Reviews with content warning for Rape - Olga Dies Dreaming

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

405 reviews

casserolin_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

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kwolfie's review against another edition

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emotional informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I feel horrible for NOT liking this book, but I also don't want to lie about my opinion. As a white woman, I would never claim to understand the Puerto Rican people's experience, and to be completely honest before this book I didn't know much about anything going on in Puerto Rico. I did learn a TON from this book, but I feel like I could've learned more from a non fiction book without the half baked story shoved into this book. I'm a fiction reader, and I really struggled with keeping my attention on this book and often found myself rereading sections over and over again, especially when there was congressman politics involved. I feel like there can absolutely be an intersection between fiction and learning (take True Biz for example, which I loved) but this just didn't hit that mark for me. It was just generally an incredibly boring story. One thing I did enjoy though was the examination of intersectionality between minority cultures/ethnicities and things like mental illness, HIV/AIDS, and being a woman. I'm a psych major and love anything mental health, but these characters going to therapy would've prevented a good 80% of this book.

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veskumelooni's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bloo_0's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in one day. If I were still teaching high school, I would definitely use this as an ELA/Social Studies unit. Rich with information and a compelling story told beautifully through multiple perspectives. Wow. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

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alaina's review against another edition

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challenging funny 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? Yes

4.5

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jennipea382's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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valareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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aliciae08's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I really wanted to like Olga Dies Dreaming, and there were so many things about the novel that I did find compelling.

Olga Dies Dreaming follows wedding planner extraordinaire and her brother Prietro, a Congressman who is being blackmailed. Both siblings are navigating the world all the while receiving letters from a very absent, revolutionary mother who physically disappeared from their lives when they were still children. Her abandonment coupled with their father’s addiction and later death shape them into these adults who are hyper-fixated on money and being likable. Eventually, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, they see that revolution is possible and may be able to help.

Like I said, it’s a compelling storyline. I really liked how the novel presents the relationship between the siblings, as well as the relationship they each have with the rest of their family. I felt like it was very relatable.

I also really liked how the author took her time in explaining things that I, as an American, should’ve learned in school about Puerto Rico and the diaspora and how policy has made Puerto Rico a poorer country despite it’s rich cultural heritage. I liked that there was a sense of hope that Puerto Rico could throw off the colonizer. I also liked the diversity of characters and how their skin was described reflecting that Puerto Ricans are all different shades.

What I didn’t like was the cast of main characters. They all suck and are somewhat problematic. Matteo was written as so likable and then suddenly wealthy that I felt it was like the author was trying too hard for us to find something redeemable about Olga…because if Matteo likes her, we should too.

I didn’t like Dick—I know we aren’t meant to like him but we didn’t need to be subjected to a whole rape scene. The reality that this happens to people like Olga (intelligent, Ivy educated and access to money) isn’t beyond the realm of possibility but I didn’t like reading it.

I also didn’t like how rushed the ending was. We spend so much time with the characters in the buildup and then it’s just a quick rundown with a potential revolution taking place that we don’t fully get to witness. It was jarring.

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majestyreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the second book I have read by Xochitl Gonzalez and somehow it lived up to and even surpassed my expectations!
In Olga Dies Dreaming, Gonzalez presents a very diverse set of characters that are flawed, complicated, morally-ambiguous, and reflective while also remaining compelling and inspiriting!
The way that the characters’ histories, motivations, and schemes unravel as the novel progresses is presented through varying perspectives that come with vastly different sets of schemas.
In every chapter I didn’t know who I was supposed to root for, what perspectives to trust, and how just everyone was interconnected.
This novel touches on sensitive topics like familial abandonment and manipulation, impacts of American colonialism on the Puerto Rican population- both on the island and the main land- the impacts of being HIV-positive, and the question of what exactly you’re willing to do to live up to the perceived expectations of those around us.

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