Ophelia After All

Racquel Marie

Feb 2022 · Sold by Feiwel & Friends

About this ebook

A teen girl navigates friendship drama, the end of high school, and discovering her queerness in Ophelia After All, a hilarious and heartfelt contemporary YA debut by author Racquel Marie.

Ophelia Rojas knows what she likes: her best friends, Cuban food, rose-gardening, and boys – way too many boys. Her friends and parents make fun of her endless stream of crushes, but Ophelia is a romantic at heart. She couldn’t change, even if she wanted to.

So when she finds herself thinking more about cute, quiet Talia Sanchez than the loss of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, seeds of doubt take root in Ophelia’s firm image of herself. Add to that the impending end of high school and the fracturing of her once-solid friend group, and things are spiraling a little out of control. But the course of love—and sexuality—never did run smooth. As her secrets begin to unravel, Ophelia must make a choice between clinging to the fantasy version of herself she’s always imagined or upending everyone’s expectations to rediscover who she really is, after all.

"Ophelia Rojas is the type of character that leaps off the page and directly into your heart—Ophelia After All is a queer delight through and through." —Leah Johnson, bestselling author of You Should See Me in a Crown

Ratings and reviews

I liked this book. I think it is important, so important nowadays for these kinds of stories to be written to let teens know that what they are going through, in trying to figure out who they are, is normal though it may lead to a different direction than they were planning. The author uses a sweet and loveable cast of characters to get his point across with the main one being Ophelia of course. I love that she is so into botany with her roses and such. It adds a nice touch and helps to round out her character. This is based in the tumultuous time, right before prom and graduation and that adds to the excitement and turmoil with Ophelia trying to decide who she wants to go with. It was cool to follow her as she kinda veered from her usual "boy crazy" type to new territory in Talia. And though it was tough and made a lot of changes to her plans, it was real and showed that no matter who your are or what your interests are, you are ever changing and that is something everyone should no. This was a good book and a good thing to read to start off this new year!

A Much Needed YA This is a story of navigating the dramas of high school and figuring out who you are and where you want to be going very soon in the future. There are diverse characters who must deal with bullying, racism, and stereotypes on top of all the personal stuff of graduating high school. I enjoyed the friendships and families, but found there were too many characters to keep track of and to learn to care for as I read on. I think this is a lighter young adult drama that many people will need to read as the author tackles what sexuality means for individuals and how difficult it can be to learn to be yourself and find the strength to be okay with yourself. The message of not fitting into one person's idea of gender will have readers seeing themselves inside this book. I would have liked more things to actually happen, but the plot was based more on internal conflicts than characters taking big risks.

This one was cute, but just not my thing. Even as a high schooler, the drama drove me crazy. It was wayyyy too much. The friend group dynamics were neat, but they weren't enough to salvage the book. And the romance was mildly misleading. I like what this one tried to accomplish, but it wasn't my thing

About the author

Racquel Marie grew up in Southern California, where her passion for storytelling of all kinds was encouraged by her friends and big family. She received a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in gender and sexuality studies from the University of California, Irvine. There is, unexpectedly, a C in her first name. She is the author of Ophelia After All, You Don’t Have a Shot, and This Is Me Trying.