Ophelia is of Cuban and Irish descent and loves roses, and she's always crushing on boys and longing for romance and Love™. In this book Ophelia struggles with her crush on a girl, ignoring or excusing away her past attraction to girls, and resenting the childish and heteronormative image her loved ones have of her, fearing they'll no longer love her if/when she breaks out of that box. Honestly so real.
Ophelia has a big diverse group of friends, whom I mostly all liked at varying levels. Each friend had a different dynamic with Ophelia; she develops closer friendships with Talia (Afro-Puerto Rican) and Wesley (Korean American). I especially liked the latina amiga bonding between Talia and Ophelia. There's a love triangle within the friend group that is very dramatic, and it's annoying for the friends outside of it. There's also drama about who's asking who to prom. Ophelia was too prone to avoidance when it came to her problems, which was relatable and understandable, but obviously made things worse and was annoying to read ("just talk to each other!!!").
I liked Ophelia as a character and liked the story despite finding some parts of it challenging. I would recommend it to anyone who identifies with any part of the story. I wish I'd had this book in high school.

Read the full review, plus trigger warnings, at https://fileundermichellaneous.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-review-ophelia-after-al... ( )

queer-inclusive teen fiction - Cuban-American high-schooler (12th grade) Ophelia, who has always been considered "boy-crazy," throwing her heart out to one boy after another, finds herself unexpectedly crushing on another girl; very quickly things get complicated among her friends (each of whom is dealing with their own messy feelings).

Despite all the self-inflicted angst and overwhelming FEELINGS being thrown about in the midst of all the prom drama (so much drama, you guys--I don't miss this part of high school), this was a really fun read with complicated, dimensional characters and complicated relationships. It's amazing how helpful it can be to learn about the different LGBTQAI+ labels that people can choose to use, so I think (and very much hope) that this will help a lot of kids who may be going through some confusing times.

Recommended. ( )

Ophelia After All is not a romance novel. It is a beautiful, thoughtful coming of age story. Ophelia is a Cuban/Irish American girl discovering her queerness and herself in the final months of high school. Ophelia has always had crushes on boys and starts to question everything about herself and how people see her, when she becomes attracted to a girl.
Ophelia has a great diverse group of friends. There were characters who were Black, Asian, mixed race, bisexual, biromantic, asexual, pansexual, aromantic and plus size. I liked how this book portrayed queerness as fluid and that it's difficult to put people and human sexuality into little boxes.
Olivia and her friends were well-developed, messy, relatable characters. It's important that teens see this kind of representation and that the path to discovering yourself is not always easy or perfect.
I love the gorgeous cover that reflects Ophelia's love of botany. #BookishFirst ( )

This is a stunning, STUNNING debut! I expected this to actually lean more on the side of romance, but it is so much more than that! It is true YA novel: a coming of age story focusing on a character on the path to discovering who she is versus who people expect her to be. Readers will absolutely fall in love with Ophelia, quirks and all, as she finds herself throughout this story! I specifically loved her journey because Ophelia not only tackles who she is in relation to romantic relationships, but also who she is in her friendships and in her family. This element really elevated the story for me because it showcased that while Ophelia's self-discovery is especially relevant to future romantic relationships (obviously), it is most important to her as an individual. She is who she is regardless of who she's with or likes. The emphasis the author gave to this fact absolutely made the book for me since its surprisingly lacking in other coming-of-age contemporaries I've read within the past few years. Overall, this is an affirming, heart-warming story that everyone is sure to enjoy! ( )

"How do you say what you can't explain?...Things may be changing, but this change feels like too much. What happens when you tell the girls who trust and love you that you realized that you sometimes looked at them the way they expect boys do?"-Ophelia After All

Ophelia After All is a beautiful story about a girl who is finding herself in the midst of her senior year of high school. It takes place in the final months of high school, when colleges have been chosen and The Prom is on everyone's minds. Who will be going with who? Ophelia especially wants answers to this question.

Everyone in her life know her for two things, her penchant for gardening and being "boy crazy". But as Ophelia navigates through the last months of her senior year, she has to figure out who she really is, especially as new relationships and friendships bloom like the roses she is so fond of tending to.

The writing in this story really captivated me as we really got a glimpse into Ophelia's brain as she went through the turmoil and struggle of figuring our her identity and desires, her denial, confusion, and fear of rejection, and overall coming to terms with who she is as a person. ( )