Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez 

‘ She felt about her mother much as she felt about Puerto Rico itself: mysterious and unknown entities. Her only certainty about either is that they, somehow, were both a part of Olga.’ 💫 

Just finished reading this impressive debut. We follow siblings Olga en Pedro 'Prieto'. Olga is a wedding planner and Pedro a congress man. To the public their lives seems almost perfect, but behind close doors they struggle. Blanca, their mother, who abandoned them twenty-seven years ago to join a militant political cause comes back into their lives and they have to face her and their past. Set in New York City in the months before and following Puerto Rico's most devastating hurricane. 

This story touches on themes as family, community, identity, sexuality, political corruption, gentrification. It's a lot, but it all comes together in my opinion. It's vividly written with real characters, flaws and all. Sometimes you root for them, sometimes you hate the choices they make. 

I had a hard time putting this book down, loved to see these characters develop and the mystery around their mother disappearance and (small) romantic plot kept me engaged. ❤

I definitely wanted to enjoy Gonzalez's novel, as the premise sounded right up my alley, however having actually read it, I guess it left me wanting more; the ending felt rushed, I couldn't connect with the siblings or with the diaspora experience as depicted in "Olga Dies Dreaming". On the plus side, this book motivated me to seek out more (non-)fiction books about Puerto Rico and its history.

Thanks to Little Brown Book Group for a free advanced copy.

Olga Dies Dreaming is an intimate look into the lives of two Boricua siblings who were raised with high expectations from their activist mother. Olga and Prieto haven't seen their mother in decades, but when Puerto Rico is hit with natural and governmental disasters, they are forced to reckon with her place, from the past and into the future, in their lives. We get to choose who we let in and who we let go, but sometimes, as Gonzalez expertly shows, those choices take a part of us in the process.

Xochitl Gonzalez's prose in this book is nothing short of stunning. Her ability to portray intimate feelings of loneliness and yearning oftentimes left me teary-eyed and short of breath. Where she might struggle with the flow of dialogue, she more than makes up with the clear undercurrent of the ups and downs of family relationships. Overall, a solid and beautiful debut.

I love stories that put me right in the heart of a completely different life to my own and yet somehow speaks directly to me. That’s what I was hoping for from this debut novel and I’m delighted to say that I just couldn’t put it down.

Despite never mastering the whole ‘romance’ thing herself, Olga is a wedding planner for the ultra wealthy of Manhattan. Her brother Prieto is a well-liked congressman representing the Brooklyn Latinx community. For 27 years, they were raised by their abuelita after their mother deserted them to pursue a militant cause in Puerto Rico but now it seems she wants back in on their lives just as the devastating Hurricane Maria destroys their island homeland.

Olga is a fascinating character because while she is very practical and cynical at times, she is also a dreamer and I guess this is at least partly where the title comes from. Her mind sometimes runs extremely fast and gets way ahead of where it should be but I believe that this has earned her the success she has. Of course, it can be detrimental too and as someone with a similar mindset, I’m aware that this is a habit to keep in check.

I think most people will be able to relate to Olga’s lifelong rivalry with her cousin Mabel. Whether its a sibling, cousin or other relative who is close in age to you, that competitive vibe almost certainly exists in at least one relationship. Olga and Mabel don’t have a lot of interaction in the novel but by the end, the true love and warmth between them finally shows itself.

There are some laugh-out-loud moments in the book and I couldn’t help but giggle incredulously at the priorities of some of Olga’s clients. Olga handles them brilliantly and I could hear the inner howls of despair behind her professional smiles. Listening to the trivial worries of the ultra-rich reminded me of Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, which is a series I adore for its satire. Olga Dies Dreaming has a similar sense of humour.

Prieto’s political seat is never in any doubt and for some politicians, that freedom would prompt them to behave recklessly and indulge in whatever dark deeds they desired. Prieto has a good heart and although he doesn’t have to impress and pander to his constituents, he wants to. I got the feeling that he went into politics to genuinely change things for the better and there really aren’t many politicians of which we can say that for.

Like every non-white person, Olga and Prieto grew up knowing that life would be harder for them due to the colour of their skin. From a young age, they knew of the ideas that society had of them as Latinx people and it’s undeniable that this had a profound effect on how they saw themselves and how they chose to behave in adulthood.

There is also a lot of commentary on queerness and the fear of coming out as a Latinx person. So many things about their culture and the way that their elders spoke to them about love and relationships communicated the idea that homosexuality is bad. I was reminded that explicit hate towards LGBTQ+ ideas wasn’t needed to instil internal homophobia and intense fear of being outed within the queer characters. Sometimes a few casual comments promoting heterosexuality was all it took to nurture a lifetime of self-loathing and shame.

Identity and finding peace with your origins are big themes in the book, as Olga and Prieto’s mother seems intent on making contact with both of her children again. They have their own experiences with this chaotic, terrifying force of a woman crashing into their lives at the same time as the physical chaos that is Hurricane Maria. I couldn’t get away from the comparisons and metaphorical connections between their mother’s return and Maria’s devastation hitting simultaneously.

Olga Dies Dreaming is a page-turning, intricate portrait of a broken family amidst a heartbreaking natural disaster. It’s about coming to terms with who you are and continuing to grow as an adult. It’s also about the long-term effects of being non-white and queer, dealing with change in the place you call home and finding true love.

I was totally enthralled by this book. The characters were written with great depth as was the political geography behind the story. The subject matter behind the book wasn’t something I knew an awful lot about but it was fascinating and a real eye opener.
The development of the main character over the course of the book was a joy to read - she was a very strong female lead who faced a lot of adversity. The end was satisfying without being at all cliched.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I loved everything about this book. It takes place in the wake of Hurricane Maria and is set mainly in Brooklyn, NY. Olga and her brother Prieto are the children of a radical-thinking mother who has spent the majority of her childrens' lives absent, chasing her political ideologies back in Puerto Rico.

There is a stark contrast in this book between the rapidly gentrified streets of Brooklyn and a PR which has been abandoned by it's US colonisers after Hurricane Maria hits. The themes that Gonzalez threads throughout the story (family, capitalism, racism, homophobia, white privilege, misogyny, classism) were as hard-hitting as they needed to be.

"All of them chasing an impossible dream: to be accepted by a nation that viewed them with contempt. So willing - eager, almost - to shed our rich culture for the cheap thrill of being seen as "American". Thinking that if one day they accumulated enough stuff, if they learned to act the right way, they could wipe the 'Spic' off them and be seen as 'the same'."

This book taught me things I had never known before, like the fact that Puerto Ricans are Americans, but they have no elected representation in Congress or the Senate. There are a number of times in the book that highlight America's ignorance to this fact, like when Olga is told that if she "didn't like the way they did things in America, she should go back to Puerto Rico" (Puerto Rico is America). "They revealed the disdain, disregard, and disrespect that the governor, and by turn his government, had for the people. They mocked their own citizens while patting each other on their backs and laughing en route to the bank with their FEMA money".

I've touched on the themes that were powerful to me in this book but I really feel like Gonzalez's debut novel has something for everyone. I wish there was more room in Insta captions because I could talk all day about this story!

Thanks to @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the advanced copy. Olga Dies Dreaming is out 6th Jan '22 and I will absolutely be buying a physical copy for my shelves!

Olga Dies Dreaming is unlike I have ever read before and I absolutely loved it. This book is a character-driven narrative, but this does not mean that plot is neglected at all. I was instantly obsessed with Olga and Prieto and just wanted them to be happy from page one.

Xóchitl’s stunning debut discusses the of gentrification of Brooklyn and the realities of being a descendant of immigrants in a city like New York. Our protagonists come from parents who are unabashedly Puerto Rican, but they have different ways of celebrating their heritage. Both Olga and Prieto are constantly stretched between their lives as New Yorkers and their Puerto Rican identities.

I especially enjoyed the contrast of views in how Olga and Prieto’s successes from their mother and wider society. Both work in industries dominated by the rich white elites, becoming role models for Puerto Ricans, making their marks in industries that were not always accessible to them, but the letters from their mother peppered throughout show that she had very different ideas on who they should be. Will their success ever be enough to make their revolutionary mother proud?

This novel explores so many aspects of Puerto Rican culture, giving the reader insights into its history whilst also discussing wider issues including sexuality, misogyny, family drama and racism. There were parts of this book that were a little slow but I loved the characters, the romance and the discussion of Puerto Rican culture. I highly implore everyone to pick up a copy when it’s out because I think this story is one everyone needs to hear and I think it's set to be one of the stand out releases of 2022.

Olga Dies Dreaming

There’s something about stories set in New York that just... floats my boat, flips my switch, tickles my fancy—I can’t help it, I love it— especially when it’s a story like this one. There’s a kind of magic when an intimate knowledge of a place gets put down into words (ESPECIALLY BROOKLYN). It’s that sensation you get, anywhere in the world, when a local takes you by the hand and drags you to the best places you’d never find by yourself. It’s special, and it’s a privilege. If you’ve ever experienced it, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The writing was excellent. I enjoyed the narrative style with sprinklings of epistolary. I think part of what really stuck with me is that we, as spectators, get the same exact interactions that Olga and Pietro get with their mother. Nothing more intimate than a letter. I found this really fascinating psychologically, as we get to form an opinion of her words and actions with absolutely no bias or emotional investment (since we didn’t grow up with her, of course).

The social commentary was spot on. Immense wealth juxtaposed so casually— so cleverly with the working class. The Wedding Planner who mingles with the CEOs, the politicians, the Old Money, the New Money... it’s hard to be amongst these circles, but constantly on the periphery. We can all say it doesn’t bother us, but there’s something perverse in watching someone casually spend your year’s wage in one sitting. I don’t think it’s necessarily upsetting, but it spotlights the different worlds people move within.

Olga Dies Dreaming was a razor sharp look at Puerto Rican culture, at what can happen to two kids who’ve suffered traumatic losses, who are minorities— often in more ways than one (these don’t necessarily apply to both siblings): female, LGBTQIA, POC. It really highlighted the important differences between family, friends, and acquaintances. These two make some STUPID decisions, and I didn’t find them likeable 100% of the time— not even close... but it’s interesting to question why they do the things that they do.

I think some part of me knew that Puerto Ricans are Americans, but I didn’t have a clue when it came to the complexities of Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory— neither a state nor an independent country. What an eye opener. It’s impossible to avoid feeling rage on their behalf as the story unfolds. Puerto Rico’s lack of mindependence is an absolute ball and chain the wealthy & politics slowly tighten around its neck.

The only thing that really let me down was the ending. It felt rushed and like it didn’t quite fit with the rest of the book. That being said, I’ll be thinking about Olga and her family for a long time to come. It touched on a lot of themes I hold close to my heart, and I was thrilled to read it. On that note, a massive thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4. ‘Olga is Dreaming’ is an impressive debut - simultaneously a love letter to Brooklyn (as Gonzalez says in her acknowledgements), a critique of New Brooklyn versus the Old, a love story of its own, and a short-term family saga. It addresses many contemporary issues, spanning the economical, social, political, and personal, but the discussions surrounding some of these were frustratingly surface-level. I chose to read it largely because I was about to visit Brooklyn, and having only finished it back in England I am disappointed that I didn’t do so before I left. I think I would’ve made sure to explore more areas, and I am looking forward to going back and covering more of an area that is so rich in history, culture, and community. On that note, I learnt a lot about Puerto Rican - a subject that I have next to no knowledge of - and found this valuable and fascinating. It reminded me of, and somewhat reframed, a course I took on the Caribbean novel in university. On the other hand, Olga can be a perplexing, unlikeable, and even sometimes contradictory character, and the ending is a bit of an “and they all lived happily every after” experience that feels a bit jarring and unsatisfactory. Similarly, where the narrative gets dark in places, these situations are rarely given quite enough attention to allow them to really land with the reader, before we are pulled back up into another convenient and/or hasty solution. So although enjoyable, this is what left it lacking slightly, for me.

Having read a few titles this year that focus on African American characters, it was interesting to listen to the voices of Puerto Ricans and their colonial treatment that continues today.
Essentially it is a story of brother and sister abandoned at an early age by their mother, who becomes an insurrectionist for the Puerto Rican cause. The brother,Prieto, becomes a politician, thinking he will make his mother proud, but his hidden sexual identity makes him a target for blackmail by ruthless white property investors, so his actions are seen as a betrayal. Olga, the sister, is a wedding planner and she regularly receives letters from her mother disparaging her choices in career and men.
Matters come to a head with the aftermath of hurricane Maria, when the people of Puerto Rico are left to fend for themselves and the Trump administration does very little to help.
I was educated as to the history of the island and it’s people and did very much sympathise with the Puerto Ricans cause. I am glad that I read this as I am now better informed and aware.

Thanks so much to Little, Brown for letting me read Olga Dies Dreaming. I heard about this at the Little, Brown Literary Fiction showcase and I was intrigued: centring on Olga, a wedding planner to the rich and famous, and Prieto, her congressman brother, it is a tale of family, politics, Brooklyn gentrification and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Olga Dies Dreaming is certainly very readable and introduced me to a part of the world I didn't know much about; but I found the writing very average and some of the manoeuvring around characters to be pretty clunky and heavy-handed. Their mother, an anarchist revolutionary, in particular reads as a bit of a caricature, and there's chapters narrated from the perspective of Olga's rich boyfriend, an addition which felt wholly unnecessary (and his characterisation was not subtle at all...) I'd give the content four stars and the writing three – it's an interesting, juicy plot focusing on some really important issues, but I can't help and think that Olga Dies Dreaming would have been much more impactful if written by someone with a more nuanced grasp of character.

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't like the title when I picked it up, but it started to grow on me...great debut - love, family, politics and wonderful characters.

Sometimes I'm so judgemental. After the first few pages of this book I wasn't sure that I would keep on reading. Olga comes across as vicious and immature at first and after I read several pages about napkins I was wondering what I was doing with my life. If you also don't love this from the start you need to give it some time.

By the end, I was hoping for the best for Olga and Pietro, her brother, who are both shaped for better and for worse by their intense family history - a father who died of AIDS (from being an IV drug user and we assume sharing needles) and a mother who cares more for 'the cause' than she ever will for her children.

Their mother hardly appears on the page but I felt such vitriol for her - she looms over every decision they make both to please her and to spite her, she tries to orchestrate their actions from afar and it's never about what's best for them.

I think the author said that she loves long, weird novels and that description does fit her debut well. Ultimately, this novel is about so many things - what home means, how everyone can be loved, gentrification, corruption, revolution and its human cost, the ills of capitalism, the false woke-ness of white 1 percenters... I ended up really loving it and look forward to reading whatever comes next. Also, I love that she came to write this novel after she turned 40. I'm sick of wunderkinds parading novels about the class divide and working hard for a living etc when they're all still in their 20s writing about how life is so hard...

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Although it was well written, I personally did not engage with the book. Despite this, the characters were well written, dimensional and believable.

The misadventures of a wedding planner.

Puerto Ricans Olga and brother Prieto are on the up and up in New York. Unbeknownst to them, Hurricane Maria is brewing and with it will come the mother who abandoned them in childhood for a political cause.

Sadly, the protagonist fails to engage and hold our interest until the plot finally gets going. Doesn't delivery on its promise.

Slow-moving and over-long.

My thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown for the ARC.

Olga Dies Dreaming is funny, honest, and gut-wrenching in equal measure. I loved this book.

Gonzalez takes us on a journey of Olga, a woman in her early forties who loves her family, struggles with vulnerability, and has to make the difficult choice to heal in the face of new and old wounds surfacing in her life. The novel follows her and her older brother Pietro, a Congressman, with a secondary cast of fully fleshed-out characters.

Gonzalez has a precision with her language (no spoilers, but when a dick pick was described using words like 'galling' and 'rupture' my jaw dropped) and doesn't lose her sense of good humor even as the book deals with heart-wrenching grief, loss, anger, and trauma.

Her writing style is cutting and self-assured, hilarious and discerning, but the characters Gonzalez reveals to us are really where her work shines. All of the characters make a good first impression on the reader — not because we instantly like every single one of them, but because they are fleshed out almost immediately with their flaws and their humanity made clear to us. This is crucial given that, although this is a work of fiction, it's set in our world and in our time. All of the characters feel like real people, which is evidence of Gonzalez's skill when there are so many interconnecting plot details as well. (Do not even get me started on Matteo: I will literally never shut up about how much I love Matteo).

And Olga is the stand-out character of all of them, because we follow her through a really hard journey, one that is beautifully well-written and realistically messy. Throughout the novel, Olga works hard at being vulnerable. It doesn't come easy to her...actually, it sucks. She sucks at it a lot, especially at the beginning when she’s out of practice, and we feel her anguish and her fear and her pain HARD when she does make mistakes. It's a testament to how wonderful a writer Gonzalez is, that we have this messy, complicated character with a hyper-specific backstory — and we are still able to root for her, understand and empathize with her hurt in the context of our own, and come away from this novel with an understanding that Olga deserved to heal (and so do we).

I cannot recommend this book enough.

This was such a compelling read that had such an interesting premise that took the romance trope of girl seeks boy and elevates it. It was so gripping, so well written and the characters were written so well and totally relatable. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.