Reviews with content warning for Death - Olga Dies Dreaming

I began OLGA DIES DREAMING back in February and lost the opportunity to finish it when I had to return it to the library. On a flight home, I took the chance to complete it and I'm so glad I saw it through. It's an ambitious novel, and I'm not sure it hits every mark, but it has a lot of heart and that I applaud. That this is González' debut just has me excited to see what else she has up her sleeve (!).

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readbycarina's review

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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

4.25

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katiejohns's review

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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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astoriareader's review

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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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