember. Her perfect boyfriend will prom-pose, they have matching outfits, take pictures in front of her gorgeous roses, and have a perfect night. But what happens when she starts to get thoughts about someone new and that someone is a girl? What will her friends think? What will her parents think?

Even with this feeling really cliché, as someone who has had a lot of these inner battles with bisexuality, it felt really authentic in struggle. You see Ophelia battle with her own feelings, with mixed signals, with figuring out identity and labels. But instead of this being just about her, you also see how it bounces around her friend group just as it would for any high school squad.

I felt the characters were all genuine. They each had quirks and flaws, they provided substance without feeling like fillers, and truly added to the dynamic feel of the story when there wasn’t a whole ton to go off of. I wanted to see things work out for everyone, even if that meant a little bit of heartbreak.

I also felt the themes were well balanced. You see the self-discovery and identify themes from the start. It’s a group of diverse POC with different cultures and backgrounds, all showcased from the very start. Then we move into the sexuality and it becomes just as easily covered. While some parts were a little after-school-special-y, most of it felt like it could happen.

I loved the bittersweet endings and seeing everything just come together at the end, even if not in the ways everyone had expected. I will be getting this for my classroom and recommending this to be added to everyone’s February TBR!

My review was published on Goodreads and can be accessed by using the link below. To summarize my thoughts, it was a wonderful book that I’m sure people will enjoy reading when it is ultimately released.

4 stars

This is a solid YA novel about characters who find themselves or at least try to make that happen. It's a great debut, and I'm already excited for what Racquel Marie writes next.

Ophelia, the main character, has spent a lot of time cultivating her persona as a "boy-crazy" romantic who loves her rose garden almost as much as (and sometimes maybe more than - who can't relate?!) her solid group of friends and family. That's why when she starts to depart from aspects of this personality - particularly the assumed hetero part - she struggles and fully believes that the people around her will, too.

The relationships are the highlight of this novel. The pairing that sparks Ophelia's burgeoning awareness of her layered sexuality is so charming, and I was really invested in that connection from start to finish. Realistically, some of the friendships grow stronger, and some are challenged. Ophelia is extremely close to her parents, and while I'm not sure that every reader will find this relatable, I do think the varying levels of trust and communication as well as the struggles between parents and kids will be an obvious point of connection for most readers of any age.

It's important to know that Ophelia does A LOT of processing, and the author's stylistic choices lend themselves more to nuances and minutiae than broad strokes. This isn't a bad thing - especially for a coming of age/self-discovery YA joint - but readers should know that they will move very slowly at times through aspects of some relationships and some events. Admittedly, I wanted a bit less detail at times and a bit quicker pacing overall.

Ophelia is a memorable character, and her valiant attempts at self-actualizing, ongoing discoveries about the LGBTQIA+ community, and clumsy interpersonal communications will be useful points of reference to her audiences. I'll be recommending this one to students and will be on the lookout for more from this author!