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emmieanna's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
I went into this book with no expectations, as I don’t really read romance but this has always been on my radar and was chosen for a YA bookclub that I run. It is safe to say that I loved it! The Hamlet references were stunning but not too in your face and the cast of characters were all likeable in their own ways. Did not expect Ophelia’s greatest help to come from where it did and enjoyed that the characters surprised me by falling outside of the roles I had predicted for them at the beginning. I felt more attached to Ophelia than any protagonist in a romance novel, maybe because it fed into the ‘anti-romance’ trope that I love so dearly.
I think I really needed this book to open my eyes to some of my own internalised homophobia towards bisexuality, but didn’t realise it until I read it. Raquel Marie has a way of manipulating the characters’ experiences that made me look inward and such a beautiful understanding of character development.
I think I really needed this book to open my eyes to some of my own internalised homophobia towards bisexuality, but didn’t realise it until I read it. Raquel Marie has a way of manipulating the characters’ experiences that made me look inward and such a beautiful understanding of character development.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia
jachnax's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Biphobia
Minor: Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Acephobia/Arophobia
sapphic_swiftie's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
wow, just wow. this book was so, so, phenomenally good in so so many different ways. i think part of the reason it meant so much to me was that i seemed to have read it at the perfect time in my life. not only had i just finished a research paper on different portrayals of hamlet's ophelia, but i also was feeling so many of the same feelings and going through similar things as ophelia and her friends. being able to see such beautiful, messy, and realistic characters that are so well-written and developed means so much to me. the part i think that i loved most was how it didn't work out with ophelia and talia romantically. like i loved how the author showcased that to illustrate that unrequited crushes are part of being a teenager! also, being in a relationship, especially when it is clear that the character may not be quite ready, is not a requirement for a happy ending!! so big props to this book for highlighting this, even when that's not exactly common within this genre!
if that doesn't yet convince you to read this book, i will also mention the great representation this book has alongside its amazing themes and lessons. i especially liked how ophelia chose not to label her sexuality as that isn't something often depicted in media. i also read this book in a week (which is actually a short amount of time for me as a slow reader) which further proves how much i loved this book!! so go pick up this book and see its beauty for yourself <3
if that doesn't yet convince you to read this book, i will also mention the great representation this book has alongside its amazing themes and lessons. i especially liked how ophelia chose not to label her sexuality as that isn't something often depicted in media. i also read this book in a week (which is actually a short amount of time for me as a slow reader) which further proves how much i loved this book!! so go pick up this book and see its beauty for yourself <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Mental illness and Biphobia
Minor: Alcohol
lindsayerin's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Minor: Toxic friendship
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Cursing, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, Outing, and Misogyny
Minor: Toxic friendship and Sexual content
decklededgess's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
trigger warnings: anxiety, coming out
This was so stinking cute. Racquel did an amazing job of encompassing the coming of age chaos of a teenager. The book packs so much chaos in the span of like two months (i think) that you FEEL Ophelia's steadily increasing anxiety and internal turmoil about realising she's queer. I loved the message that romantic love isn't the only kind of love that sustains people. It's frankly such a perfect book!
This was so stinking cute. Racquel did an amazing job of encompassing the coming of age chaos of a teenager. The book packs so much chaos in the span of like two months (i think) that you FEEL Ophelia's steadily increasing anxiety and internal turmoil about realising she's queer. I loved the message that romantic love isn't the only kind of love that sustains people. It's frankly such a perfect book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship
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
armontheroad's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
I deeply appreciate this book and cannot get into how much it means without crying. My only critique is that a book about queer identities leaves out trans people in the language that is used around gender. I really wish cis authors would stop referring to people as “male and female” because it is trans and intersex exclusive and dehumanizing to loads of people of color. That alone wasn’t enough of a reason for me to not give this five stars. I adored this was NOT a romance! Cannot believe how many important conversations Racquel Marie managed to pack into this quick novel but I am thoroughly impressed! Cannot wait to read more from her.
CWs/TWs: TERF language (moderate), toxic friendship (major), racism (moderate), homophobia (moderate), the fetishization of sapphics (minor), toxic family relationship (moderate).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism and Homophobia
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