Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

51 reviews

katiejohns's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

ashwaar's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

It took me months to finish reading this book! When I began it was very strong and I loved the sharpness of the writing but near the end, I thought it was floundering around. It became a bit over-the-top and dramatic for me but I do think that overall it’s a really strong character story on family, community, trauma, and gentrification.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

heather_palmer's review against another edition

1.0

I wanted to love Olga Dies Dreaming, but was sadly disappointed. 

This was a very ambitious book that proposed to tackle a lot of important themes and issues, but it fell short in its execution. There was too much going on with no real time spent fleshing out these different elements. Due to this, the book felt crowded. The readers were not given enough time and space within the novel to successfully cover everything the author wanted to explore in her narrative or to really connect with it. Leaving me let down by the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility and Abortion

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation

mmulvaney's review against another edition

I read nearly three times as far as I usually would because this was a book club pick, and I want to try and read the book for discussion. However, this book, while it was well written, had issues with organization. I wished that we could have gotten more information about the history of PR sooner. Actually, that part of the story felt kinda thrown in as an afterthought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

taratearex's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Alcohol, and Classism

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

4.0

Title: Olga Dies Dreaming
Author: Xóchitl González
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 4, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Layered • Messy • Dynamic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Brooklyn, 2017

Olga is a successful wedding planner for Manhattan's elite, despite employing some questionable business practices. Her brother, Prieto, is a Congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood, and with many secrets of his own.

Despite alluring public lives, the effects of their mother's sudden departure to advance a militant political cause twenty-seven years earlier continues to impact their lives in so many ways. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, they will come to understand their Puerto Rican heritage and challenge everything they know and feel when their mother comes barreling back into their lives.

Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Olga Dies Dreaming fell into my hands while I was attempting to complete an A-Z author challenge this year. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this complex and layered debut novel, which combines romance, political strife, and family drama.

From the beautifully written first chapter, I instantly knew the propulsive writing style was going to grip me and take me on a messy ride into family dynamics with these flawed and fully developed characters. Not only was I transported into the novel, but I came away having learned about Puerto Rican history. There is no denying that the writing is the heart of this book weaving together a complex multigeneration history of both family and country. It demonstrates how childhood trauma continues to wreck havoc on personal development when our emotions aren't processed.

And while I enjoyed my time with this book, the ending was a little too tidy, especially considering how messy the plot was. It was an ending that felt unrealistic and a little rushed, which definitely took away from the whole experience.

Olga Dies Dreaming unpacks a lot, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by this beautiful debut novel. If you're looking for a lighthearted millennial story, this isn't the book for you. As a reader you must be ready to get messy with Olga and her brother. I cannot wait to see what Xóchitl González has on the horizon.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the family saga
• readers look for a LGBTQIA+ Story
• bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"You must remember, mijo, even people who were once your sails can become your anchors."

"It’s dangerous at your young age to be surrounded by people who don’t value who you are. Who don’t understand you. A child can become lost."

"Women are born with barometers in our belly that make us more sensitive to the climate around us and because we're so often on the lowers rung of any ladder, we're naturally inclined to look out for the least among us." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Outing, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

lolamosk's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, and Abortion

remytherat's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I really loved Olga's character arc; by the end of the book I was cheering for a character that had been pretty unloveable at the start. Dick was also a great villain. Smarmy, guileless and full of all the arrogance that comes with a lifetime of privilege, he was as irritating as you'd expect. While he wasn't at all loveable, that wasn't the point of him; and anyway, there were enough characters who I loved right away to make up for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Medical content

kwurtzel3's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Medical content