Olga Dies Dreaming Book Review

Hands down, this is the one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year. Although, I had seen it floating around IG for a while, I didn't get around to buying the book until I found a used copy at a local coffee shop. Once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. Before I jump into what I liked about it, (and there is a lot!) here is a synopsis of the story.

Summary

It’s 2017 in New York City and Olga and her brother Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo are shining examples of success in their Brooklyn neighbourhood. Olga is a celebrated wedding planner to NY’s ultra wealthy. Pedro is a popular congressman and a rising star in the Democratic Party. Yet, things in their lives are not as perfect as their public personas. In their respective ways, both siblings are running away from personal truths and suppressing shared childhood trauma.

Much of that is tied to their parents, who were members of the Young Lords - an organisation that has sometimes been called the Puerto Rican Black Panthers. Years ago, their mother Blanca became increasingly radical and abandoned her children in service to her political cause. Fast forward to the 2000’s as the siblings ponder their next professional and personal steps while Hurricane María brings devastation to Puerto Rico and sweeps their mother back into their lives. The violent storm, an unexpected love interest in Olga’s life and an earth-shattering revelation in Pedro’s force them to confront questions surrounding family, community, identity and the American Dream.

My Review

I thought this was going to be a light-hearted read. Boy, was I wrong but although this wasn’t a fluffy read, it was totally satisfying. The author delved into sobering topics in a way that made me feel empathy, anger, frustration, excitement and joy, just as if it were real life. The variety and depth of emotions I felt reflected the richly layered story. There were many themes covered in this novel but it never felt like the story was all over the place. The drama was orchestrated perfectly, i.e. harmonious chaos. While some of those things were difficult to face, for eg., substance addiction, due to how personal the issue is for me, the carefulness the writer paid to discussing those topics was illuminating. I’ve realised from first hand experience that addiction wreaks havoc on not only the lives on addict’s but also on their loved ones, who then deal with the fallout in different ways. Sometimes, enabling, sometimes distancing, sometimes continuing, sometimes breaking generational cycles of addiction. In Olga Dies Dreaming, these realities were represented through the points of view of the family members. Olga, Prieto, their abuela, tíos, tías and primo(a)s all were touched by their father’s addiction to varying degrees. The effects ricocheted through their relationships, helping to shape how the relatives related to one another.

Something I had hoped the story would address after reading the blurb was Puerto Rico’s subjugation under U.S. colonialism. I’m not Puerto Rican but I am a Caribbean person so reading about the Boricuan fight for independence resonated with me. In addition to a brief breakdown of that history, I really liked how the author made the topic of Puerto Rico’s liberation movement more intimate by showing how political activism can affect family dynamics. I’m someone who tends to romanticise our revolutionary figures, even placing some of them on a pedestal. Olga’s and Prieto’s mother reminded me that activist leaders are inevitably flawed. In Blanca’s eyes, fighting for her people was a more important purpose than nurturing her children. Her character made me grapple with a few questions. Should certain flaws be forgiven in our revolutionary leaders? Is a noble cause adequate/valid justification for hurting those close to you, particularly your children? Is it unfair to expect women to automatically be nurturing mothers? Is there a double standard towards women who shun the responsibility of being mothers compared to men who do the same in the name of a higher calling? Despite turning these things over in my head, I walked away from the book still disliking Blanca. It was more than her not being a traditional mother or not having an endearing personality. Yes, Blanca faced tough and sometimes unfair choices, but her unwillingness to consider how her actions affected her children coupled with how she continued to treat them not as individuals in their own right but as pawns in a grand game showed her to be a selfish, manipulative person.

Juxtaposed against the toxic relationship with her mother, is Olga’s blossoming relationship with Matteo. It is not love at first sight but from their first encounter, Olga recognises safety with Matteo. Yet, she resists letting her guard down with him. Matteo is far from her idea of the ideal partner. Forget the fact that she was not even looking for love. Matteo is no knight in shining armor. He has his share of weaknesses and vulnerabilities. I think it’s Matteo’s ability to show up as his authentic self and to set boundaries with Olga that help her heal. His love holds a mirror up to Olga that enables her to see her worthiness to be loved. Their love story, although not the only element that the book was centered on, gave the book a pivotal tenderness.

Another part of the story that was juicy but in a different way was how Olga and Prieto navigated the rich and powerful circles in which they worked. From code switching to being “model minorities”; from Olga f#%king her clients over to Prieto doing the bidding of the very people hurting his community, it was annoying and gratifying seeing the siblings in these types of environments. It also made me wonder, is it worth it to have a seat at the table when having a seat at tables not made for us often seems to come at too high a cost?

Plot

From the first page to the last, this book was masterfully paced. There was never a moment when I thought that things were moving along too slowly or too quickly. Changing points of view helped to smoothly carry the plot forward. The only pieces I thought could have been left out were the bits involving the Russian mob. Apart from that, I think the story was a well crafted one that benefited from thorough editing.

Characters

Whew! Let’s talk about well developed characters. From the main ones to the secondary ones, as I was reading, I forgot that they were not actual people. Each was nuanced and full. I think a huge part of how convincing a novel is comes down to the characters and it was evident that Xochitl Gonzalez poured tremendous skill, time and attention into shaping fictional people that did not seem fictional at all. Naturally, the protagonist Olga is the one the reader comes to know the most. She’s complex: fiercely independent and ambitious; generous but afraid to open herself to love; family oriented but intent on forging a path for herself. Like many women people who seem intimidating due to their confidence, Olga’s go-getter attitude belies her gentleness, which brings us to Matteo, the man who helps Olga embrace vulnerability, softness and her heart’s desires. Matteo was my favorite character. I adored his quirks and the more I got to know him, the more I cheered him on. I was even protective of him when Olga did him wrong. Lol.

While I found Matteo endearing, I did not feel quite the same about Prieto, Olga's brother. While I wouldn’t say that I had a love-hate relationship with him, I thought he was a bit of a coward even though I realised that some of his weaknesses were products of his childhood wounds. My judgement of Prieto did soften by the end of the story when he finally showed some accountability and stood in his truth. The conflicted feelings I had toward Prieto and Blanca are testament to Gonzalez skills at honing her characters.

The one figure I would have liked to learn a little more about was the father. As I mentioned earlier, I have a tender spot when it comes to stories about substance abuse and I’m often curious to learn about what leads someone to make such a life shattering decision. Despite not knowing all the intricacies of who papi was (I don’t even recall seeing a name for him), the little the author did share made me feel compassion towards him. I like that in the end his children became his legacy - speaking to his humanity and the strengths they inherited from him.

I could go on and on explaining all the reasons I enjoyed this book but this post has already become long. So, you’ll have to get yourself a copy and find out just how good this piece of writing is. Two months have passed since I read this novel and it still plays out vividly in my mind.

Have you read Olga Dies Dreaming? If so, what are your thoughts on the book?