Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Olga Dies Dreaming

wowowow this shit made my fuckin heart hurt!!! love revolution but absolutely fuck anyone who thinks that hurting the people you love is the way to get it. a beautiful combination of community and culture and fighting for justice, this book was so inspiring and genuinely heartfelt. while there were some things that took me out of it the only thing that genuinely made me mad is that Dick doesn’t get murdered and his fucking dick cut off, which is the absolute bare minimum that fucker deserves. <3

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vickyhhh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

Really interesting to learn about Puerto Rico, and the range of characters. Some were a bit one dimensional, mostly the white ones

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dom_madz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Lately, I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of books about secrets. This one does that in a particularly gut-wrenching way. The way that Gonzalez let’s the reader sit with information, then draw their own conclusions about the characters motivations invited a more interactive experience for me. Gosh I really do love flawed characters.

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mmulvaney's review against another edition

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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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taratearex's review against another edition

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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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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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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