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literarypenguin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ophelia is a senior in high school and has always been known as boy-crazy while lovingly taking care of her garden of beautiful roses. When she starts spending time with a new female friend named Talia, Ophelia starts to release she may not have known herself as well as she thought she did and the boy crazy image people created of her might not be true. I may have found a new comfort read and a personal favorite! This was such a great and beautiful coming-of-age story that I am glad exists! This book will help people who are questioning and captures the feeling of questioning yourself perfectly. I loved how unique this book was and how it talked about all the different types of sexualities and spectrums there are. It really made people feel like they aren’t alone in how they feel or who they want to love.
The writing was very good & it felt like you were right there alongside Ophelia while she struggled with her thoughts and her self-doubts. It did feel a bit repetitive at times usually at the beginning of chapters but it wasn’t enough to dampen my enjoyment overall. The characters were written in a way that made them realistic and more believable. The places and the pacing were well done too.
The plot focuses on Ophelia starting to develop feelings for a girl when she has never had feelings for girls before. It shows how she navigates these new feelings and how she is afraid if she tells those that she loves then they will see her differently. It deals with all the complicated feelings that come along with coming out and discovering your identity like being afraid of people seeing you in a different way, being afraid of feeling these new feelings, and being labeled as something you are not too sure about. It also features graduation and growing up to young adulthood. It shows the stress and nerves that come with growing up and going to college. How your life will be changing, how you will start to experience new life experiences, and maybe lose or gain new friendships.
Ophelia was such a relatable and amazing main character! I loved her passion for gardening and how she was always there for her family and friends. Her closeness with her parents was refreshing to see when most teenagers aren’t too close with their parents. Her group of friends was definitely my favorite part of the book! Sammie and Agatha were supportive and great best friends to Ophelia! They each had their own personalities with Agatha having a love for fashion and making people feel comfortable in their own skin and Sammie being hilarious and loving history. The new friends they make like Talia and Zaq and Wesley are amazing as well! I loved Wesley the most and how they used him to help Ophelia discover her identity and who she is. He was a great character!
This book takes place in a small town with a lovely community and a lot of personalities! I love how they described the different businesses and the different families that lived there. The best location was Ophelia’s rose garden and how she organized and cared for her roses. It was a beautiful place and was full of love and care, a place well loved and taken care of. I really liked the different locations from all kinds of cultures too and the youth center was great and gave off a welcoming kind of feeling.
The themes in the book were acceptance of one’s self and discovering who you are and who you want to be. It handles these fears delicately and in an honest way. It explores the fear of coming out and how it will not only change the person but change the people who know the person. It also explores the fears of growing up and going through big changes that people aren’t ready for. The theme of found family and family ties is great to see. The part I loved the most though is how you don’t have to choose a label or even fit into one right away or not at all. You can do what makes you feel comfortable and makes you happy.
I really loved this book and I highly recommend this book to anyone questioning themselves or knowing their identity but enjoying a great romance with amazing characters! If you want a realistic found family group or amazing themes you can give this book a try!
The writing was very good & it felt like you were right there alongside Ophelia while she struggled with her thoughts and her self-doubts. It did feel a bit repetitive at times usually at the beginning of chapters but it wasn’t enough to dampen my enjoyment overall. The characters were written in a way that made them realistic and more believable. The places and the pacing were well done too.
The plot focuses on Ophelia starting to develop feelings for a girl when she has never had feelings for girls before. It shows how she navigates these new feelings and how she is afraid if she tells those that she loves then they will see her differently. It deals with all the complicated feelings that come along with coming out and discovering your identity like being afraid of people seeing you in a different way, being afraid of feeling these new feelings, and being labeled as something you are not too sure about. It also features graduation and growing up to young adulthood. It shows the stress and nerves that come with growing up and going to college. How your life will be changing, how you will start to experience new life experiences, and maybe lose or gain new friendships.
Ophelia was such a relatable and amazing main character! I loved her passion for gardening and how she was always there for her family and friends. Her closeness with her parents was refreshing to see when most teenagers aren’t too close with their parents. Her group of friends was definitely my favorite part of the book! Sammie and Agatha were supportive and great best friends to Ophelia! They each had their own personalities with Agatha having a love for fashion and making people feel comfortable in their own skin and Sammie being hilarious and loving history. The new friends they make like Talia and Zaq and Wesley are amazing as well! I loved Wesley the most and how they used him to help Ophelia discover her identity and who she is. He was a great character!
This book takes place in a small town with a lovely community and a lot of personalities! I love how they described the different businesses and the different families that lived there. The best location was Ophelia’s rose garden and how she organized and cared for her roses. It was a beautiful place and was full of love and care, a place well loved and taken care of. I really liked the different locations from all kinds of cultures too and the youth center was great and gave off a welcoming kind of feeling.
The themes in the book were acceptance of one’s self and discovering who you are and who you want to be. It handles these fears delicately and in an honest way. It explores the fear of coming out and how it will not only change the person but change the people who know the person. It also explores the fears of growing up and going through big changes that people aren’t ready for. The theme of found family and family ties is great to see. The part I loved the most though is how you don’t have to choose a label or even fit into one right away or not at all. You can do what makes you feel comfortable and makes you happy.
I really loved this book and I highly recommend this book to anyone questioning themselves or knowing their identity but enjoying a great romance with amazing characters! If you want a realistic found family group or amazing themes you can give this book a try!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Outing and Biphobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Islamophobia
danicampbell0506's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
vaniavela's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ophelia, a botany-loving girl who is known to her parents and friends as a "boy-crazy" girl, embarks on a journey to question her sexuality during her last time in high school.
I love stories written in first person POV. Being in a character's head , reading their feelings and thoughts, is an amazing experience. And this book managed to capture that in a great way.
I liked the realism of her fears. How she fears change, and that the world around her will change the way they see her, treating her differently.
I liked the group of friends. They all have realistic flaws and attitudes, especially as teenagers about to graduate. I loved getting to know about them and their backgrounds; they weren't just put there for the plot, they were three dimensional.
I also love the ending; we weren't given a typical ending where the main character has a certainty of who who they are and is happily ever after. It shows us that she is still on her journey of learning about herself, and that we are valid even with uncertainty and doubt.
The comment about the labels, was also a good element. I loved the mention of how it was not necessary to label oneself in one thing. Also, the mention of how biromantic or bisexual identities are often erased in straight-looking relationships, was appreciated. These issues were handled with great care and made me love this book even more.
It is a beautiful, gorgeous book.
Rep: Biracial Cuban queer-questioning female MC, Korean-American biromantic asexual male SC, Black Puerto-Rican bisexual female SC, Pakistani Muslim queer-questioning male SC, Fat Black aromantic female SC, Black pansexual male SC.
CWs: Homophobia, lesbophobia, racism, cursing. Moderate: Biphobia, sexism, outing, toxic friendship. Minor: Islamophobia, alcohol consumption, drug use, acephobia, fatphobia.
I love stories written in first person POV. Being in a character's head , reading their feelings and thoughts, is an amazing experience. And this book managed to capture that in a great way.
I liked the realism of her fears. How she fears change, and that the world around her will change the way they see her, treating her differently.
I liked the group of friends. They all have realistic flaws and attitudes, especially as teenagers about to graduate. I loved getting to know about them and their backgrounds; they weren't just put there for the plot, they were three dimensional.
I also love the ending; we weren't given a typical ending where the main character has a certainty of who who they are and is happily ever after. It shows us that she is still on her journey of learning about herself, and that we are valid even with uncertainty and doubt.
The comment about the labels, was also a good element. I loved the mention of how it was not necessary to label oneself in one thing. Also, the mention of how biromantic or bisexual identities are often erased in straight-looking relationships, was appreciated. These issues were handled with great care and made me love this book even more.
It is a beautiful, gorgeous book.
Rep: Biracial Cuban queer-questioning female MC, Korean-American biromantic asexual male SC, Black Puerto-Rican bisexual female SC, Pakistani Muslim queer-questioning male SC, Fat Black aromantic female SC, Black pansexual male SC.
CWs: Homophobia, lesbophobia, racism, cursing. Moderate: Biphobia, sexism, outing, toxic friendship. Minor: Islamophobia, alcohol consumption, drug use, acephobia, fatphobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Biphobia, Outing, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Drug use
luananki's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i don’t know how to put into words that i absolutely love this book. there wasn’t a single page i didn’t fall in love with. i did not want the story to end.
there is so much representation and not only queer representation but also the struggle of being an interracial child, i related to ophelia a lot. her not being able to open up and basically pushing everyone away even though she clearly needed someone to talk to and her being scared of destroying the “perfect” imagery her friends and family created of her in their heads and her feeling like she doesn’t truly belong with any culture. i get her, on almost every level.
wes is (like the author mentions in the acknowledgments) a precious cinnamon roll. i’m so glad he became friends with ophelia and supported her even though they didn’t even really know each other in the beginning. he also sounds like a very comforting person to be around. the development of their relationship was one of the thinks i enjoyed the most throughout this book.
i had fun with every single character. their friend group made so much sense. all of them felt real because they all had their own ongoing struggles and flaws to deal with. the emphasis on healthy communication, saying sorry and that queer relationships are about more than having sex, as well as friendship and that no relationship is more important than the other make me so happy.
sammie and agatha are amazing and also lindsay (i appreciate the relationship between her and ophelia so much, it’s sort of painful but also very real) and o’s parents and the youth center and the unexpected aro and ace representation - loved it
i was expecting it to be a full on romance book but i’m even happier it turned out the way it did. the ending fits the story perfectly.
this was a treat in so many ways. i wish i had this when i was younger.
i will hopefully come back to this one day and decide to reread because good queer latine representation is really something i need more of.
thank you racquel marie for writing this story and thank god for booktok for getting this on my fyp <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Cursing, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Biphobia
Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Acephobia/Arophobia, Islamophobia, Sexual content, and Drug use
noamnoam's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
oh this hit a little too close to home
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
dalmavatai's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Such a joy of a book. Funny, lighthearted, with a great friend group and a distinct & memorable voice in our main character, Ophelia. I loved the literary references, the discussion around sexuality and acceptance, and that it's not a perfect ending where everyone gets what they want, but everyone grows and discovers things about themselves along the way. I loved Ophelia's relationship with her parents and her little friend group, though I think some of the characters could have been better developed. I also would've wanted some more exploration of hard hitting topics but obviously this is intended to be a lighthearted book. So happy I picked this one up - plus the cover is gorgeous, I could stare at my copy all day long!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
1. THIS COVER. The minute I saw this cover, I died. So beautiful.
"Ophelia After All" is basically the story of Ophelia Rojas in her senior year of high school. She is "boy crazy," loves her friends, and is a huge romantic at heart. What happens, though, when a girl walks into her life and makes her feel things she didn't think were possible?
This was one of my most anticipated of 2022 and while I liked it, I felt kind of let down. There is a lot to like about this book. It's funny, the side characters are as complicated and fleshed out as our main character, and the coming of age element / figuring out who you are in terms of sexuality is handled in a very realistic way. I could relate to Ophelia's journey to figuring out she's queer in a lot of ways, having been through some of the same confusion when I myself was a senior in high school. I also thought that the literary references were great and they were among some of my favorite parts of the book. There were some scenes where the drama came to a head that had me gasping and turning the pages - well, swiping them, I read this on kindle - extremely quickly.
Unfortunately, Ophelia had some annoying ass friends and they were always present. There was only one or two of them that didn't absolutely make me roll my eyes in the back of my head. I don't know about you, but if someone made fun of me constantly for having crushes on people, I would simply not be their friend. Ophelia's a better bitch than me. I realize this is YA, so I'm not the target audience, but the melodrama in relation to the prom was really difficult for me to care about. However, I DID NOT TAKE A STAR OFF FOR THIS, because I am not the target audience! Having said that, it was an issue for me. I am an adult who enjoys YA, but when the high school politics are very heavy handed, it becomes a little hard for me. One star came off for the friends being total assholes, and another star came off because honestly, I think that this could've been written a little better, and I hate that I think that, because this was a 5 star prediction.
"Ophelia After All" is basically the story of Ophelia Rojas in her senior year of high school. She is "boy crazy," loves her friends, and is a huge romantic at heart. What happens, though, when a girl walks into her life and makes her feel things she didn't think were possible?
This was one of my most anticipated of 2022 and while I liked it, I felt kind of let down. There is a lot to like about this book. It's funny, the side characters are as complicated and fleshed out as our main character, and the coming of age element / figuring out who you are in terms of sexuality is handled in a very realistic way. I could relate to Ophelia's journey to figuring out she's queer in a lot of ways, having been through some of the same confusion when I myself was a senior in high school. I also thought that the literary references were great and they were among some of my favorite parts of the book. There were some scenes where the drama came to a head that had me gasping and turning the pages - well, swiping them, I read this on kindle - extremely quickly.
Unfortunately, Ophelia had some annoying ass friends and they were always present. There was only one or two of them that didn't absolutely make me roll my eyes in the back of my head. I don't know about you, but if someone made fun of me constantly for having crushes on people, I would simply not be their friend. Ophelia's a better bitch than me. I realize this is YA, so I'm not the target audience, but the melodrama in relation to the prom was really difficult for me to care about. However, I DID NOT TAKE A STAR OFF FOR THIS, because I am not the target audience! Having said that, it was an issue for me. I am an adult who enjoys YA, but when the high school politics are very heavy handed, it becomes a little hard for me. One star came off for the friends being total assholes, and another star came off because honestly, I think that this could've been written a little better, and I hate that I think that, because this was a 5 star prediction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
foreverinastory's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Bookish First for a finished copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was so damn good!!
Ophelia After All is a YA Contemporary that follows Ophelia Rojas. She's a biracial Cuban-American senior in high school. In her spare time, she spends it in her rose garden, caring for the various breeds of roses she has. Ophelia has always had such a clear image of herself, but when she develops romantic feelings on her classmate Talia Sanchez, all the things she thought were true are thrown into question.
This book has my whole heart. I loved Ophelia so much. Her journey of questioning and not quite settling on a label is so easy to relate to. I've cycled through several labels myself in the past years before finding ones that truly fit. I loved that this isn't driven by romance. It's driven by Ophelia's internal conflict and all the way her friend group relationship affect each other.
I loved that we find out by the end of this book, Ophelia's whole friend group is basically queer. Also I hardcore headcanon Lindsey as a lesbian. It makes sense. Besides Lindsey, I really came to love every one of Ophelia's friend group. I loved that Ophelia brings Wes, Talia and Zach into their group too. Wes and Ophelia's friendship through chem lab was one of my absolute favorite things of this book. They're just too precious. I hope they remain friends forever.
There's one scene in this book that really spoke to me. It's when Ophelia sees her friend, Lindsey, in an all glam look wearing a super sexy black dress. The way her attraction hit her and she is just like oh fuck is that what this feeling is, sooooo relatable. The way she shoves down her realization and attraction was also extremely relatable. The way women are sold only men as attractive has ingrained this type of response and I'm so glad to see it called out. I kind of want a sequel because I need more of Ophelia. I want to see her at college, super queer, and navigating all the various labels.
Ugh, thinking about this book just makes me think about how much I loved it. Can I live in this book?
Rep: Biracial Cuban queer-questioning female MC, Korean-American biromantic asexual male side character, Black Puerto-Rican bisexual female side character, Pakistani Muslim queer-questioning male side character, fat Black aromantic female side character, Black pansexual male side character, white female side character, various BIPOC and queer side characters.
CWs: Homophobia/homomisia, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, racism, cursing. Moderate: Biphobia/bimisia, sexism, outing, toxic friendship. Minor: Islamophobia, alcohol consumption, drug use, acephobia/acemisia, fatphobia.
This was so damn good!!
Ophelia After All is a YA Contemporary that follows Ophelia Rojas. She's a biracial Cuban-American senior in high school. In her spare time, she spends it in her rose garden, caring for the various breeds of roses she has. Ophelia has always had such a clear image of herself, but when she develops romantic feelings on her classmate Talia Sanchez, all the things she thought were true are thrown into question.
This book has my whole heart. I loved Ophelia so much. Her journey of questioning and not quite settling on a label is so easy to relate to. I've cycled through several labels myself in the past years before finding ones that truly fit. I loved that this isn't driven by romance. It's driven by Ophelia's internal conflict and all the way her friend group relationship affect each other.
I loved that we find out by the end of this book, Ophelia's whole friend group is basically queer. Also I hardcore headcanon Lindsey as a lesbian. It makes sense. Besides Lindsey, I really came to love every one of Ophelia's friend group. I loved that Ophelia brings Wes, Talia and Zach into their group too. Wes and Ophelia's friendship through chem lab was one of my absolute favorite things of this book. They're just too precious. I hope they remain friends forever.
There's one scene in this book that really spoke to me. It's when Ophelia sees her friend, Lindsey, in an all glam look wearing a super sexy black dress. The way her attraction hit her and she is just like oh fuck is that what this feeling is, sooooo relatable. The way she shoves down her realization and attraction was also extremely relatable. The way women are sold only men as attractive has ingrained this type of response and I'm so glad to see it called out. I kind of want a sequel because I need more of Ophelia. I want to see her at college, super queer, and navigating all the various labels.
Ugh, thinking about this book just makes me think about how much I loved it. Can I live in this book?
Rep: Biracial Cuban queer-questioning female MC, Korean-American biromantic asexual male side character, Black Puerto-Rican bisexual female side character, Pakistani Muslim queer-questioning male side character, fat Black aromantic female side character, Black pansexual male side character, white female side character, various BIPOC and queer side characters.
CWs: Homophobia/homomisia, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, racism, cursing. Moderate: Biphobia/bimisia, sexism, outing, toxic friendship. Minor: Islamophobia, alcohol consumption, drug use, acephobia/acemisia, fatphobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Cursing, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Outing, Biphobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Fatphobia, Drug use, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, and Islamophobia
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Thanks to Macmillan Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- Y'all, OPHELIA AFTER ALL is one of the sweetest, queerest books I've ever read.
- This book so beautifully explores discovering new sides of yourself, and grappling not only with coming out generally, but with how earthshaking it can be to understand yourself differently, and to worry about changing the set image of you others have in their heads.
- A range of queer identities are shown, from lesbian to asexual, and most of the characters are people of color as well: just wonderful to see a book about a group of queer teens that isn't primarily white.
- I did feel that it got a little bogged down in Big Teenage Relationship Feelings in the middle, but every character was so lovely I was willing to keep going in hopes of finding them happy and loved at the end.
- On a personal note, my family has always grown roses the way Ophelia does, and I loved seeing the names of hybrids I know and love given the appreciation they deserve.
- Y'all, OPHELIA AFTER ALL is one of the sweetest, queerest books I've ever read.
- This book so beautifully explores discovering new sides of yourself, and grappling not only with coming out generally, but with how earthshaking it can be to understand yourself differently, and to worry about changing the set image of you others have in their heads.
- A range of queer identities are shown, from lesbian to asexual, and most of the characters are people of color as well: just wonderful to see a book about a group of queer teens that isn't primarily white.
- I did feel that it got a little bogged down in Big Teenage Relationship Feelings in the middle, but every character was so lovely I was willing to keep going in hopes of finding them happy and loved at the end.
- On a personal note, my family has always grown roses the way Ophelia does, and I loved seeing the names of hybrids I know and love given the appreciation they deserve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Racism
Minor: Islamophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Biphobia
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