Ophelia After All

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Linds, Zaq, Talia, and Wes. I love all of them!! Especially Wes, his character was such a solace to me. I am so happy to say that, I FOUND MY COMFORT CHARACTERS! She’s going with Mark Vega now,” I say, remembering the few weeks Mark and I spent as partners in freshman biology. He almost caught me doodling Ophelia Vega in the margins of my notebook more times than I’m willing to admit. “He asked her during English, I think?” I look to Ags for confirmation. the way she fears changing, because everyone has this preconceived idea of who she is. and if they know she isn’t that girl anymore, then what happens to the way these people see her. what if she changes and they don’t understand that this is who she is. that she can see her own change, but she doesn’t know how to let others see it too. Ophelia After All is perhaps the most unique, and DEFINITELY the best young adult novel I've ever read. A joy to read from start to finish, Racquel Marie captures a sweet, lovable and unique cast of characters that felt so realistic to me I was longing to join their group. It takes a LOT to make me feel the same way I felt while reading Red White and Royal Blue (which is my favorite novel in terms of character writing) but this novel 1000% did that.

Stars. This book! While I go into every book hopeful, this book was much better than I ever expected. I just had one of my worst book slumps in over a decade and this was the book that played a big role in getting me out of it. This reminded me of everything that I love in a good contemporary YA, and it was just the book that I needed. It’s not a perfect book, it had a few bumps, but damn if I didn’t love just about all of it. Finding great debut authors is something I really enjoy and I’m happy to say that Marie now goes on that list. This book didn’t get as much of that YA hype I would have expected, but what a great surprise this ended up being. Hey, you’ve never promised me I could get in on a bet,” Lindsay says to Agatha. Ironic, given how often she accuses us of being immature for betting chump change on meaningless things—like the time I bet Ags a quarter that more girls would wear purple to homecoming than red, or when Agatha bet me a dollar that she could go a whole day without cursing and lost before we even made it to third period. Ophelia After All is my new dearest treasure. Everything about this book is flawless and majestic and utterly beautiful. After erasing words, deleting phrases, and reconstructing sentences, I realized that no term nor name can describe the perfection of this book.

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Filled with realistic elements, this lovely coming-of-age story follows Ophelia as she explores her identity as well as the ups and downs of high school... This touching debut offers an emotional ride that readers will be happy to embark upon." — Booklist All the details and inner monologues were very much real and easily relatable. I personally didn't face such troubles with my sexuality. But still I could understand where Ophelia was coming from. A sweet and tender ode to love and self-discovery. Racquel Marie's vibrant and insightful prose, and fresh, funny, fearlessly vulnerable characters make for a beautiful debut you won't want to miss. Ophelia After All is utterly lovely." —Courtney Summers, New York Times-bestselling author of Sadie

I loved Ophelia's growth throughout the novel. Her journey reminded me a lot of my own experiences, so it was heartwarming to see her embracing herself little by little. Raquel does an exceptional job making her main character reliable while at the same time keeping her realistic. I particularly enjoyed and related to the focus on Ophelia being scared of the future, the changes that will come with it, her being afraid that her friends won't accept her changes, once she departs from the image of her they've already formed in their heads, once she becomes a new version of herself that her friends, who've known her all her life, maybe won't understand at first. the way she shares her life with her parents. i used to jump into the car after school every day with gossip updates for my mom. she knew everything. except for the period of time when we also had a fight and i leaned on my dad. Change is inevitable in life. You can't stay the same throughout your whole life. But we have to admit that changes are scary. We all, at some points of our lives, wonder if our loved ones would accept our changes, whether they would love the "new us" all the same. "Ophelia After All" says with so much gentleness and love - it’s okay to change, it’s okay to be unsure about who you are. The people who truly love you will always stay by your side, no matter what.Ophelia After All is all about love, discovery, and friendship, and family. We follow Ophelia, a 17 year old Cuban Irish girl who is in her last year of high school, as she navigates through spiraling changes and self-discovery. I absolutely adored following Ophelia as a main character. On a surface level, I loved her love for roses, I loved reading about a main character that has such a huge love for something so special and unique to them. But beyond that, I loved HER. How real she felt. Ophelia is (was) the type of girl who left a little piece of her heart with every boy that caught her attention. Which got her the label of “boy-crazy” Ophelia. But as Ophelia starts realizing that she has feelings for one of her friends, Talia, everything start to feel wrong. Too tight. Every label she thought she fit into didn’t feel right anymore. She was changing. And she didn’t really know *who* she was becoming. It’s the end of senior year, and Ophelia Rojas is overwhelmed by the many changes charging through her life. I, for one, think it’s sweet that O has a hobby she cares so much about,” Ags says, patting me on the head. I swat her hand away. “I just wish it didn’t get in the way of the thematic integrity of our senior year.” It's also a love letter to those who are queer and those who are still figuring it out. That it's okay to not have it all figured out, that it's okay to simply be.

and ophelia’s hopelessly romantic outlook on life. how she falls in love fast fully. how she gives her heart away to those who don’t see the gift that it is. it was how i too used to see the world. While some of the discussions did feel a tad too American for my liking in that they simplified certain issues (i can’t explain but if you know you know), I did enjoy Ophelia reflections of Lacan and the nature of desire. While Ophelia After All wasn’t quite the cute & wholesome read I wanted it to be it still made for a better than okay read. The in-group drama, avoidable miscommunication, and one too many love triangles detracted from an otherwise compelling coming-of-age. If you are reading this expecting it to be a HEA romance, I recommend you adjust your expectations as Ophelia After All was more focused on Ophelia’s character arc and her coming to terms with her sexuality. Everyone knows her as the boy-crazy, botany-lover Ophelia, it's like they have this image of her that pressures her to change. but when she unexpectedly finds herself having feelings for a girl, She starts to question herself. She starts to be in denial, starts to be confused, and starts to be afraid of sudden big changes.

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Follows Ophelia, a biracial Cuban-Irish teen, who has always 'falls in love just a little bit everyday with someone new', or 'boy crazy Ophelia'. But when she starts to realise that she may actually be queer, this quiet revelation will forever change the perceptions of those closest to her. Ophelia Rojas is a wonderful realistic character. reading through her point of view truly was a new kind of experience. This was one of the things that made the book resonate with me so deeply. I said that it would have changed teen-me’s life. But it still hit me deeply as an adult. Because OPHELIA AFTER ALL takes the reader’s hand gently and tells them that it’s okay to change. That change is an integral part of life. And we are everchanging. Teenager. Adult. It doesn’t matter. What Ophelia experiences in this book is a universal feeling. A fantastic debut, Ophelia After All is an honest love letter to all confused, questioning queer kids. It assures us of the inevitability of change and reminds us that the love we receive gives us the strength to be true to ourselves. Its a book that made me cry under the intensity of emotions but soothed me throughout and I hope its the same for you. Sammie swallows the last of his fries, speaking around the mush in his mouth despite missing the first half of the conversation. “You’re right. It’s totally normal for teenage girls to spend their weekends obsessively watering, pruning, and fertilizing their personal rose garden.”

Beautifully written, with a lot of charm and loveable characters, who aren't always perfect (and they don't need to be!) and whom I won't forget any time soon, "Ophelia After All" is 100% worth a read if you're a fan of YA contemporaries. Like a cherry on top, I love how it ended, not like the typical versions of happily ever afters or that Ophelia suddenly has a clarity about herself, just this message that she’s learning herself, that she might never know how to label her sexuality, that she’s valid despite all the uncertainty and self relearning. Ophelia After All is probably one of the best YA contemporaries I've ever read - gorgeous, incredibly heartfelt, so tender and yet so real. I love this book with my whole heart and it will stay with me forever (which is why I've added it to my 'forever in my heart' shelf). ❤

I glance at Agatha, both of us trying to keep a straight face, though it’s harder for me than for her. “I think you guys might want to sit this one out, trust me,” I reply.