This novel in verse is about Melissa, a young poet who brings Selena Quintanilla-Perez. I grew up listening to Selena’s music so I was very excited for this one, and loved all of the references to her music and her life. That being said, this book was a wild ride and not quite what I expected. This is unlike anything I have ever read, its very surreal and truly a unique book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the advanced copy.

I really need to do more research and request books written by diverse authors as this one proved that we have a lot of undiscovered gem out here!

Thanks Melissa for writing this one!

The in-verse format perfectly blended with the tone of the storyline which created a balanced narration and emotion.

RATING: 4stars

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

I do not even know what I think of this book. I had picked it thinking it would be in verse which it was but I must have missed some piece of the information as I found myself often confused while reading this book. Melissa brings back the spirit of celebrity Selena and finds herself disappearing instead.
While a quick read you have to spend time thinking about what is happening and suspend disbelief while reading this story that jumps around a lot and often leaves you with less information that you expect to have.
That being said Lozada-Oliva has written something that I found compelling enough to finish and I am sure it would be the right book for somebody, that somebody is just not me.

There were several things that drew me into Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s, Dreaming In Verse.

•In recent years I’ve grown fond of the novel in verse structure.
•I like the cover art.
•The description of the book made it a must-read for me: it’s about SELENA!!!!
—And—
•I figured anyone who had the gall to essentially resurrect Selena Quintanilla was worth giving a go!

I think the author was creative in envisioning the themes explored in this book. It was weird and absurd and at times hedged on the side of comical. But then there were the more pressing themes relating to identity, love, celebrity worship, disillusionment, death, and obsession.

I was a bit surprised that the story didn’t focus much more on the resurrection of Selena. While I appreciated especially the dialogues of Selena’s father, Abraham and even her murderer, Yolanda there were times I felt that the story fell short of its original intention. I found myself confused several times wondering who was narrating; the author or Yolanda.

So many questions and thoughts followed the murder of our beloved Selena and so I suppose I would have enjoyed exploring those more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lozada-Oliva takes us on a delightfully morbid journey to bring back the beloved singer Selena. Through meandering poems about social media, culture, bodies, etc., Lozada-Oliva captures both a sense of unease and beauty.

Nonsensical and all over the place.

How did this even get a green light ?

I tried hard to relate and or understand. Selena is an icon that many feel she is their friend. I can remember where I was when watching the news of her attack and death. For someone to try to take her story with out even understanding her is foul.

I read a bit of this and loved most of it, but I have somehow seemed to have lost my download of this book, so I don't know how the ending is supposed to go.

This was a wild ride. At times I was confused, at other times I found myself cackling like a mad woman. These poems weren’t your typical lyrical verses, dripping with agony or swirling with beauty. These were raw, more visceral. It was difficult to keep up at times, sometimes I found myself lost and trying to figure what the hell was going on. The author took us on such a strange and unforgettable journey following a young woman who resurrected the incomparable Selena. I would highly recommend for fans of the late songstress, poetry and lovers of the unconventional.

I received this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

An eerie novel in verse that addresses celebrity, obsession, jealousy, loneliness, and more. You might be able to bring back your idols, but at what cost?

Celebrity, loss, resurrects, popstar, genre-binding, Latinx-author, womanhood, disillusionment.

Literally, so much could have been with these words, but the book failed to move me. I have read novels in verse before but now many to understand the various forms they can take. In the case of Dreaming of You, I think readers will have a love-hate relationship with the book, because it's not meant for everybody, even though if you may be into lyrical verse. The story was interesting but the layout didn't do much for me.

However, Melissa does have a unique writing style, so I may try out some of her other standalone poetry books.

Thank you to the publishers for sending an e-copy.
didn’t know what to expect with this one, all I knew was that I loved this cover and poetry.
Selena, Latinx, and so much more are written very beautifully.
This was a very fast read and I enjoyed it.

I received a free copy of Dreaming of You from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Celebrity deaths affect us more than we'd life to admit. What if you could bring your favorite star back from the dead?

Written in verse, Dreaming Of You weaves a story of loneliness, loss, and the pervasiveness of pop culture on our collective psyche.

I’m still not sure how to rate this book. It was definitely unique. But it also was weird, like really weird I have never read anything like it before. Still I kind of enjoyed it?? It was a story about how Selena was brought back to life. Also I LOVE the cover, it’s stunning. It was actually one of the reasons I requested the book! All in all I think I kind of enjoyed it, even though it was indeed as I said strange

The cover of this book is what enticed me to read it. Told in poetic verse, Lozada-Oliva explores loneliness, pop culture, death, Latina identity, motherhood and queerness. Ultimately, I don't think this novel was for me. Whilst an interesting concept for a story, I struggled to stay engaged. I found some of the poems beautifully told, but the story confused me and I didn't understand some of what Lozada-Oliva was trying to convey.

Thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available October 26th

Coasting in a surreal landscape, Melissa Lozada-Oliva's collection "Dreaming of You" tackles everything from relationships to family and identity, with a strong dose of Selena Quintanilla. Much like the beloved songs, these poems are timeless and memorable.

Thank you to Astra Publishing House for providing me with an early copy of Dreaming of You for review.

Not sure why I keep reading poetry when I'm not a critical enough reader to understand it.
Poetry calls to me, I need to learn how to ignore said calls.

That being said, I enjoyed this collection. The author plays with the idea of bringing Selena back from the dead with parts of herself and the parts of Selena we got to witness in interviews.
Only for Selena to leave and losing herself bit by bit.

There are plays on Yolanda, Selena and Selena's family as to how it would affect them seeing someone they have been morning coming back while being... different.

My only complaint are the two times we get Selena's perspective. The font looks like TV static, which makes complete sense, yet it very difficult for someone to read.

I've never read a collection like this before, but I want more. It was so interesting seeing an idol I have loved my whole life being someone I wouldn't enjoy at all today. Also plays on Selena's song lyrics being woven into the main character's life as she is disintegrating.

It was a look into something I've thought of before (being able to bring a dead loved one back, that being an idol) being a terrible idea, especially when you have to give parts of yourself in order to do so. That lawsuit and trauma isn't worth it.

⭐️3.5 STARS⭐️

Dreaming of you is timeless, tasteful, and flavored like an experiment gone right. It’s my new favorite novel in verse.

With all the lyricism of your favorite fever dream, the novel follows a journey from seance to self. Melissa is lonely to her core, and imagines Selena Quinanilla as her best friend. So one night, when the darkness is just kissing death’s doorstep, Melissa brings Selena Quintanilla back from the dead. Yet something is off. The Selena that comes back is all static and blur. She can only speak in sound bites from the past. And as Selena begins to crystallize, Melissa feels herself fading.

With tenderness, Lozada-Oliva starts a crusading interrogation of how our relationship to pop culture is disingenuous. What if bringing Selena back just means killing her again? What does it mean to love someone whose tragedy formed a community? As she writes, “is Selena the hole that’s been carved out for me? I can jam my body through it but I’ll probably fall to the other side. Is my body Selena-adjacent?”

Then there is the question of celebrity idolization. Are we all Icarus, taking our darlings too close to the sun? Imagine for a moment if they lived to a ripe old age, long enough to tweet that they are pro-life? We are relentless in our desire to savor celebrities in their prime, yet so quick to discard their humanity. We fine-tune ourselves against them. We juxtapose our jealousy with idolatry to justify their commercialization.

While the novel focuses on our relationship with pop idols, as well feminism, queerness and latinidad; I couldn’t help but wonder if I am part of a generation who is defined by grief, who needs manufactured jealousy to feel anything. I wonder how much social media skews my perception of myself, yet I am still here because I also struggle for a self without others. The novel felt like a personal call-out in certain ways, but I didn’t come out with answers.

Instead, I admire the beauty of the hand that wrote those words.

Instead, I walk out of the pages with my cheeks singed red, reverberating in the aftermath of a haunted slap.

This novel in verse finds our narrator resurrecting the ghost of beloved icon Selena, a vehicle to consider celebrity, jealousy, familial connection, and latinidad in the U.S. Recent years have seen a saturation of Selena related media and this book is self aware of that fact, taking both a critical and personally sentimental eye to the projections people place on Selena’s life and death. This was a quick and enjoyable read for me, and I recommend it to others craving non linear narratives infused with macabre humor and vulnerability.

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very weird title and that isn't necessarily a bad thing; the strangeness is part of what I enjoyed. Dreaming of You is a novel told in verse about a woman resurrecting Selena and the strangeness and problems that follow. I loved the eerie-ness of this, the strange off-ness that comes with an undead celebrity running around and starting another tour and I think Lozada-Oliva's conversational and almost rambling style lends well to these confessional-style poems. Although this is a very surreal story, the themes are very much grounded in reality - loneliness, pop culture icon worship, death, womanhood, identity , etc. Despite the premise, this story isn't *really* about Selena as much as she's used as a vehicle for exploring these topics.

Despite the conversational style, I did get lost a few times - a few times I was wondering, is this Melissa's perspective or Yolanda's? Is this happening now or is this hypothetical? Sometimes I didn't mind so much, it's surreal and bordering reality and fantasy anyway and I was focused on the feelings more than anything but other times I felt too lost to get into it. There were some individual poems I did *really* like on their own and I think I would have almost liked a thematically linked but not a novel in verse collection from this author? I definitely want to try more of her work even if this didn't quite work for me, but I wouldn't necessarily not recommend this either. It's a shorter work and if you're in the mood for something strange exploring loneliness and pop culture and identity, I'd say give it a try.

I had a lot of expectation for this book, mostly because of its cover; it was okay though. It wasn't a great read for me, sometimes it felt a little confusing, but it tackles such important subjects. I enjoyed some verses.