Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

17 reviews

jennipea382's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

sha's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Abortion, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

elenareadz's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring 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

4.0

While this book delves into a complicated family, I was struck by the idea of how much I disagreed with the decisions the characters were making, but I still couldn’t put the book down. Both Olga and her brother Prieto try to find their identities on the backdrop of two activist parents who left them to figure out the world on their own. While simultaneously rooting for them to get better, you’re shaking your head at their decisions, but as more of the book goes on, you realize why they look at the world in the way they do. I genuinely learned so much about Puerto Rico’s history, culture, and overall activist groups and activities. 

And Dick was aptly named. As much as I hated him, getting his personal thoughts in the changing PoV was extremely enlightening. Here’s a rich white man who doesn’t necessarily hold hate, at his core is deep indifference and care to anyone who isn’t him. As hard as it was reading his chapters, it showed that at their core, rich white individuals truly do not see what is wrong with their actions, their thoughts, or their beliefs because they absolutely never have to think outside of themselves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Death of parent

eeemily666's review

emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Rape, Death of parent, and Abandonment

lizziaha's review against another edition

• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Bullying, Infertility, Abortion, and Deportation

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.75

My only issue was I didn’t like how anarchism was portrayed. I thought it was fantastic overall, though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

imds's review

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

franklola's review

dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

olga dies dreaming - tho not w/o faults - is a book that will stay w/ me as a result of its deep understanding of the main characters and nuanced exploration of puerto rican identity and struggle, both of which come tgt to create an emotional and rich story. 

the characters are imbued w/ depth, and w/ olga and prieto, we learn more and more abt them the further into the novel, and the core of the story is them coming to important realization abt themselves, which is hard but ultimately satisfying. surprisingly, i also like olga and matteo's relationship, and enjoy how it veers from my initial expectation.  

the setting plays a crucial part in this novel, and both a brooklyn and puerto rico that are rarely portrayed in the mainstream help breathe a lot of life unti the story. the sense of community that persists in both gentrifying brooklyn and struggling puerto rico are uplifting too. another i rly applaud gonzalez for is the portrayal of how the rich and powerful encroach into politics, how a small few can wield so much influence as a result of corruption, so easily holding hostage a whole nation in its hands. the book's depiction of revolution and fight for the better good are thought-provoking as well, and i do hope the 2025 PR shown in this book will become a reality sooner than later.

while the story caps off on a satisfying note, there's still a few loose - or antithetical - ends. the resolution of preito's struggle w/ the selby brothers seems too easy for me; their downfall is only mentioned in broad strokes and i wonder why they didnt make use of bonilla to leak the preito's pics or info on blanca. at times it seems like important stuff happens off-pg, and this is an example. nevertheless, this is a rich, full-bodied book thats thought-provoking, relevant and emotionally impactful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Death and Death of parent

katharina90's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The audiobook was a great choice. Having this story read to me by Puerto Rican narrators added so much to the experience. 

At its core I think this is a story about living with and healing from various traumatic experiences. The author weaves so many important topics into this novel but still manages to keep it fairly light and entertaining. 

The characters are 3-dimensional and complex familial and romantic relationships are portrayed well. Somehow I still wasn't super invested though.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Abortion