Book Review: “Olga Dies Dreaming” by Xóchitl González

Mar 24

Håfa adai! Hispanic Heritage Month spans from 15 September to 15 October in the United States and is a celebration of the many cultures, histories, traditions, and contributions of Hispanic communities. For two weeks each in September and October, I will post reviews for books across Fiction and Horror written by Hispanic authors. My second selection of Hispanic Heritage Month 2025 is Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Fiction bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Olga and Pedro “Pietro” Acevedo have made their names recognizable in multiple communities of New York. By 2017, Olga is a well-known and sought after wedding planner for the ultra-wealthy in Manhattan while Pietro is a popular yet down-to-earth congressman representing their hometown in Brooklyn. But what New York sees of them in public and what they know about themselves behind clothes doors are about to clash. In the destruction and pain left by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Olga and Pietro are forced to face their personal secrets, address their family history, and acknowledge the ghosts of the past if they are able to survive the future.

Important Trigger Warning for Olga Dies Dreaming

A scene in chapter 38 depicts a sudden violent physical assault and sexual assault. This scene is essential to the plot, and the exact details of the assault are not given in graphic detail in the scene. If this would cause you stress or distress, then please make sure to take necessary steps to prepare and protect yourself before and after reading this book.

My Thoughts on Olga Dies Dreaming: 4.75 stars

Olga Dies Dreaming starts out in 2017 Brooklyn, New York, and leads up to the aftermath of Hurrican Maria in Puerto Rico, following siblings Olga and Pietro Acevedo. Xóchitl González uses emotional and insightful prose to delve into the minds and experiences of Olga, Pietro, and other characters from chapter to chapter. This story explores themes of the glass ceiling, petty and complicated types of family drama, parental abandonment, emotional and psychological abuse, how it takes bravery to be honest with yourself and others, and modern-day colonialism. I will be intentionally vague in describing these themes so as to avoid giving away major spoilers.

The first theme that became prevalent to me is the way the glass ceiling is used against Olga. Sure, she is sought after to make the nuptial dreams of the ultra-wealthy a reality. But, at the end of the day, they view her—a Puerto Rican woman—not as their peer, but as the help. She can attend the same parties as them and appear at the same functions, but if she in any way acknowledges the way the ultra-wealthy and the U.S. government treat Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans, then she is “biting the hands that feed her.”

The next theme that stood out to me was the ghost-like presence of Olga and Prieto’s mother and the way their father destroyed himself through maladaptive coping mechanisms. Although their mother walked out of their lives to pursue a radical political mission, she lingers in their minds as a phantom through a series of letters for the better part of three decades. In the wake of his wife abandoning him and their children, the weight of his PTSD from serving in the Vietnam War became too great to bear, and their father fell victim to a demon returning from his own past. Whether it was by outright walking away or loss to addiction, both of Olga and Prieto’s parents abandoned them in one way or the other.

The different ways their parents abandoned them forces Olga and Prieto to wear masks of secrets and dishonesty throughout the course of the personal and professional lives. It is only as Olga approaches 40 years old that she for the first time feels a longing for more than physical connection with a certain other person. But living behind a curtain does not foster a welcoming environment for budding romance. In order for her to have a chance at love, she must bring to light and address her secrets so that she can build a foundation of trust with someone new. And it is only in his 40s, after realizing who and what kind of person his parents were, that Prieto can muster the bravery to look at the person in the mirror and genuinely offer himself to his family and the world.

The umbrella that spans over the lives of Olga, Pietro, and their parents—either shading or illuminating almost every aspect of their daily lives—is the reality that their community and the island they come from is a modern-day colony administrated by the United States of America. The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and the egregious [lack of] response by the presidential administration at the time, was the symptom of a much larger problem.

My overall rating for Olga Dies Dreaming is 4.75 out of 5 stars. I could not put this book down! I am a Chamorro mestiza from Guam—an Indigenous person from the same kind of U.S. colony as Puerto Rico—and I felt immense validation in the forthright way Xóchitl González identifies and addresses the political, economic, and social issues those of us from U.S. colonies face. Regarding the romance that occurs in the story, I appreciate how the characters must work for the love they want to receive and must choose honesty over secrets if they want that love to thrive. There are scenes in the story where Xóchitl González “tells” the reader about certain character growth instead of “showing” it but, other than that, this story is incredibly well-thought out. I highly recommend Olga Dies Dreaming to everyone!

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 6 October 2025