This was a very compelling novel - I didn't always love Olga, Pedro or Matteo, but their complexities as characters felt very real, and made me appreciate them as flawed humans, and well-developed narrators of this story. Gonzalez is ambitious in attempting to cover such broad topics as sexuality, politics, and love in their extremes in this novel, but she does so well, and I think it serves to portray the multifaceted nature of people, and of families in particular. Olga Dies Dreaming portrayed a side to New York that I haven't often come across in such a way that felt so authentic, and by the end of the novel, I felt that I knew these Brooklyners for much longer than just a novel's worth. The pacing of the story did feel off to me at times, and my engagement dipped at points, but this had me very intrigued by Gonzalez as an author and excited to see what she writes next!

Unfortunately I found myself bored reading this book and just didn't want to pick it up. I found the writing broken and could not connect with the characters.

Olga Dies Dreaming is a captivating novel that explores the complexity of family, love, and politics. Set in Brooklyn, the story follows Olga, a successful wedding planner, and her brother, Prieto, a political activist. The two siblings clash over their opposing views on gentrification, while navigating their complicated relationships with their family and partners. The novel features well-drawn characters and tackles important themes such as racism, classism, and identity. While the pacing can be slow at times, the novel's nuanced exploration of these issues makes it a thought-provoking and engaging read.

enjoyed this! - thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

Wow I just loved this book. Told from 2 different perspectives both as thought out and deep as the other. The characters just felt so real, I was rooting for them the whole way. I'd recommend this to anyone! Thank you for the ARC

I bet I am not the only one who never read a book inspired by Puerto Rico´s social and political recent history. The brilliantly written debut novel by Xochitl Gonzalez - herself from a family with its own story of militantism - Olga Dies Dreaming is my first introduction to a topic which remains of actuality.

Olga and her brother, Prieto, are case story of successful American dream: an unnamed Ivy League graduate, she is a successful wedding planner, the ´Puerto Rican Martha Stewart´. Her brother is a local politician. But there are cracks into the picture perfect dream: Olga struggles with relationships and somehow got involved in a money laundering scheme of the Russian mafia. Prieto is divorced, gay in the closet and about to come out and recently HIV positive, blackmail by greedy real estate developers (hopefully not all real estate developers are sharks and there is a character in the book who may prove otherwise). Their mother, Blanca, left them when they were children to fight for the independence of Puerto Rico and keeps sending them self-righteous letters written in a revolutionary vein. Their father was a Vietnam war veteran who died of AIDS.

An outstanding feature of the book is the relatively balanced representation of the characters. They are multi-dimensional, complex, changing their mind during the story, making choices. They think and reflect.

The book may be considered as a literary application of the intersectionalist theory. Although in non-fiction such an approach may be very useful in understanding better the multiplicity of layers of a topic, in literature it raises significant challenges. The nastiest risk is to end up turning a narrative into an ideologically centered piece of work, to turn the story automatically biased and therefore, beyond the good and evil of creativity.

For instance, at the very beginning of the story, Olga has an inner monologue about beautiful wedding napkins as a status and class and money symbol. The idea is not bad, but it sounds very propagandistic and although capitalism is not (always) great, there are ways to show it without such an intermezzo. Also, the mother´s letters although they make sense as discourses, they are like copy pasted from some boring manifesto and sounds like a robot.

Such story switches from fiction to nonfictional messages do damage the story in my opinion and belittle the literary potential. Featuring gently ideological struggles in literature is not an easy task though and forcing up either a direction (literary) or another (ideologically) is easier than trying to keep a right balance between the two. The Patriots does it admirably and as for now, remains my favorite books featuring revolutionary mothers.

Olga Dies Dreaming is an interesting literary experiment and the prose as the strory construction promise - hopefully - future better books by Xochitl Gonzalez. The characters particularly are very dense and the dynamic between them is well pondered. Particularly the relationship between Olga and her brother are very special and one of the things I loved the most about this book.

A big recommendation from me for Olga Dies Dreaming!

It took me too long to read this (my fault, not the book!) as I was trying to finish a few other things, but finally gave it some focus over the last week and it was such a great read that is a little bit different from anything else I've read.

The books opens with Olga Acevedo- Brooklynite, wedding planner to the very rich with a regular slot on morning TV. She goes out one night and meets a guy in a bar, and you're thinking that this is going to be a pretty light read about a woman finding her way (and maybe even love) in New York. Which wouldn't be a bad thing for me, obvs.

But Olga and her brother Prieto- a local councillor in their Brooklyn neighbourhood are children of Puerto Rican freedom fighters; something that looms large in their lives particularly since their mother abandoned them for the cause. And while Brooklyn is being transformed by gentrification, Puerto Rico is being destroyed by Hurricane Maria, not to mention US corruption and greed.

As things get darker for both Olga and Prieto, you realise that there is so much to this book, and it's actually about immigration, colonisation, corruption, families and the toxic relationship between Puerto Rico and its negligent and abusive parent, the US.

I loved the characters in this (and fell a bit in love with Matteo), and learnt so much about the history of Puerto Rico (all I knew before is pretty much based on West Side Story). It's thought-provoking, fascinating and also just a really enjoyable read. I was rooting so hard for Olga and stayed up way too late finishing this last night.

I adored this book. It was a fantastic story and beautifully written. Utterly absorbing and kept me hooked, each chapter developed the characters in such a way that led you to form an attachment to them and their history. It was also an eye opening insight into the history and culture which is so often erased or looked over. A brilliant novel and wonderfully executed, I would 10/10 recommend.

An intense book which deserves five fat stars.

This novel is about forty-year-old Olga, a wedding planner, living in New York. She sounds like the perfect main character of a romantic comedy, however, this book is far from being one. Olga wants to be loved, that's for sure, but her multicultural identity, her politician brother, late drug-addict father and radical revolutionist mother, they all pull her in several directions and she is about to break up into pieces.

No one should experience the "motherly love" Olga and her brother "enjoyed". The linear narrative is often interrupted by Mami's manipulative letters sent to her son or daughter (never to both). I was infuriated to read these.

While reading this book, I have learnt a lot about Puerto Rico, its history and special political situation within the US. To me, this novel was a nice mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for this Advance Review Copy.

The book's theme is really interesting - an exploration of the possibly corrosive nature of getting the American Dream, and the complicated treatment of Puerto Rico. Unfortunately what you get is a terribly written , amateurish attempt at a saga. I couldn't finish this book, the female protagonist was too self righteously annoying- I was put off from the beginning, when she thinks about underpaying an artisan, and then goes on to deliver a screed on the iniquities of capitalism. It's so badly written and stilted , I can't be bothered to find out how it goes.

I wanted to like this one but DNF'D, I think lots of people will love this one but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Olga, a Brooklynite of Puerto Rican heritage is a wonderful character to take centre stage in this novel. Daughter of revolutionary politico parents, educated at a whiter than white Ivy League university, she now works as a much sought after wedding planner for the rich. Not entirely unhappy, but definitely not fulfilled, she does not really fit in anywhere and has a deep sadness regarding her parents. In the course of this story I learned so much about Puerto Rico’s relationship with the USA , (so much of it absolutely enraging), and the creeping gentrification pushing out the poorest in areas like Brooklyn. While this book has a lot to say about politics and capitalism, it is also a joyous celebration of PR culture, family and music.

A compelling family saga exploring Puerto Rican identity and gender dynamics between siblings Olga and Prieto, framed through the experiences of their mother's radicalisation. I really enjoyed this, although it took a while for the plot to pick up.

I almost gave up on this book a couple of times. It is primarily because of the language used. There is a lot of cursing, which always puts me off. It might be a natural mode of communication among people now, but it distracted me from the ongoing story. It also did not make me like any of the characters (and they are not too likeable, to begin with).
Towards the end, though, luckily for me, the story pays off for all (if any) emotional attachments one may have formed during the narrative.
The book is about the Puerto Rican community in the US, specifically New York. The people are part of the US without reaping much of the benefits. This book takes a very stark look at the varying levels of interactions people have with the idea of Puerto Ricans and the idea of them being treated differently than Mainland Americans.
The tale is also of one family, and within that family, two siblings struggle with the roles they have chosen to play in their lives. One means well, and the other wants to do well. Both have a strong relationship with each other, but it will take a battering before the narrative closes. Their mother is an ominous presence hovering just out of reach but seldom out of their minds. This was a little harder to internalize since it felt to be almost of a different genre from the rest.
It ended unexpectedly with more happily ever afters than I would have thought possible in a work with so much angst. I do not think it is was that part that made me like the book; it was more the satisfaction of different avenues discussed during the course of the narrative being handled and having some answer for it all.
It is a story of a family, their ideals and the way the world sees them. I would not recommend this to everyone, but if the blurb appeals to you and you like hard-headed characters and speech, this might be a book you will enjoy more than I did.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Synopsis: Olga, a wedding planner for America’s wealthy elite, and her brother Prieto, a US congressman, were abandoned by their radical activist mother as children as she advanced a political uprising in Puerto Rico. Years later, and the secrets and ties they have to their mother is impacting their lives.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This book does so much to dissect American colonialism of Puerto Rico, including the impact of Hurricane Maria on the island, to explore immigration and the American dream, racism, class and power. It was so so political, definitely too much so for an English person who doesn’t understand the American political system and how Puerto Rico plays into that. The narrative started off really strong and engaging, but the more into the politics it got, and the more dystopian it got, the less interested I was. It fluctuated between romcom and in-depth political thriller, but it kind of did a good job at sweeping you up into it all. I did really like the characters and thought the writing was very clever and really got into the thoughts and motivations of the characters. Both Olga and Prieto go on meaningful journeys in this novel and I was really touched by their stories.
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CW: rape

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez.


This was a fantastic read and a completely different book to what I thought it was going to be.

Set in New York in 2017, Olga is a successful wedding planner for Manhattan’s elite and her brother Preito is a congressman representing their increasingly gentrified LatinX Brooklyn neighbourhood. Behind their glossy public persona’s both are struggling.

Their mother Blanca, abandoned them 27 years ago to join an underground political movement and only communicates with them sporadically through letters and their father was a heroin addict who died from AIDS, Olga and Preito carry a lot from their past and their mothers shadowy presence still wields influence over their lives through her letters.
Puerto Rican culture and it’s history is at the heart of this book and when Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico, Blanca’s presence becomes stronger in the siblings lives.

I read the first couple of chapters of this book and was surprised by the light tone and humour. The vibrant and realistic characters almost immediately pulled me into this story of corruption, politics , wealth, stigma , identify, colonisation and class. Heavy themes interlaced with family drama and a love story, this book felt very different to anything else I’ve read recently. Original and intensely readable .

A fascinating , compelling read and an outstanding debut. I look forward to reading more by Xochitl Gonzalez.

What a stunning book! I loved the writing and there were so many moments where it broke my heart. I can't wait to read more by this author.

Family struggle, political corruption and Latinx life in New York. I loved this story and it taught me a lot.

A really important read for 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Gonzalez has a light and breezy style of writing, so much so that, despite the gravity of issues it addresses it, at times, reads a little like a romcom (there is a love arc btw- and I must admit to harbouring a mini crush on Matteo). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the pages flew by whilst simultaneously educating me on a plethora of issues I knew very little about (such as the history and oppression of Puerto Rico). However, while I definitely think it’s a worthwhile read and one that I certainly enjoyed, all in all, I did find the story a little too sprawling. Certain storylines seemed to fizzle out without meaningful resolve. I can’t help but feel like there were simply too many things going on and I think some things were not fleshed out in a truly meaningful way. Because of this, everything wrapped up a little too neatly, or simply, in the end

In sum, and for the purpose of simplicity, this ended up being a three star read for me. Light enough to to whiz through quickly and with lots of heart and social critique, it fell short due to its enormous scope and rota of characters.

Forty-year-old Nuyorican Olga is a wedding planner for New York’s super-rich, making lots of money on her fees (plus interest for late payments) and even more by clever deals on the side, whether it’s appropriating hand-stitched cloth napkins for her cousin’s own wedding or selling on black-market cases of champagne to her clients for a significant mark-up. Her brother Prieto is an ambitious congressman representing his own Brooklyn neighbourhood, but is considered a ‘sellout’ on community issues – from putting his signature to PROMESA, an oversight board appointed for Puerto Rico by the Obama administration in 2016, or giving unscrupulous businessmen free rein to pursue ‘development’ projects in his home territory that don’t benefit the locals. (In regards to the latter, Prieto feels his hands are tied – despite being married with a child, he’s secretly gay and has been threatened with exposure if he resists.) The siblings’ mother, Blanca, organises a revolutionary group called the Pañuelos Negros [black bandannas] back in Puerto Rico, seeking independence for the island, and thinks both of her children have totally wasted their lives – a view she expresses in numerous passive-aggressive letters over the years, even though neither Olga nor Prieto have seen her since they were teenagers and have no way of writing back.

Olga Dies Dreaming, Xochitl Gonzalez’s debut novel, is an utter mishmash of genre, but nevertheless, it’s never tonally jarring; Gonzalez skilfully handles the various strands here so this doesn’t feel like a romcom with some politics smashed in, or a political thriller with romance added. This strengthens the novel, moving it away from familiar narratives of immigrants making new lives in New York (Dominicana by Angie Cruz, Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue) or racier tales of social climbers accumulating wealth (Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, White Ivy by Susie Yang). The principal reason this all holds together, I think, is how well Gonzalez writes the two siblings, especially Olga. Olga’s own life moves between breakfast talk shows, competitive family gatherings, political fundraisers and radical messages from her mother; therefore, it makes sense that this story does the same. I also loved that she wasn’t the classic twenty-something protagonist of this kind of novel – it’s refreshing to see an older woman negotiating these kind of issues.

Where Olga Dies Dreaming both intensifies and falls slightly apart is after Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico, which happens relatively late in the novel and causes crises of conscience for both of the siblings. Here, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that the most radical ideas in the novel are solely voiced through the siblings’ neglectful and abusive mother, which seems to nudge the reader to reject them in favour of the ‘middle ground’ favoured by Olga and Prieto, even as they recognise that their previous attitudes need altering. (view spoiler) However, as a white English woman who knows very little about Puerto Rico, I’d be really keen to see how Puerto Rican readers respond to this novel. To be fair, I felt that Gonzalez was trying to present a nuanced portrait of Blanca – it’s just that I didn’t think this quite came across in the novel, partly because we see very little from Blanca herself, and hear from her mostly through her letters.

The original pitch of this novel was apparently: 'Robin Hood wedding planner robs from her clients, sends money to mother (revolutionary?) to fix house in Puerto Rico', and that sounds AMAZING, but it’s not quite the novel we got. Still, the novel we got is still well worth reading. 3.5 stars.