Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

31 reviews

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

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

daniellekat's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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

4.25

I’m having a very hard time rating this book. 
Overall the writing was excellent, especially at the beginning. I loved the first half of this book. The organization of the book was engaging with the multiple POVs and the letters interspersed. I was invested in the characters and loved all their interactions especially as the book grappled with the theme of identity. 
But as the book went on,

the turning point was after Mabel’s wedding

I started to feel like the author was taking the easy way out. A lot of the conclusions just felt simple and almost unnecessary based on the book up to that point.

I really disliked Preito’s coming out story. It felt like his positive HIV status served only as a purpose for him to come out. Same with the SA, it was an easy way to write Olga’s “breakdown” and that part of the narrative could have been driven in another way.

 
Finally, two things that are personal pet peeves that this book hit were books that have chapter titles but no table of contents and books with pointless epilogues. Ugh. 

I will add that the audiobook narration was 10/10. The multiple narrators and the way they spoke carried so much of the attitude of each of the characters. Would highly recommend that format for anyone looking to read this! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Outing

Minor: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Infertility, and Abortion

HIV/AIDS

mschmidt's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, and Outing

formerbookclubpresident's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

4.5

This book...*sigh* THIS BOOK. 

This book is great. I really enjoyed it, and really appreciated how the author captured the Nuyorican experience, and at parts even made me cry thinking about my own relationship to Puerto Rico as a mainlander. The struggle of not being enough for either country and culture but still carrying them both proudly could not be better described if she tried. The picture of gentrification that she paints is so real and vivid, and given the author's background you can tell this isn't fiction, she's writing from her own experience. 

While I really enjoyed the book, there are a few flaws that I find really hard to get over. Like some other reviewers have mentioned, Prieto 

contracting HIV

just felt cruel and unnecessary and didn't drive his character forward, and felt like a 

push to get him to come out when that could have been achieved a million different ways

. 

The chapter with

Dick SA'ing Olga also

  felt very unnecessary. There were a million ways Olga could've "failed" her mission with Dick and this was not needed. At. All. Also just 

casually mentioning how many times she's been SA'd in the past???

Triggering. 

Finally, Blanca. As a Puerto Rican person myself, the topic of Puerto Rican liberation (like all political topics) requires nuance. It is something that needs to be presented very carefully in order to make the case for liberation (which I felt like the author was for?? and then switched up at the end of the book???) Blanca's portrayal as a villain, who cares about nothing but Puerto Rican liberation hurts the cause for mainlanders/outsiders trying to understand it. It is now painted as some rebel group 

(and the bombing??? bffr)

. I wish that they had made Blanca questionable, and not outright a villain. It would've humanized her in a way that would make readers sympathize with her and not root against her. 

Lastly (and this is my own personal gripe) I wish the author had included a reading list at the end of the book. The novel touches upon so much Puerto Rican history that I would have loved to continue learning about, but because I got it from the library, I don't have the book to go back and look for references to find supplemental materials on. 

Overall, I really liked this book and can't wait to read what the other does next. Pa'lante!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Infertility

hikingblues23's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

It's a good book for a family drama read with a bit of cultural and political history intertwined. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Infertility, Racism, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism

javafenn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

I want to start off by saying the narration is phenomenal! Especially Olga’s. There was so much growth for both Olga and her brother Prieto and the end left you satisfied. The whole book was a roller coaster of emotions and drama. It was great to see a perspective of New York from the eyes of Puerto Ricans. You get a feel for the culture and the familial ties they carry plus the racism and stigma they face as Americans to a foreign land that also happens to be American. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Racism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Outing

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, and Abortion

kdailyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Pregnancy

marthaiselin's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Abortion, and Alcohol