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A review by laurensilva
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
emotional
tense
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
The jacket synopsis does the book a disservice by trying to tie it into a clean, straightforward plot line. Olga Dies Dreaming accomplishes much more than that, thanks of course to Xochitl Gonzalez's broad imagination and skillful writing from the heart.
There is a story progression from start to finish, but it's hardly the main point of the book. Rather, the characters' development, their relationships with themselves and with others, is the true focal point. We are along for the ride as each main character grapples with the "facts" of their pasts and how those have informed their entire lives. Gonzalez explores identity deeply, through chapters written in varying character viewpoints; not just how a person sees themselves, but how other people see them, their circumstances, how those identities came to be, and how those varying identities conflict with each other. So often, there is no one identity, no one right answer, especially when it comes to heritage.
For example, late in the book, Prietocomes to the realization that swooping into post-Maria Puerto Rico as a well-to-do congressman is not entirely different from other privileged Americans flying in to distribute supplies then returning to their own comfortable homes, even though he is of Puerto Rican descent. This (among other things) is partially why Blanca, his mother, bans him from the island and rejects him as a puertorriqueño. But he knows, and we know, that despite her importance on the island, she cannot take that identity, heritage, and "cultural inheritance" away from him.
I also loved how towards the end, there is a massive reckoning within the Ortiz/Acevedo family about Blanca, exposing how she and her letters to the family were extremely manipulative and emotionally abusive. Her words had cemented Olga's and Prieto's (and our) convictions about themselves, each other and the rest of the world, only to find that once they stepped outside of Blanca's manipulated world, there was much more to see and learn than her narrow view. Nothing is ever so simple as one person's viewpoint being the one correct answer.
There is a story progression from start to finish, but it's hardly the main point of the book. Rather, the characters' development, their relationships with themselves and with others, is the true focal point. We are along for the ride as each main character grapples with the "facts" of their pasts and how those have informed their entire lives. Gonzalez explores identity deeply, through chapters written in varying character viewpoints; not just how a person sees themselves, but how other people see them, their circumstances, how those identities came to be, and how those varying identities conflict with each other. So often, there is no one identity, no one right answer, especially when it comes to heritage.
For example, late in the book, Prieto
I also loved how towards the end, there is a massive reckoning within the Ortiz/Acevedo family about Blanca, exposing how she and her letters to the family were extremely manipulative and emotionally abusive. Her words had cemented Olga's and Prieto's (and our) convictions about themselves, each other and the rest of the world, only to find that once they stepped outside of Blanca's manipulated world, there was much more to see and learn than her narrow view. Nothing is ever so simple as one person's viewpoint being the one correct answer.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Rape, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Homophobia