Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this audiobook from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can't seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets...

Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

Review:

It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel.  With such a complete world, compelling characters, and a story set amid the backdrop of Hurricane Maria, this book pulled me in and wouldn't let me go.  Not that I wanted to.  I was really drawn to Olga as she must navigate the world knowing that her mother didn't feel that being a parent was important enough.  If only her mother would have actually left, Olga could have had a chance to move forward.  But, Blanca (her mom) keeps tabs on Olga and her brother, sending them letters criticizing them for not doing what she feels is important with their lives.  This sets up Olga, and her brother Pietro, for a lifetime of problems.  

I really loved Olga's extended family (especially her cousin Mabel), and all the layered family dramas that went with it.  But the story really focuses on Olga and Pietro.  Both are proud of their Puerto Rican heritage, but emotionally damaged by their mother's psychological manipulation.  Do they feel Puerto Rican, or American?  Can they be both?  Or and they neither?  With their mother constantly undermining their confidence, they are left confused and unable to find their own dreams.  This book looks at how we relate to our parents expectations.  How can Olga and Pietro ever realize their own dreams when their mom is cynically manipulating them for her own agenda?  

The production values on this audiobook were top notch.  There were several narrators, which enhanced the listening experience for the reader.  I would caution that there should be a trigger warning for sexual violence.  It really took me by surprise and was upsetting to listen about.  Although it was essential to the story, a heads-up would have been appreciated.  This was a deeply compelling book that I hope others will read.

What I Liked:

Characters:

Olga, although quite successful, is drifting through life.  As a wedding planner in New York, she works exclusively with wealthy families to plan over the top weddings.  This is grating, as she ignores subtle, passive racism, ("You work so hard for a Puerto Rican!"), but she powers through in order to achieve the comfortable lifestyle she has made for herself.  This is a not so subtle snub to her mother, who is all about power to the working class.  

But Olga is also a caring friend, who will drop everything for someone having a difficult time.  As far as romance is concerned, she adheres to her mother's advice not to rely on any man ("It's a trap!", her mom would say).  But that leaves Olga very much alone.

She often talks out her problems with her brother, Pietro.  Pietro is a U.S. Congressman, pursuing a path that he thinks his mother would approve of. But he is also holding on to a secret.  He's gay, and being blackmailed by corporate bigwigs.  Will he ever be able to do the work he and his mother want, to improve life for the people of Puerto Rico? While I understood that he didn't feel that his family or community would support him if they knew he was gay, I was a bit surprised that he didn't come out the moment he was being blackmailed.  It would have solved a lot of problems for the character.  But, I do know some people have a very hard time accepting their own feelings.  

Blanca is Olga and Pietro's mother.  The author did a good job of getting me to hate her, but also understand why she was not the mothering type.  Some people just aren't meant to be parents.  Usually, it's a man who runs out on his kids (not the case here).  But Blanca feels that motherhood, for her, is keeping her small.  She has big dreams for creating Puerto Rico's independence from the U.S., and children will only get in the way.  I would have had more empathy with Blanca if she didn't keep undermining her children's self-esteem.  By writing such damning letters at critical moments in Olga and Pietro's lives, she is claiming the rights of a parent without any of the responsibilities that go with it. 

Puerto Rico:

Puerto Rico could be considered one of the main characters in this book.  As the characters who live in New York keep saying, Puerto Ricans are American Citizens. But most mainland American's don't see them that way.  The people of Puerto Rico also see themselves as apart from the United States.  So Olga and Pietro are stuck.  They aren't American enough for some, but since they were raised in New York, they don't feel entirely part of the island, either.

This book also highlights some of the atrocious ways the United States has treated the Island over the last 200 years.  While they are Americans, they don't have any representation in Congress.  They have a Governor who is appointed, not elected, and don't have much of a say on how the island is run.  This was all too apparent during the crisis that occurred after Hurricane Maria. Even though I did follow this event when it happened, it was really eye-opening to read more about it. 

Trigger Warning for Sexual Violence

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  January 4, 2022

Author: Xóchitl González

Genre:  Literary Fiction

Audiobook Publisher:  Macmillan Audio

Audiobook Narrators:  Almarie Guerra, Armando Riesco, Inés del Castillo

Audiobook Length:  11 Hours, 22 Minutes

Print Publisher: Flatiron Books

Page Length:  384 Pages

Source:  Libro.fm

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  This is a strong debut about family expectations, and a person's hopes and dreams.  I highly recommend this book.

About Libro.fm:

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Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis.

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

Review:

Jodi Picoult has written many books, but this is only the second of her novels that I have picked up.  Wish You Were Here, her latest novel, is about how the COVID Pandamic has affected everyone.  Her story centers around a couple, Diana and her boyfriend, Finn as they are about to leave on a dream vacation to the Galápagos Islands.  But, Finn is a doctor and he is told he needs to stay behind to deal with a new illness, CVOID-19.  Diana goes without him.  Neither of them realize that this will change their relationship forever.  As Finn battles to save patients in the hospital, Diana is stuck in paradise.  One would think that Diana got the better deal.  However, would you really want to be far away while your loved ones could be getting sick and dying?  

This was a really entertaining book that addresses the pandemic, head-on.  With wonderful characters and a huge plot twist, I could not stop reading this book.

What I Liked:

Addressing COVID Pandemic:

This is the first novel that really utilizes the COVID pandemic as a major part of the plot.  And, even though this began less than two years ago, it's a good reminder of how wild things were at the beginning.  Suddenly thousands of people in New York and Boston come down with COVID-19, but doctors don't know how to treat it. Hospitals are overrun, people are scrambling to find PPE, and everything is shut down.

In the novel, Diana's boyfriend, Finn, is a surgeon in New York, and needs to spend all his time at the hospital.  Diana, not realizing how this will affect the entire planet, goes on their dream vacation to the Galápagos Islands without Finn.  She is soon stranded on the Island, with no way to get a hold of Finn, and no way to get back to New York.

But, aside from all the inconveniences of the pandemic, the book really focuses on what it was like in the hospital for Doctors, Nurses, and Patients.  One of the characters in the story gets COVID and following their journey, from the brink of death to the recovery, is a stark reminder in just how terrible this illness it.

Characters:

After dealing with a childhood where her mother was unreliable, Diana wants to have a safe, predictable future.  So she passes on opportunities that are creative but not steady.  And although she loves her doctor boyfriend, he really only offer predictability, not excitement.  With her experiences during lockdown in the Galápagos Islands, Diana starts to rethink her life.  

She also must come to terms with her relationship with her often absent mother, a world famous war photographer.  Now that her mother has dementia, Diana tries to look past her childhood hurt, and see her mom as an adult, who had to make difficult choices.

I really liked that Diana used her experiences during the pandemic to take stock of her life.

Finn, Diana's boyfriend, is a doctor on the front lines of the pandemic.  The author does not make Finn out to be some kind of hero, but rather a man experiencing trauma.  No one goes into a career in medicine with the thought that they will treat hundreds of patients who won't make it.   We see Finn's frustration, exhaustion, and (not always positive) coping skills.  While his actions are understandable, he is also selfish in believing he's the only one having a tough time.

Plot Twist:

I will not give the plot twist away.  But I will say there is something that happens in the novel that was completely unexpected, and changes the narrative of the book completely.  Parts of the event were a little hard to buy into.  But, it certainly made me gasp!

Themes:

This book is really about how the Pandemic has forced each of us to assess what their priorities should be.  Are we willing to work at a job that doesn't fulfill us?  Are we willing to settle for predictable (and safe) relationships, or do we want to take more risks?  But most of all, this book make the reader think about keeping connections with our loved ones.  We just don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  November 30th, 2021

Author:  Jodi Picoult

Publisher:  Ballantine Books

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Page Length:  336 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This is a highly thought-provoking, and entertaining novel.

Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A Fifth Avenue address, parties at the Plaza, two healthy sons, and the ideal husband: what looks like a perfect life for Katharina Edgeworth is anything but. It’s 1954, and the post-war American dream has become a nightmare.

A born and bred New Yorker, Katharina is the daughter of immigrants, Ivy-League-educated, and speaks four languages. As a single girl in 1940s Manhattan, she is a translator at the newly formed United Nations, devoting her days to her work and the promise of world peace—and her nights to cocktails and the promise of a good time.

Now the wife of a beloved pediatric surgeon and heir to a shipping fortune, Katharina is trapped in a gilded cage, desperate to escape the constraints of domesticity. So when she is approached by the FBI and asked to join their ranks as an informant, Katharina seizes the opportunity. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy, but no one has been able to infiltrate his circle. Enter Katharina, the perfect woman for the job.

Navigating the demands of the FBI and the secrets of the KGB, she becomes a courier, carrying stolen government documents from D.C. to Manhattan. But as those closest to her lose their covers, and their lives, Katharina’s secret soon threatens to ruin her.

Review:

As a person who loves historical fiction, I found this book frustrating.  On the one hand, I really appreciated A Woman of Intelligence, by Karin Tanabe, for its depiction of how women were stifled in mid-twentieth century America.  I could really understand Katharina's sadness at leaving an exciting career to becoming someone burdened with unrealistically high expectations on how she should be a mother.  I found this exploration of motherhood and marriage really interesting.  

However, I found the spy aspect of the story to be over the top.  That, along with a developing attraction between Katharina and another man that didn't really go anywhere, made my interest wane when it should have pulled me in.  I was also troubled by Katharina informing on fellow Americans for being Communists.  Considering she was quite intelligent, I was surprised that Katharina would get caught up in the "Red" fever of McCarthyism.

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

The novel shines with all the details of how women were treated, and expected to behave, in the 1950's.  Katharina is multi-lingual and has a worldly view on life.  But even at her exciting job with the United Nations, she is forced to quit when she marries and becomes pregnant.  All the small indignities that women endured were shown, such as how doctors wanted to put her on valium to "calm" her down (i.e. make her less opinionated).  And her husband controlled every aspect of her life, from how she dressed, if she breastfed (and for how long), and how much free time she had (very little).  She was expected to find fulfillment solely by being a doting mother.     

Characters:

Katharina was an unusual character for a women of the 1950's. She had a strong education, getting a masters in languages, and had a career at the United Nations.   It was almost surprising that she would ever want to get married, given how much she enjoyed the single life.  She partied hard, was often drunk, and enjoyed one-night stands, often as a single person. 

But Katharina was also rather tragic.  She really wasn't cut out for being a stay at home mom.  Part of this was due to her husband, Tom's, insisting that she should not need any help with childcare.  With two young children, this left her often short on sleep, and patience.  So she felt very lonely and overwhelmed. 

I loved Katharina's mother-in-law, Amelia.  According to Katharina's husband, his mother was never there for him, and left him with nannies all the time.  This is why he insisted that Katharina do everything herself.  But as we get to know Amelia, we see that she did most of the childrearing, but insisted on having a social life, outside her role as a mother.  Part of this was to offset the sting of her husband's numerous affairs.  But it was also a way for her to take control of her life.  I really admired that about her.

What I Didn't Like:

Informing on Communists:

The whole spy aspect of the novel is that Katharina (unbeknownst to her) dated a Communist in college, and has been asked to spy on him.  I wondered how Katharina could consent to informing on her fellow Americans.   With her background at the United Nations, it seemed to me that she became an informant to escape her dreary life as a mother, rather than because of a sense of patriotism.  And since the FBI did make Jacob out to be a dangerous KGB spy, she put her children at risk, which I found unforgivable.

Romance:

As Katharina becomes more and more involved with the FBI, she starts to develop feelings for an African-American man who is also undercover in the Communist Party.  I did not object to the interracial component, but rather that their relationship didn't really go anywhere.  She freely admitted that she her feelings were based on lust, not necessarily on the personality of the man, himself.  Again, I sensed that she was disappointed in her marriage, and so sought attention elsewhere.  This was so selfish and made me less sympathetic for her husband.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  July 20th, 2021

Author:  Karin Tanabe

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  384 Pages

Source:  Publisher and NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  While I liked this book's depiction of a woman's life in 1950's America, some aspects of the book, such as the spy part, didn't work for me.  I recommend checking this one out from the library.

Please Note: I received an advance copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

In the glittering world of Manhattan's upper crust, where wives turn a blind eye to husbands' infidelities, and women have few rights and even less independence, society is everything. The more celebrated the hostess, the more powerful the woman. And none is more powerful than Caroline Astor—the Mrs. Astor.

But times are changing.

Alva Vanderbilt has recently married into one of America's richest families. But what good is money when society refuses to acknowledge you? Alva, who knows what it is to have nothing, will do whatever it takes to have everything.

Sweeping three decades and based on true events, this is a gripping novel about two fascinating, complicated women going head to head, behaving badly, and discovering what’s truly at stake. 

Review:

If you've ever read any book by Edith Warton (such as The Age of Innocence), then you might be familiar with the rigid social system in New York in the late 1800's, and the clash between "old" money, and "new" money.  Families who inherited their wealth were considered Old Money, while those whose fortunes were self-made were considered New Money.  The Old monied Astors did their upmost to shut out the New monied families,like the Vanderbilts.  Why?  They were considered uneducated, uncultured, and undesirable to marry.  But, by the end of this time period, around 1900, both groups intermingled.  

The Social Graces, by Renee Rosen, chronicles the clash between Caroline Astor, the most influential of the Old monied hostesses, and the ambitious New money, Alva Vanderbilt.  With immense attention to historical detail, Rosen brings this era to life for the reader.  And, although I never would have guessed it, I felt a great deal of empathy towards these two women.  This was a wonderful book.

What I Liked:

Historical Details:

The Gilded Age was a time of excess, and also of extreme poverty.  The author does a wonderful job of showing the contrasts between the two.  I was really captivated by the celebrations that began the era as opulent parties and devolved into garish spectacles by the end of the 1800's.  This was perpetuated by the influx of newly wealthy families, each trying to outdo the other in themed parties.  There were Balls that had a color theme (The White Ball, The Red Ball, etc), and others where the guests of honor were animals!  

The author also showed how much poor people struggled during this time.  Many immigrants lived in tenement housing, with no heat in the winter.  Wages were not enough to buy basic necessities.  When people began to organize, they were brutally put down.  The wealthy going to these parties had to have seen these poor souls, yet few did anything to improve the lives of these people.

Characters:

While women of this time period had few rights or power to steer their own lives, Caroline Astor and Alva Vanderbilt made the most of their influence to bend society to their will.  They also were mothers who, like any of us, wanted security for their children, especially their daughters. I think Caroline had the more difficult time of it with her children.  She couldn't understand how her daughters would question the norms of society.  Marry for love?  What a ridiculous notion!  When she stands her ground and insists on choosing husbands for her daughters, the consequences are devastating.  

Alva also struggles to conform to a marriage that is more a business arrangement than a relationship.  For most of the book she soldiers on, thinking her sacrifice will benefit her children's social standing.  Until she has finally had enough.  

Through it all, both women use their husband's money to validate themselves.  The parties, dresses, and households are lavish.  And the thought that must have gone in to all the planning would probably put a modern-day project manager to shame.  While this could have been tedious to read about, I was fascinated, especially as the women start to question what they are doing.

Story:

The story follows Alva Vanderbilt, as she fights her way into society.  She knows that women like Caroline Astor do not wish to accept them into society.  When Alva tries the usual polite ways to introduce herself to Caroline are met with silence, Alva tries a different tact.  She becomes a newer, flashier version of Caroline.  Not invited to join the Music Academy?  No problem.  Alva pushes to built what is now know as the greatest opera house in the United States, The Met!  

In the midst of all of this, Caroline struggles to keep her daughters in line.  She wants them to marry respectable men who she has chosen for them.  But her daughters have other ideas.  And Alva, must decide if she can accept the trade-off of a life of ease in a loveless marriage, or risk scandal by considering divorce.

The story becomes the most heartfelt as both women begin to question the whole game of "society".  It's a lot of work to rise to the top of the social ladder.  But what they find is that the rewards are not terribly meaningful in the long run.

Themes:

The theme of this novel is about change.  Not only are the old society families being replaced by new ones, the times are going through rapid changes brought on by the industrial age.  In just a few short years, America went from horse and buggies, to automobiles, workers started organizing, and women began to demand the right to vote.  With all this came an evolution of social norms. It's no wonder the Old families saw themselves as the gatekeepers of tradition.

But, with all the new fortunes being made due to industrialization, there came a certain recklessness from the newly wealthy.  Parties grew increasingly lavish (and outlandish), excess was encouraged, with no thought to (or perhaps to shut out) the suffering of low-wage workers.  The novel not only chronicles the events of the times, but also shows how the excesses of the time turned a Gilded Age into a garish one.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  April 20th, 2021

Author:  Renee Rosen

Publisher: Berkley Press

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Page Length:  400 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation: A lavish book about the Gilded Age, this is a must read for fans of historical fiction.