Review by rach - Olga Dies Dreaming

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rach 's review for:

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

4.25

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A beautifully written and heartbreaking narrative of the effect of maternal abandonment on two kids who desperately lived for their absent mother’s approval while she only contacted them to manipulate them whenever she needed something, withholding her praise and subtly driving a wedge in between each of them and the family who loved and cared for them in her place. At the same time, we also see the history of colonization and gentrification in the US and in Puerto Rico, and how politicians are often coerced or bribed to do the will of the rich, not what is best for the people as a whole. The effects of the extreme government corruption are highlighted when a devastating hurricane sweeps across Puerto Rico, destroying lives and the land. While no one can stop a hurricane, so much could have been done to prevent loss of life; and yet, the people of Puerto Rico were abandoned.

My favorite part of this story was seeing Olga and Prieto finally come together with their family and be completely honest about everything - their business dealings, their sexuality, and most importantly, how their mother Blanca had been writing to each of them. It was in those moments of sharing the truth with those that love them unconditionally that both Olga and Prieto were finally able to find freedom and peace from their mother’s abuse, to decide that they deserved happiness, too.

I also loved Matteo and Olga’s relationship - the way they found joy in one another, and didn’t let one another off the hook for hurtful behavior, and worked together with therapists to overcoming their emotional issues and communicate in a healthy manner. Matteo isn’t perfect but he’s pretty close, as Olga’s cousin Mabel would put it, and they were good for one another.

More than anything, I appreciate how hopeful this book is. It’s set, for the most part, during 2017, written during 2021-22, and flashes forward to our current day. It would have been very hard to imagine the frightening place our country is in right now, so there’s a different crisis in this alternate 2025, but even through that, there is hope that we will come through the other side somehow, and I’m holding on to that hope. This book made me righteously angry at times (especially every part from Dick’s perspective), so it’s not exactly the type of book to help you escape current events, but it is the type to help you think more about what people need, and how we can best serve those around us. It’s a book about family, love, community, and culture, and those are important things to hold on to.

Content Warnings