"I killed her just to see myself better. / But what are you doing here, / with your eyes?"

3.5 stars but rounded up // After reading the description of this novel in verse, I was incredibly excited. Unfortunately, the promise of the description left me disappointed. The novel starts off rather slowly and only about 25% of the way in did Selena's resurrection happen-- in my opinion, the poem "Resurrecting Selena" should have opened the book. I found the poems about the intersection of Melissa, Selena, and Yolanda's life most interesting. Some poems truly amazed me! Others fell flat, especially the ones about "You". It is a novel in verse, yet I desired more imagery (maybe the book would have been better formatted as a poetry collection).

Overall, the premise is amazing and kept me interested. I'm certain those with a deeper connection to Selena will love this book.

Dreaming of You is a unique, refreshing and poignant work. Its format and style make it a perfect for millennial readers who struggle to finish a novel. Folks who love Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This for its apt understanding of how the influence of virtual communication can create new and engaging ways of writing will love that facet of this work, as well.

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

A story told in verse, Melissa is able to bring back a dead celebrity and she chooses Selena and it's a wild ride. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with the impact Selena has had will enjoy this book and be able to reflect on what it would mean if Selena came back from death.

’m sort of like a loss with this one so I’ll start by saying I think this book will be liked by a very specific audience. I grew up listening and dancing to Selena (and wishing for a Selena shirt that I never got) so the description and cover of the book really piked my interest. “Con unas ansias locas” 😉I wanted to read it, and I really, really wanted to love it, but I don’t.

What I liked: There were a lot of relatable aspects that I THINK I understood such as being tired of criticism and others wanting to fit you into a mold (ironic that I’m now reviewing this), small details the latinx community will understand (I giggled at the mention of Fabuloso), the concept of “hispaniced”, and of course the idea of merging the author’s story with Selena.

What I didn’t like: while I really enjoyed some parts, I just felt very confused most of the time. This is definitely one I’d love to discuss with someone and possibly read again in hopes of finding what I missed the first time.

eARC provided by Netgalley.

As a massive fan of Melissa Lozada-Oliva's, I was incredibly excited to be approved for this eARC, and luckily my expectations were exceeded. I devoured this in one sitting. While I'm not Latina and didn't grow up on Selena the way many Latinas did, Melissa does an incredible job of providing enough context for readers to not only understand, but to care, and deeply. This collection was incredible, and I can't wait to revisit it in the future.

Dreaming of You is powerful verse, packed with voice and life. A collection and poet who needs to be read wisely. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was beautifully written. I adored way the themes included were handled, shedding light on some very important topics. Lozada-Olivia’s use of language fused with pop culture and the format of a novel in verse worked really well together, giving the book an overall feel of otherworld-ness. I do think that a physical copy might be more beneficial when it is published than the e-arc layout, which at times was very confusing.

I’ve seen some of Lozada-Olivia’s work on Button Poetry and adored it, so I’ll definitely be picking this up when it’s published in a physical format!

Book Review for Dreaming of You
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

The unusual format and fabulous premise of this book immediately caught my attention. The idea of exploring multiple topics through the resurrection of Selena is impressive. That said, I'm not sure that a novel in verse is for me. There were some that resonated and I felt like I *got* but there were also plenty that left me scratching my head, and I own that. My mind doesn't seem to do too well with the abstract.
I'm no Selena expert, but I think I knew enough to get most of the references made. I particularly liked the different conceptions of womanhood and sexuality, and how Lozada-Oliva used the figure of Yolanda Saldívar to explore some of those.

This was a very weird book, but so short and written in verse that it is easy to keep reading. I feel like there is a lot of hidden meanings in the book that I did not understand and also some cultural references that I do not know. It kind of feels like you are in a dream the whole time you are reading it, but maybe that is the purpose.

Having seen some of Melissa Lozada-Oliva's poetry through Button Poetry, and having seen the alluring combination of its front cover and brilliantly surreal synopsis on offer here, I couldn't resist requesting an ARC. I mean listen to this blurb:

"a genre-bending verse novel in which a young Latinx poet, grappling with loneliness and heartache, brings Tejana pop star Selena Quintanilla back to life through a seance, kicking off an absurd, uncanny trip narrated by a Greek chorus of Chismosas that involves a shadow self, a dead celebrity prom, and karaoke in hell; a macabre, moving love story and interrogation of Latinx identity, womanhood, obsession and disillusion, and what it truly means to be seen."

In many ways, it fulfilled this batshit promise: it was a wild and weird ride and definitely one of the more inventive books I've read in a while. Told in verse, the novel explores a variety of themes through its poems: 'Latinidad' identity, queer identity, feminism, fandom, jealousy, millennial angst. Lozada- Oliva's poetry has always had something powerful to say, and there's engaging nuance in the way she says it.

However, I'm not sure I'm the best reviewer for a book like this, falling as it does into spaces that I feel less qualified to comment upon. I think so many readers will see themselves across Lozada Oliva's poetry, and though I found moments to be witty and relatable, for the most part I felt like an outsider looking in. As a white, European man in his 30's, I just don't think I'm the optimal audience for this.

A big part of this, I guess, was my complete ignorance of the context behind the main 'plot' of the novel. I had never heard of Selena, the Mexican-American singer shot to death by her friend and manager in the 90's and though I read a little about her before going into the book, I think I missed a lot of the pop culture references being made.

But, there's much I admire about it: I really enjoyed the macabre humour and some of the poems really stood out. Lozada-Oliva's imagery is full of vitality and energy and I enjoyed the back and forth between the different narrative perspectives. There are some deliciously grotesque moments and the book manages to balance horror with lyrical poetry well. I think the aspect I most connected to was the novel's exploration of celebrity and idolatry, and what it means to worship someone frozen in time by death- my favourite line here being 'honestly so sad that she's dead but like, what if she [Selena] lived long enough to like a tweet from a pro-life organization? idk'.

Beautifully written and amazing themes incorporated!

This was very enjoyable and intriguing. Following Latinx Melissa, grappling with loneliness and heartache, brings la reina del tejano Selena Quintanilla back from the dead. The descriptions and reference to Misery by Stephen King were everything! Loved how gruesome but yet moving the story was!

Makes me really think what if Selena Quintanilla did come back from the dead? All the things she would have to catch up on, her family and music. Not only it focuses on this celebrity but also grapples with the cost of being seen for your truest self.

I don't read a lot of in verse books so this was definitely something different but can get used to!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was clearly a weird ride, but enjoyable nonetheless. I was interested in the advertised themes (Latinidad, queer identity, grief, motherhood, feminism), and its being a novel in verse with a gorgeous cover. The book is a resurrection in verse of Mexican-American singer Selena, shot to death by her female friend and manager in 1995; the title owns its name to Selena's last, posthumously released album.

I felt a lot of potential, but the layout of this book did not really do much for me. There were some brilliant parts on female identity and the allure of celebrity in the mind of the audience, but more often than not, the book felt unnecessarily naive and clumsy. There is a cast of characters at the very beginning, in which the murderer comes first and is described as a "massive manipulator" and "possible lesbian," the mother is a domestic caretaker defined by the "smell of cloro on Sunday mornings," the bereft father is a testimony to the future as "just a story we tell," You are "the consumer and the consumed," and the author herself is a Prospero-figure assuming the identity of them all.

There were some highs (the social commentary, the almost aggressive nature of the themes of media, queerness, Latin identity), and some lows. I am not the best consumer of Rupi-Kaur-ish verses, which does not exactly describes this book, but the truth is not that far either. The poems I did enjoy, though, I enjoyed wholeheartedly (The Future is Lodged Inside of the Female, I am looking at you), and they would have worked better as set-pieces in a poetry collection, rather than a novel in verse, which I think is a very difficult genre to pull off.

How on earth does one begin to describe this book?! The book, rife with pop culture references, touches on numerous subjects including celebrity and fandom, the way Latinx pop stars do or do not break through to the "mainstream," gender, and more. The speaker/narrator of this novel in verse attempts to Selena Quintanilla back to life through a seance, backed up by a group of gossipers or Chismosas in the form of a Greek chorus:

We all know the story of Selena Quintanilla. The Tejana pop star who was murdered by her best friend and the manager
of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar.
There are heroes.
There are villains.
There are fans.
There are girls trying to find
their reflection in a rippling
pond, and then feeling startled when a piece of gum falls out of their mouth.
There is a frog that thinks
the gum is a fly and chokes to death. Where were we?
This is a story of mirrors,
or what happens
when you bring the mirror
back from the dead and when you look in it you see yourself
eating yourself.
This is about You,
except when it’s not about you.
This is a love story.

wow. just wow. I practically inhaled this book. the writing, the story, the themes and messages. gah! I am so obsessed!

What I like most about Melissa Lozada-Oliva's poetry is that it's unpretentious. The lyricism is brilliant, but it's not meant to confuse or gatekeep. Instead, it's designed to touch readers in a profound yet extremely accessible way. The story centres around Melissa, a Latinx poet who decides to bring latinx icon Selena back from the dead. As a fellow latinx millenial, I was familiar with Selena and what she means to many Latinx communities; however, I don't think this is necessary before going into the novel. Even if you know nothing about Selena and latinx culture, Lozada-Oliva's writing hooks you in and makes you understand.

I will 10000% be picking up a physical copy when this comes out. This was iconic and I need it on my bookshelf.

Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Date of Publication: unpublished; set for October 2021
Publisher: Astra House
Pages: 192 pages
Genre: Poetry, General Fiction

**Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
If you could bring back one celebrity who died an untimely death, who would it be? Kurt Cobain? Aaliyah? Buddy Holly? Prince? Perhaps for many millennial Latinas, the answer is Selena. Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Oliva follows Melissa, a Latinx poet who decides to bring Selena back from the dead. The outlandish premise can strike readers as absurd- sacrilegious, even. Who could deign to create a story about the resurrection of a beloved Latinx icon in such a way? La reina de Tejano? The idol of our identity as Latinxs? Yet, these questions are what Melissa Lozada-Oliva wants to explore.
Written in verse, Dreaming of You spins a lyrical web in its melodic writing style. Paired with the traditional Greek chorus, the story reads as a modern tragedy that unfurls along with our protagonist, Melissa. Melissa’s loneliness and grief over her love life shape the story as she descends into the perverse notion that the resurrection of Selena would give her life meaning. The perfection of the idol Selena would offer solace to Melissa, who has performed her role dutifully as a worshiper at the altar of celebrity.
Never forced, the poetic lyricism offers the story up to wider audiences who may not have experience with poetry and verse. It toes the line beautifully between horror and general fiction, using its not-so-subtle metaphors of body switching.
Idolatry- one of the central themes of the story- undoubtedly shapes the world. It makes martyrs of the young and talented. Untimely death freezes perceptions of a person, shaped only by what we paste over it. Beautiful, kind, talented, personable, these traits become adulation on which we base our views of dearly departed celebrities, shorn off from life too soon. It becomes the unattainable ideal that we place ourselves against, or as Lozada-Oliva 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?”
The masterful exploration of identity against the celebrity of death in Dreaming of You holds up a mirror to questions that are artfully avoided by placing your gaze just beyond what you wish to see. Is Yolanda the Devil? Am I worthy of love? What if Selena lived long enough to like a tweet from a pro-life organization?
Undoubtedly what is likely to be a controversial topic for fans of Selena, Dreaming of You directly places our uncomfortable feelings about the commercialization and idolization of a 23-year-old woman shot in the back during her prime. Exploring that discomfort is paramount in our lamentable sorrow and remembrance of what-could-have-been for Selena, and what we have morphed ourselves into as fans. Who are you without Selena?

This was a piece of work! From Lozada-Oliva’s understated language and smart pop culture references to the subject matter, this was a lovely novel in verse. Touching on Latinidad, celebrity, and the always-dying superstar, Lozada-Oliva pushed me to think about death, how I consume celebrity, and the lengths I’d go to in service of an obsession. Again, really wonderful poetry!