Olga Dies Dreaming is the kind of epic family drama that is my favourite genre. It spans decades in the lives of a very successful Puerto Rican / American family, from the 1990s right up to post pandemic life. The main character, Olga, is a wedding planner to the rich and famous in NYC, her brother Pedro is a Congressman their Latinx neighbourhood depends on to represent their interests, and their mother is a famous political radical. But behind the scenes things are much different than they seem and as the truth seeps out we discover the truth of these characters in how they deal with the aftermath. I found this story to be a slow burn that is really worth the build up with well developed, very human, flawed but lovable characters.
The audiobook has 3 different narrators as the voices of Olga, her mother, and her brother plus a few other male characters who share their points of view with us. They all did a fantastic job of telling the story and I ended up listening to it on a slower speed than I usually do because I was really enjoying all the nuances in the story, cultural references, and learning about the political history of Puerto Rico.

A beautifully written book, Olga Dies Dreaming is centered on Olga and her brother Prieto, both of whom lead very public lives in the socialite and political landscape of New York. With Puerto Rican roots, an absent mother leading resistance in the colonized territory, and the pressures the siblings face living in America, Olga and Prieto must make hard decisions, compromises and face some ugly as their story unfolds.

While it took some time for me to warm up to Olga and her somewhat self-serving decisions, I truly felt connected to these characters. This is a story I did not want to end.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #OlgaDiesDreaming #NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

This book was HARD to get into. It moved incredibly slow, and the characters were so unlikeable. I really struggled with it. It jumped all over the place and I really did not enjoy this.

This is one of those few books that just grabbed me immediately. It was just so incredibly well done - a story that touches on so many dark things, like corruption, sexual assault, emotional abuse, and sociopolitical inequality, but leaves you feeling energized. That’s some dang magic!

This is an intimate, character driven story, and the characters are simply incredible. The story gives us a glimpse at a family, predominantly a sister, brother, and mother, taking very different paths while trying to fight for similar dreams.

I want to be friends with Olga. She’s fierce, business savvy, unapologetic, and deeply loyal. The only thing holding that girl back from her dreams is her own head - a message I think many readers can benefit from. When she freed herself from those binds, my heart swelled with emotion. I was proud of her and her brother and everyone else who has been through heavy hits from life but made it out the other side as truer version of themselves.

I also really appreciated learning more about Puerto Rico’s struggles and the different visions existing for its future.

Highly recommend listening to this one on audio. The narration is incredible and helped me feel even more connected to the characters and their words.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to review this audiobook!

I'm really glad I listened to this one as an audiobook, as the different voices, accents, and inflections really made the story enjoyable. Overall, though, this book fell flat for me. I thought the bad guys in the story really played out as your typical bad guys; I could pretty much always tell what was going to happen next. Something I did like was the underlying theme of personal struggle and living up to others' expectations. I thought that was a good motif throughout.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This book is a lot! I will try to give a summary but it will be lacking. It’s narrated from two primary points of view. A pair of siblings who are in their 40’s named Olga and Pietro. They are from Brooklyn and of Puerto Rican dissent. Olga is a wedding planner for New York’s elite. Pietro is an United States Congressman. Olga is in part successful because she’s fleecing her clients. Pietro is a rising political star but is being blackmailed by some wealthy men. Their mother left them almost 30 years earlier to join a paramilitary group that is trying to emancipate Puerto Rico from the United States. Their father was a heroin addict who died of AIDS not long after their mother left. They have no idea where their mother has been all these years but she manages to regularly send them letters to tell them how much she disapproves of absolutely everything they do.

This would be a good book club selection. So many layers to dissect. Really, I am barely scratching the surface. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It’s smart and interesting. Unfortunately, I realize I am woefully ignorant of what the United States has done to Puerto Rico. That interwoven with the family issues makes a very compelling story. Also, the narration is excellent.

There is some strong content. There’s child abandonment, drug abuse, sexual assault, and some language.

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for an advanced copy of this book. It will be released on 1/4/22.

This is an incredibly timely and beautifully written character-driven book. It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel, as Gonzalez writes with such strong word choice. There are so many things going on in this book: Puerto Rican pride, racism, sexuality/LGBTQ, female empowerment, exploitation of power, family dynamics, self-discovery, etc. I cannot wait to watch the Hulu series adaptation of this book starring Audrey Plaza!

Was this as good as it was because it called to my Puertorican soul? Maybe, but I'm NOT going to apologize for that. This book is so Puerto Rican and I love it! I liked how personal the story felt with Olga, Prieto, and their mother all feeling fully realized. The story also touched on enough Puerto Rican issues to feel relevant and rooted in social/cultural issues.

Olga is very sympathetic (at least to me) even when she is doing stupid things. I was less understanding of Prieto and his decisions, but I feel like the book does a good job at making his motivations clear and important to him (even if you are sometimes feeling like his daughter feels when he talks to her at the end) The mom as a villain, is interesting since it makes her political choices a question of morality and not politics, but I feel like a deeper dive into Puertorican History is needed to evaluate that dynamic (deeper than what I have, anyway).

Overall I found this to be an EXCELLENT read.

As for the Audiobook experience: The audiobook has multiple actors for the different POVs which is always a plus in my opinion and they all do a good job even if no one stands out in any way. The Spanish spoken is all delivered perfectly and with a Puertorican accent which is appreciated.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this arc.

I love family drama and this book delivers it. Here we follow brother and sister Prieto and Olga Acevedo. Olga is a wedding planner for rich people and Prieto is a congressman who represents the gentrifying neighborhood they both are from: Sunset Part, Brooklyn. He also keeps his homosexuality a secret.

They were raised by their grandmother, their father is dead and the mother is a political activist who fights for Puerto Rico’s independence and work with a a paramilitary group. The only contact they have with the mother is through letters, but her whereabouts remain unknown. So they grew up trying to figure out how to survive in the world.

Xochitl Gonzalez's debut novel has complex characters and discusses gentrification, colonialism, child abandonment, drug use, racism, sexuality, and corruption, among others. It also portrays the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes, Irma and Maria, that hit Puerto Rico in 2017. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Almarie Guerra, Armando Riesco and Inés del Castillo. They all do a fantastic job.

Olga Dies Dreaming is a great thought-provoking debut novel and is going to be adapted to a TV series on Hulu. I highly recommend it.

This book really touched me in a way that I wasn't expecting. I had the privilege of visiting Puerto Rico over the summer for a wedding and was able to catch a glimpse of what the author was describing, but the way that the book draws the story of Puerto Rico's abandonment by the US government during their time of need into the reader's heart is simply beautiful. I would recommend this to anyone! I also wasn't expecting there to be much of a romantic element to this book, but that was also something that caught me pleasantly by surprise. Loved it!

What a unique and captivating story!

I tend to shy away from character-driven stories, but I’m glad I gave this story a chance. I was instantly engrossed by the main characters, Olga and Prieto, and found myself wanting to read on. I easily connected with Olga and was rooting for her throughout the story.

The author did a great job injecting Puerto Rican culture and history into a storyline containing challenging issues like racism, sexuality, drug use, white privilege, misogyny, and family drama. While there are many issues to unpack here, issues never felt forced and blended beautifully.

I especially enjoyed reading the letters from Olga's mother. They added an additional perspective of her character and backstory.

The audiobook version of this story was a treat to listen to. The narrators did a phenomenal job bringing each character to life while incorporating humor, strength, and perseverance into their personalities.

Although the ending of this book felt a bit sudden, I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be watching the pilot on Hulu when it’s released!

Fantastic audiobook adaptation — injecting life into what I'm not sure I would have enjoyed as much as a print book! I love the vividness of Gonzalez's characters and the New York she describes, but the plot (and politics) are a bit all over the place at times. That didn't take much away for me, as I tore through the book. Political intrigue, romance, the complexities of gentrification — this book had something for everyone. A solid four stars!

5 stars

This book totally took me by surprise, and Gonzalez has landed an instant spot on my "You write it, I read it!" list.

Olga, the titular m.c., is a complicated woman, and the reasons behind these added complications become clear to readers through explorations of different times and characters in her life. When the novel begins, readers join Olga in her current career: wedding planning. This misdirection - starting in the same spot as so many fluffy pieces of women's fiction and a particular brand of romance - with Olga's career alone sets up one of the central themes of this layered novel: that EVERYONE has secrets. Underneath the wedding planning façade, readers learn that there is *so* much more to Olga, and I won't be the one to spoil any of that because watching Olga's truths unfold is only one of the many joys this novel includes.

Part of what makes Olga so riveting is her family members: her brother, Prieto, whose perspective readers see often; her father, an addict who has long since passed away in the present day of the novel; her mother, whose absence but weird, looming presence through nefarious contacts makes her even more terrifying than her revolutionary ties; and a larger cast of characters including Olga's abuela, her hilarious cousin, and more. Like everyone, Olga is seriously shaped by her family and their alternating presences and absences. Prieto, who is a high-profile elected official and filled with his own secrets and shame, is a fantastic character whose fear juxtaposes Olga's bravery at critical moments. Though they are both physically absent through most of the novel, Olga's (and Prieto's) changing relationships with mom and dad are also some of the most riveting aspects of complex character development.

Mercifully, Olga's life does not center on romantic relationships, but her interactions with various men also highlight her growth and the moments in which she both sacrifices herself and achieves new levels of self-assuredness. These connections are not sappy, and, in fact, some are quite dark. But the point is never indulgent romance or Olga's dependence on these individuals. It is endlessly fascinating to watch her feel like she should or must depend on someone until she proves the reverse, make the same mistake that the wisest among us just can't seem to stop making, etc.

Olga is a complex character whose intersectional identity and gripping though still somehow realistic seeming experiences make her one to root for and one whose story kept me engaged unwaveringly. The same is true with every ancillary character in this text. So many themes and motifs get covered here: racism, sexism, homophobia, LGBTQ+ issues, addiction, absent parents, politics, rape, and abortion, just to name a few. All of these characters have secrets, and they are also - in many ways - typical folks. In a sea of reasons I loved this novel, the depiction of this joint relationship - between people and their secrets and between people with secrets and each other - is what I expect I'll remember most fondly.

In case it's not clear, I'll be recommending this one to all different kinds of readers for the long haul and looking forward to whatever Gonzalez has to offer next.

*I was fortunate to receive access to both the electronic and audio versions of this book. As a person who listens to audiobooks regularly, I want to add that this narrator is especially stellar. If you can grab the audio version, I recommend it highly!

Thanks, Net Galley for the advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

<b> LOVED IT!!! </b>

This audiobook was great! Loved it!!

<b> Stuff I loved: </b>
I really enjoyed the narrators. They did a great job setting the tone and bringing the words to life.

The characters were well developed. It felt like I knew them personally and they were larger than life. I was invested in them emotionally and really wanted to know that everything would be okay for them.

The author did a great job wrestling with a lot of contemporary issues that are controversial. Sexuality, culture, prejudice, racism and colonialism, and an examination of women's roles. Abandonment issues, losing a parent, drug abuse, all of these topics were addressed and treated with care.

There was a lot of information about Puerto Rico and the way the people who are from there are treated. Insight into culture and politics

<b> Stuff I didn't like: </b>
Not much to say here. Some parts were explicit, which I found out when I played one such part at top volume in a crowd of people. But with sexuality being a theme, it is hardly unexpected!