Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

112 reviews

salemander's review

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Racism

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual assault

julieriley99's review

emotional informative reflective

• 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

Minor: Rape, Addiction, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse

reasek's review

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Drug use, and Gun violence

adlane22's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide

Minor: Drug abuse

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

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

Minor: Abortion, Bullying, Deportation, and Infertility

quirkydrinkerofink's review

challenging emotional informative reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Suicide, Rape, Abandonment, War, and Emotional abuse

pallasreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Drug abuse and Homophobia

madzsmiled's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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 is an excellent study of generational trauma, duty versus self-fulfillment, and the Puerto Rican Diaspora. 

Olga and Prieto are the pinnacle of the American dream - grandchildren of immigrants who find success along all the right pathways, much to the chagrin of their revolutionary mother. I think more than anything this book demonstrates the complexities of cultural identity and the importance of creating a supportive family (whether that's by blood or not). While at points it meandered through the plot, the story was not about Blanca the revolutionary, but rather Olga and Prieto coming into their own as individuals. They each find happiness in honesty and fighting the good fight in their own ways. I really loved it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Rape and Terminal illness

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

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

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