Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

32 reviews

sachachi's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Homophobia

Moderate: War and Rape

Minor: Sexual violence

patatepotato's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

The writing style is what both drew me in and left me with. It was beautifully written and spoke about and represented hard topics so well. It was really interesting to learn more about Puerto Rico and it’s history. A beautiful story and arc. The characters were so well written and expressed. 

I will say the second half of the book was a bit slow and frustrating but the ending really helped bring it together. It felt raw and real when some of the other stuff didn’t.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence

astoriareader's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Abandonment

Moderate: Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

crabbytaco's review

emotional informative 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Xenophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Homophobia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Abortion, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Genocide, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Eating disorder

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

---

Content Warnings

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

---

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

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

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Abandonment, Racism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Grief, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Addiction