24 Oct 2022

Audio #Review: OPHELIA AFTER ALL by Racquel Marie

OPHELIA AFTER ALL

Author: Racquel Marie

Series: N/A
Source: Audio from Libro.fm
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 8, 2022
Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:

Summary:

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.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Content Warning: homophobia

Ophelia Rojas is a girl that everyone knows these things about her: she loves roses, papas rellenas, and is a boy-crazy hopeless romantic. But when she begins to have feelings for a girl, she's not sure how to navigate. As time goes on, and her feelings grow stronger, Ophelia has to decide whether to hold her secrets close to her heart, or let people in on her journey of self-discovery.

I'm so glad I read this because teen-me would have ate this up and adult me needed it as a reminder that I wasn't - and aren't - broken for being a boy crazed bi. The overall message here was that it's okay to not know what label fits you best, to have fluidity in your identity, and that change is okay and necessary!!

Ophelia’s journey with questioning her sexuality made me so emotional. I wanted to both hug her tightly and also give her a push in the right direction. Ophelia was always used to having everything figured out, so when she starts getting feelings for her new friend Talia, everything is thrown out of focus for her. We see Ophelia struggling with her feelings of confusion and doubts over what she always thought was true. It was such an honest and beautiful portrayal of a questioning teen.

While I never went to my prom, this took me right back into the last semester of high school and all the fears and heightened emotions we felt about change. Racquel Marie's writing is gorgeous, the prose does everything you'd want, and each of the characters is so beautifully written.

I listened to the audiobook, and I think it was very well done. The narrator really got the fear, the gay panic, and the characterizations of our MC. I thought it was an immersive experience to listen to this one!

I highly recommend picking this one up!