A review by emmieanna
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings