Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Olga Dies Dreaming

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Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

42 reviews

khaleesimod93's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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

This book is as emotionally charged as they come. I love Olga and her brother, Prieto. They are both such complex characters who are so alike and yet so different. Olga is the one I truly connected with. She is so successful, well they both are, yet there is something missing. It shows that you can have everything and still not be fully satisfied. There were so many themes tackled in the story. It made for a complex and sometimes overwhelming reading experience. Regardless of the complexities, I truly enjoyed the book. I felt how angry and hurt and frustrated Olga was. Pietro pulled at the heart strings just as much. Their struggles as people jumped off the page. But not only their individual struggles, but the racism and stereotypes perpetrated by society because of their culture. It hurt, but it's so accurate. My only issue with the book was the back and forth between time frames and characters. It made it really hard to keep up with the story. But, I did get used to it. I just wish it hadn't been such a struggle.

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katiejohns's review against another edition

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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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ssamdaly's review against another edition

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slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

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teatunesandtales's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

SYNOPSIS:

Olga & Pedro (“Pierto”) Acevedo are siblings, who were born & raised in Brooklyn. Olga is a wedding planner for rich folks, and Pierto is a Congressman. They are in their 40s.
Both siblings are smart, savvy, educated, and Puerto Rican.
Their father died when they were young, and their mother abandoned them prior to their dad’s death. Their mother is an estranged radical, who is fighting for the liberation of Puerto Rico.
When Hurricane Maria hits, many issues come up for the siblings.

MY THOUGHTS

I wanted to like this novel, as it nice to see Puerto Rican representation in literature, but this fell flat for me. Although, clearly, I am an outlier with the rave reviews.
There were too many plots going on at once.
The writing style felt very juvenile, YA to me.
I didn’t find the two main characters very likable. I also didn’t like how the author portrayed them.
I didn’t find being closeted in NYC in 2017 to be very believable.
Some of the characters felt like caricatures & not realistic.
I appreciated a lot of points made about colonization & Puerto Rico, but I felt the author wasn’t clear where she actually landed. The “radical” group of revolutionaries are vilified throughout the book, and government intervention is equally criticized. It makes it unclear what route people should support.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️.75. Meh, fell flat for me.

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melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

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nataliebootlah's review against another edition

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challenging informative 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? No

4.0

This novel covers many themes—gentrification, colonialism, familial relationships, politics, cultural and sexual identity, corruption, love. Gonzalez left nothing out of the spotlight.

Olga and Prieto are siblings. Both have quietly struggled with their mother’s abandoment decades ago to support Puerto Rican independence. Although they receive letters from her, they’re typically to ridicule them for partaking in the “American Dream” or to push them towards achieving her anarchist legacy. This novel portrays Olga and Prietos’ struggles to define themselves outside of their parents’ activism, abuse, societal expectations, and their own pasts.

While dense with political information, this novel will pull you in a few different ways. At times, I felt simultaneously sympathetic and totally aggravated with the characters. It’s a smorgasbord of sub-plots, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Puerto Rican politics (or PR in general) isn’t a common theme I see in books, which means I need to diversify my bookshelves. I’m reminded of how little I know about Puerto Rico. Yet seeing a congressman of Puerto Rican descent be the only one expected to talk about PR issues was uncomfortably realistic making it a good read.

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