I couldn’t have chosen a better book to start my 2022 reading year with!
From the absurdly real characters, to the nuanced and complex realities of life in the 21st century, and all wrapped up in a surprisingly optimistic package, I was completely in love with Olga Dies Dreaming from the first chapter. It has the rare and magical quality of being simultaneously a really fun book to read and also genuinely thought provoking.

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Olga is a high-end wedding planner in Manhattan who comes from a large Puerto Rican family in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Olga has a wall around her and juggles men, but never gets close to them. (Her affair with Richard, a married client, really seems transactional -- status and money.) Olga's brother, Pietro is a politician representing the people of their Brooklyn neighborhood. He's got some shady dealings and some secrets that come out.

Years ago, Olga and Pietro's mother, a Young Lord, aiming to free Puerto Rico, abandons them to serve the political cause. Thier drug-addicted father died of HIV when they were young. Abandonment issues abound.

What stood out: Did you know about the Young Lords and the struggles of Puerto Rico? Me neither. This was enlightening and I always love to see representation that is absent from literature (and frankly, history studies). I also love the family drama -- here we have a large Puerto Rican family who, despite some inner conflict, really take care of each other (except for Olga and Pietro's mother -- she's dedicated to the cause and nothing else.) This book also takes place in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and highlights the political jockeying and lack of governmental engagement that resulted in increased suffering. Olga is a really well-done character. There were parts of her that I disliked, but she was real.

Thank you so much publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Olga Dies Dreaming in exchange for my honest review. Olga is a very strong character. She is a wedding planner for the wealthy and she is constantly stereotyped because of her ethnicity. Olga Dies Dreaming is a very character driven plot with deep family themes. I am not wild about character driven plots as I enjoy a quicker pace BUT for the right audience I think this book will be very very loved!

What a ride! First and foremost, Olga Dies Dreaming is a love song for Brooklyn and Puerto Rican culture and family. So much of this book had me looking up Latinx references, histories, and New York spots. It was very easy to become immersed in Olga’s family and neighborhood. Written from three POVs: wedding coordinator Olga’s, her brother and politician Prieto’s, and Richard “Dick” Eikenborn a wealthy Caucasian businessman, the narrative of Olga’s life as a 40-something year old running a wedding business for the wealthy in NYC is pieced together. Having been abandoned by her mother at 13 and losing a father to addiction and AIDS, Olga’s life is a bit of a mess as she grapples with self-worth, reconciliation with a revolutionary mother she only knows through her letters, and her challenging relationship with her brother. The POVs are interspersed with letters from Olga and Prieto’s mother throughout their adolescence and into adulthood. These letters are revealing to the hold “Mami” has over her children from thousands of miles away and the desire her children have to want a mother-figure, even if that is not what can be given to them.
Secondly Olga it is a story of self-discovery, and acceptance in mid-life. Olga and Prieto are both in limbo—Olga existing in a career she cares little for, self-described as a “bad person”, and Prieto as a politician hiding behind personal secrets that handicap him to the Koch-like Selby brothers, making him a pawn to their financial desires.
I put off reading this book for so long after beginning the first few chapters and stopping. Olga at first is not a likable protagonist and I found the beginning slow as it is more description and less dialogue. However once multiple characters began to interact and storylines cross, it is clear that Xochitl Gonzalez’ excels in dialogue both internal and spoken. Once past the 40% mark, the novel took off as Olga must make decisions in her relationship with Matteo, Dick, her cousin Mabel and Prieto. I found Prieto’s storyline very believable and honest. González’ characters though flawed, become endearing on the page as more hurt and truths are revealed about them. González also is attuned to injustice and the emotions white privilege has on her readers. I found myself wanting to stand up for the Acevedo siblings and their love for Puerto Rico, and hold their hands as they encounter their mother’s machinations. Thank you to NetGalley and FlatIron books for this Digital Galley ARC. This review is solely my own.

Olga Dies Dreaming is a character driven novel that follows Olga, a not-so-regular girl from Brooklyn, as she chases her version of the American dream. A love letter to Puerto Rico and New York cultures, you'll find yourself immersed in Olga's life as well as that of her family. Secrets, family drama, love and, loss are at play throughout the novel. OIga is a fierce woman you won't soon forgot. A great read for those who enjoy family dramas.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book blew me away. From the very beginning you know exactly who Olga is and what kind of person she will be throughout the novel. I cannot believe this is a debut -- you will be shocked by the precision of the writing and love getting to know Olga.

It is not even January and I am already putting this book at the top of my list of my Top 2022 reads! It is just so good that right now I have a hard time imagining another title of this caliber. I am not saying it is not possible (totally is) but rather I am saying this is an absolutely bloody brilliant read. The characters, the relationships, the history, and overall emotional impact of this one is strong. I wanted to applaud at the end.

I think the strongest aspect of this one is the characters. They are very flawed and so well drawn that they feel absolutely human. As often as I was frustrated with Olga, our main protagonist, I was also still rooting for her every step of the way. The same holds true for her brother who is also featured prominently in this book. It just got me. They just got a hold on me and did not let go, in the very best way.

Not only are the characters written so well, but the prose is filled with humor, heart, and insight. I have a tendency to sometimes find my mind wandering with literary fiction. I try to be high brow, but listen I am really not. I know I have stumbled upon a fantastic piece of literary fiction when I am so thoroughly absorbed. My mind never wandered and that is high praise indeed. I was flying through these pages like it was the latest and greatest thriller.

So listen, basically, I cannot find a flaw with this read. Well, actually I can because I wish Matteo had been given a bit more depth and his backstory explored more, but I understand he was a foil. This small critique is not enough for me not to love this book, however, or to give it any less than 5 stars. It is a great one that I will probably end up purchasing so it can sit on my shelves and I can let others borrow its greatness.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

"Olga Dies Dreaming" by Xochitl Gonzales is as near perfection as a novel can be. Its multilayered plot is brought alive by vivid and multidimensional characters who are so realistic I actually googled a few of them to see if they were, in fact, real people. Though this is a lengthy book, it is compulsively readable and I finished it in just a few hours.

I absolutely adored Olga and Prieto and how they grew as people from the first page to the last. I cheered at their accomplishments, cringed at their mistakes, and cried as they experienced the horrors of Hurricane Maria and the devastation it wrought on Puerto Rico. I love books with strong female characters and overarching themes of social justice and this book checked off both boxes for me.

The writing in this debut novel is superb. Indeed, it is difficult for me to believe this is a debut novel because the writing is so good. There are so many incredible passages and quotable lines that I filled several pages of my book journal with lines from this book.

This is a book that I will recommend over and over to the readers in my life. I am very thankful to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the honor of reading an advanced digital copy of this incredible book, in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to more from this author!

With a drug addicted father and a revolutionary for a mother, Olga and her brother have always had to have each other's back . They did such a good job taking care of each other and themselves, that they are now very successful- Olga- a wedding planner to the stars, Prieto- an up and coming star politician. Set against the most devastating hurricane in the history of Puerto Rico, "Olga Dies Dreaming" deals with family secrets, political blackmail, and rediscovering the love of your heritage.

This gave me an opening into Puerto Rico and its history that I didn't have and I want to learn more. I also love that it gave a really nuanced older woman as the main character. There aren't that many of those.

'Olga Dies Dreaming,' is a slow-burn, character driven novel. The characters, in turn, are very strong. Olga and her brother Prieto are making lives in NYC, doing their best, as Olga receives letters from her estranged mother critiquing how she chooses to live her life.

Olga pushes boundaries, she pushes the ideas of modern women. I love her and I love the realness that she portrayed. Powerful topics were portrayed including (tw) abandonment, drug use, HIV, suicide, homophobia, racism, etc. They were all handled with grace and appropriately, but can still be hard for some readers.

Gonzalez is a beautiful writer, but the pacing was too slow for me at this point. I do hope to re-read it again at another time because of how strongly I felt about the two main characters.

This story was hilarious and intense all in one. It was what I’d consider a slow burner as well, but worth the wait. I adored Olga; she was such a strong character and she made me laugh, but my heart hurt so much for her and Prieto. I know their mother was fighting injustice, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around a mother leaving her children. It was referred to multiple times that her mother left her family to do something “bigger”; as a mother myself I have a hard time with this. Blanca may have been doing incredible things, but it was at the cost of her children. Throughout her life, Olga’s mother contacted her only to make her doubt what she was doing with her life or to lay guilt on her. I enjoyed Olga’s relationship with her family and felt like a lot of their family gatherings were so vividly described that I felt like I was there. My grandparents are also from Brooklyn so it was great to be able to relate to some places described, like L&B’s! This book also takes a hard look at Puerto Rico and how it is often viewed by other parts of America. It’s astounding and appalling how badly the territory is treated and thought of as less than other parts of the country. In that sense, this book was incredibly eye-opening and I thought about parts of it long after I finished reading. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! I will post this review to my Instagram blog (books_by_the_bottle) shortly as well.

Olga Dies Dreaming releases January 4th.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzales is a blistering debut that explores political and familial dynamics, and I am going to need lots of people to read it when it hits shelves in early January so that I can discuss it. It's ultimately a story about a family's love and the role of obligation. And, it's also a story about the colonization of Puerto Rico and the continued ways in which the US government doesn't meet the needs of the region, such as with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Family. Family is everything to Olga and Prieto in the wake of their father's death and their mother Blanca's abandonment. Now, in 2017, Olga is running a successful wedding planning business, Prieto is a closeted Congressman, and their mother is a Puerto Rican revolutionary on the run. Olga's unhappy in her relationship with a wealthy man and has found herself involved with Matteo, Prieto is unhappy with his life in general and then Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico, turning everyone's live upside down. And Blanca, who we see mainly through the hectoring letters she sends to Olga, resurfaces. I liked this for the characters and the small moments. Olga's deals with Ivan and the Russians, Preito's visit to the compound, the evil property guys, and Mabel and the Tias. Love Mabel, Gonzalez has brought Brooklyn to life as well. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a great read worthy of the praise it has received. Highly recommend.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I really enjoyed this debut novel. The plot is somewhat of a slow burn, and while both of the main characters (Olga and her brother, Prieto), frustrated me at the beginning of the book, they grew on me and I was impressed with their character development. This book taught me a lot about Puerto Rico and it's one of the better literary fiction books I've read this year. However, the author did commit one unforgivable sin when she said that Dallas was flooded by Hurricane Harvey, when everyone knows that it was Houston that was most impacted by the storm.

I really enjoyed this book. There are political, cultural, social, familial, personal stories that all come together in a very readable novel.

Although a fictionalized story, it is certainly eyeopening regarding America’s colonization of Puerto Rico, and especially the disgraceful treatment of the island and it’s AMERICAN residents after Hurricane Maria. And, of course, behind it all is the greedy lust for money as well as racism. The reader also sees how greed has helped destroy some of the small tight knit neighborhoods of New York City.

This is not necessarily a fast read and the ending does seem a bit rushed, but it is a book I would put on a “should read” list.

Incidentally, my husband read this and also liked it.

4.25/5

I’ve gotta be honest, Olga Dies Dreaming was a slow burn for me. It really didn’t hook me right away, and it took awhile for me to get invested in the characters and their stories, especially when it felt like nothing was really happening. But once I became invested, I was INVESTED.

Olga Dies Dreaming has a bit of something for everyone. It’s family drama. It’s social commentary. It’s glitz and glamour. It's a rich history of Puerto Rico's past and present. It’s about revolutionaries and hoarders and weddings and funerals and so much more. The Russian mob even makes an appearance! What makes this story so rich, though, is how Xochitl Gonzalez carefully merges the personal with the communal, crafting what grows into a beautiful narrative of growth, self-discovery, and reconciliation amidst a backdrop of politics and drama.

Thank you to NetGalley for the privilege of reading this ARC.

My review in one word would be: illuminating

A beautiful, poignant and multilayered story that captured me right away. It blends generational trauma, racism, sexism, xenophobia, abandonment issues...it covers a lot of ground but does it in a way that also balanced humour and wholesome relationships

This book was so unexpected. I was really blown away by it. The cover is stunning, the premise is fantastic, and still Gonzalez blew me away with the plot and the characters. I thought it was an excellent way to look at people in this day and age who are middle age, living their life and stopping for a moment to deal with the repercussions of their family, their life, their work, and their goals. Olga was an amazing character to place us with, and I was fascinated with her at every moment. I was always uncertain of what she would do, but each time she did somethin unexpected, I understood it and her to a very specific degree. I thought it was wonderful. This was perfectly juxtaposed with her brother, who had a similar upbringing but a different outlook on life that felt earned and deft. I understood his questions even when he didn't agree, I understood his flaws, and I laughed at Gonzalez' ability to really make sure, even if he was kind, there was the intersectionality where he constantly centered his own experience over his sister's. It was smart an unexpected.

It was also a fascinating look at abuse in its varying degrees. Abuse is not always physical, and this deftly centered the story and made you question what you were reading from time to time. I was never quite sure how I felt. Further, this book did such a fantastic job at making sure we were never on the wrong side, but you also questioned what side was correct. I loved it so much and found it spectacular.

This book was also so informative. I was unaware of a lot of what I was reading, and did a spectacular job at an alternate history where this was concerned. I was fascinated with Puerto Rico, Brooklyn, and everything Gonzalez brought to the table.

Big thank you to Flatiron Books for supplying me with an early copy of 'Olga Dies Dreaming'

I'm going to start off by saying that this book was not what I had anticipated. When I read the synopsis, I though this would be a feel good story with a hint of pain.
However, this novel is filled with hard hitting moments as we are following Olga and her brother Pedro (Prieto) as they are in their adulthood dealing with the loss of their father and Abuela after their mom left them and has never returned.

This novel talks about how being abandoned during our formative years can hold us back, discusses AIDS/HIV and how it affected the Black & Latinx Gay community due to propaganda along with still wanting for our parent's acceptance even though they left you when you needed them the most.

The main plot of this story revolves around the history of Puerto Rico. How they are considered 'part of America' yet are treated like they don't matter. This novel taught me many things I didn't know. I marked multiple pages to refer back to when researching it on my own.

I went through so many ups and downs while reading this book for the first half. Picking it up felt like a chore, yet once I had it open, I would get sucked in. However, the last 50% had me gripped.

There is so much to love about this novel and falling in love with these characters/side characters or wanting to curse out their mother makes this journey worth it.

All in all, this story is a must read for in my opinion. If you like learning new history while caring about the character's POV you're following and learning about the individual at the same time, I recommend this novel. Absolutely!

⭐️4 STARS⭐️