Gorgeously comforting debut full of heart, self-discovery, and identity
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
“Boy crazy” Ophelia knows what she likes until she finds herself crushing on the quiet girl, Talia. Sending her on a journey of self-discovery, Ophelia must look within herself and find herself even if it might upend everyone’s expectations of her.
🏳️🌈 Queer Rep ✒️ Debut Author 💗 Heart Warming 🌼 Self Discovery
- Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Book Review
Warm, delightful, relatable, heartfelt, genuine, honest, messy, full
Ophelia After All is a stunningly gorgeous book about discovering who you are, finding your support systems, and learning to be okay with where you are on your own journey. This book is a warm hug to anyone who has ever questioned anything about their identity and wound up lost and confused. It is honest, genuine, and full of heart. Ophelia and her friends will steal your heart in this comforting and delightful debut. I found myself smiling the entire time and unable to put it down until I finished.
Ophelia Rojas is a romantic at heart and has been called “boy-crazy” by her friends and family for as long as she can remember. She’s confident in her interests and knows what she loves to do: tend to her beautiful garden. But when she finds herself thinking more about Talia Sanchez than the fantasy of a perfect prom with her ex-boyfriend, she starts to question her image of herself. Ophelia is then forced on a journey of self-discovery that could upend everyone’s expectations of her.
Ophelia After All is genuine and introspective. It’s real and full of heart. It’s full of teens who are still figuring out who they are and they aren’t sure where that journey will end, or if it ever will. Finding yourself is something we do day in and day out for our entire lives and the way that Racquel wrote working through Ophelia’s sexuality crisis just as natural as finding your true friends is really something special. We get the privilege to work through Ophelia’s identity crisis with her and it is sure to pull on your heartstrings. We get to see how the pressures of friends can be complicated even when deep down we know our friends will support us. How do you even begin to tell the people who know you better than you know yourself? How do you tell them when you don’t even know what these feelings are?
Ophelia’s sexuality crisis is delightfully messy and relatable. This journey is not linear and is different for everyone. Racquel captures the depth and messiness so wonderfully it will pull you right in. Ophelia doesn’t find herself crushing on a girl for the first time and think “that’s it! I’m bi!” because it isn’t always that linear. She doesn’t know what to make of it and does internal and external work to figure out what is comfortable and what makes sense for her. She works to find a support system and learns the language that has given so many people comfort. But she also recognizes that none of these labels might be right for her and that not choosing a label or falling into a precise language is completely fine. This story is deeply comforting and highly relatable. As I think about this book I can’t help be confronted with how blessed kids are today that books like this are starting to be published. I know this book will help someone out there and I’m so thankful it exists.
Ophelia After All is a beautiful book of self-discovery, questioning, friendship, and support systems. It’s a warm hug to anyone who has ever questioned anything about their identity and I can’t help think about how lucky we are that books like this exist. It is absolutely stunning.
