Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Olga Dies Dreaming

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

16 reviews

berrypatch's review

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

This book was absolutely incredible. Underscored by events in Puerto Rico and the deep sociological tension between a neglectful and manipulate mother and her pining children, Olga Dies Dreaming gives an impactful and informative insight into the impact of community, corruption of power, and pull between expectations and personal fulfillment. I cried many times.

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mattyvreads's review

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I don’t think I liked this book… I’m still thinking about it though.

Here are some things that I think that the author does quite well:
> Has a meaningful and nuanced dialogue about parental neglect, emotional abuse, and exploitation, in an otherwise less-than-subtle story.
> Centers gay people and women.
> Was genuinely exciting in parts.
> Has moments of emotionality and tenderness.
> Has a beautiful book cover. The best I’ve seen all year.

Okay, that’s about it.

Honestly, once I suspended disbelief, I enjoyed a lot of the story, particularly the middle third which was really successful for me. The characters themselves are very intriguing, and the plot kept me guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of it. Other times, it was a chore to turn the page.

Here are things about the book I don’t care for:
> The dialogue and actions of the characters is ultra-stylized and over-the-top. That style didn’t really click for me.
> I found all the characters vaguely annoying. All of them.
> Some of the talking points in the book felt entirely unfinished, unearned, or even sometimes, disrespectful. (Many made contextual sense! These moments were really successful: a thorough discussion of closeted homosexuality and the pressures of a Catholic upbringing. Emotional abuse and neglect. The problematicism of white social justice warriors. Colorism. A denouncement of “elevating” foreign food. Talking about the lack of mainland aid from America in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Maria. That was all fascinating and so successful.) The talking points which felt unearned or disrespectful: random invocation of unrelated national tragedies and genocide. A quick and unresolved discussion of sexual assault. Seemingly, a few misguided jabs at the leftist youth of America?

The author would sometimes make actual critique, but I often wondered what point the author was trying to make, or if there was a point with those latter topics. Mostly it felt that the author was almost saying something, and then chose not to. Saying a lot, but saying nothing —

In the latter third of the book, Olga is sexually assaulted by an ex. This scene, and its subsequent fallout, was not handled with particular care by the author. First of all, the assault is from the POV of the assailant, which is particularly disturbing. I question why the author decided to frame the scene in that way. The aftermath is also troubling.

Olga briefly mentions that she refuses to think about the incident as it would “make her a victim.” As if people who are survivors of sexual assault are somehow inferior? Or just the way that they respond to it makes them somehow inferior? Hmm… It’s a deeply troubling sentiment.

When she reveals this news to her boyfriend, the author had the chance to say something in that moment. Instead he responds with some unimpressive remark, and then proceeds to scold her about other elements of their relationship! And that’s the last we hear of it!! Like….? I just don’t get it.

And one could make the argument that sometimes people don’t know what to say, and maybe this is the realistic response for that character, but the rest of the book doesn’t have realistic dialogue! Why should we just settle for this right before the “happily ever after”?

Oh also, at one point, the protagonist randomly sh!ts on sex workers, and there’s another part where her niece corrects her brother to say “queer” instead of “gay”. Those moments gave me slight pause. It does center a gay character, but the text oozed heterosexuality in a way that was confusing and disinteresting to me.

Overall, I liked parts of the book, but would probably not read it again.

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ashwaar's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

4.0

It took me months to finish reading this book! When I began it was very strong and I loved the sharpness of the writing but near the end, I thought it was floundering around. It became a bit over-the-top and dramatic for me but I do think that overall it’s a really strong character story on family, community, trauma, and gentrification.

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ferboss2023's review

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emotional 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

4.75

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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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