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A review by alainajreads
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
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
4.0
I found myself going back and forth on my rating, based on factors of how well it was executed, how connected I felt to the characters, and my own enjoyment of it. This book attempted to tackle a lot and it already had so many important themes packed into it, from gentrification and capitalism, colonialism, family and parental abandonment, HIV/AIDS, sexual assault, Hurricane Maria and the US government’s mishandling of the disaster, and Latino identity. The genre jumped between a family drama, a political thriller, and a romance.
I will say that Olga Dies Dreaming was very well-written, and Gonzalez’s writing style caught my attention from the first chapter. I was really drawn into Olga and Prieto’s story and the complexity of their characters and the relationship between the siblings, their absent mother, and the rest of their family. I enjoyed Olga’s relationship with Matteo and learning to let herself trust after her abandonment issues and develop as a character (and call out the 45th President live on TV- we love to see it!) was satisfying. It was refreshing to read about a 40 year old protagonist finding love.
The last part of the book did feel rushed, with so many plot points wrapped into the last third of the book, and after seeing other reviews I agree with the sentiment that while Xochitl Gonzalez was ambitious in trying to cover so much background and Puerto Rican history in under 400 pages, the risk might not have paid off and left an incomplete narrative. However, I did listen to the audiobook and the narrators did a good job telling the story from different perspectives (with one scene toward the end was very hard to listen to). Olga Dies Dreaming attempted to cover a lot of ground, to varying degrees of success, in an overall impactful read.
I will say that Olga Dies Dreaming was very well-written, and Gonzalez’s writing style caught my attention from the first chapter. I was really drawn into Olga and Prieto’s story and the complexity of their characters and the relationship between the siblings, their absent mother, and the rest of their family. I enjoyed Olga’s relationship with Matteo and learning to let herself trust after her abandonment issues and develop as a character (and call out the 45th President live on TV- we love to see it!) was satisfying. It was refreshing to read about a 40 year old protagonist finding love.
The last part of the book did feel rushed, with so many plot points wrapped into the last third of the book, and after seeing other reviews I agree with the sentiment that while Xochitl Gonzalez was ambitious in trying to cover so much background and Puerto Rican history in under 400 pages, the risk might not have paid off and left an incomplete narrative. However, I did listen to the audiobook and the narrators did a good job telling the story from different perspectives (with one scene toward the end was very hard to listen to). Olga Dies Dreaming attempted to cover a lot of ground, to varying degrees of success, in an overall impactful read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Outing, Colonisation, and Homophobia