wow. just wow. I practically inhaled this book. the writing, the story, the themes and messages. gah! I am so obsessed!

What I like most about Melissa Lozada-Oliva's poetry is that it's unpretentious. The lyricism is brilliant, but it's not meant to confuse or gatekeep. Instead, it's designed to touch readers in a profound yet extremely accessible way. The story centres around Melissa, a Latinx poet who decides to bring latinx icon Selena back from the dead. As a fellow latinx millenial, I was familiar with Selena and what she means to many Latinx communities; however, I don't think this is necessary before going into the novel. Even if you know nothing about Selena and latinx culture, Lozada-Oliva's writing hooks you in and makes you understand.

I will 10000% be picking up a physical copy when this comes out. This was iconic and I need it on my bookshelf.

I received a free copy of Dreaming of You from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A story told in verse, Melissa is able to bring back a dead celebrity and she chooses Selena and it's a wild ride. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with the impact Selena has had will enjoy this book and be able to reflect on what it would mean if Selena came back from death.

This was definitely one of the strangest books I've read and I can't say I was prepared for the ride. That being said, I recommend you read it!

Lozada-Oliva does a good job at creating a mystical space where we could bring Selena - and inevitably other pop icons - back to "life". Her sneak disses (and not so subtle jabs) at media consumption / hyper-fanaticism / the Quintanilla family and folks who capitalize on the death of a loved one bring the book together nicely. I can't say I loved every single page because there were parts where I was like ಠ_ಠ what's goin on right now?? BUT there were gems in there that forced self-reflection and would be great to discuss with a friend / in a course / at a book club.

See below for a gem of a verse:
"And who are your friends, do you think?
And do you believe you are loved?
Tell me, is every party you throw
just to see who would show up at your
funeral? I know; you think I'm an extreme.
You think I am an accelerationist.
You think I am imbalanced.
You think I need help.
But please,
tell me the name of the person you woud
die for. Tell me about your precious career.
Tell me about your confessional poetry.
Tell ne about how you've turned everyone
you've ever met into a poem. You can't
immortalize everybody. You can't just bring
people back to life. I killed her, okay.
I killed her just to see myself better. But
what are you doing here,"

oh my, wowza! Dreaming of You is sparkling and haunting all at once! The concept is one that I would never think of in a million years, ressurrenting Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla. Full of pop culture references and a mastery of language, this was a wild ride that I couln't put down!

Dreaming of You was exactly as predicted, yet still a surprise. I had my highest hopes for this book, and it did not disappoint. I understand why this would not work for some people- it is quite experimental in my opinion- but it hit the spot for me. Lozada-Oliva, has a wonderful voice that is fully present and she does not hold back anything. It never feels like she is keeping her audience at an arms length, nor does she weirdly coddle them. The characters are very interesting and a bit confusing, but the poetry pulls it off. At times I was laughing out loud while reading, and at other points I felt my eye well up with fresh tears. Some of the poetry worked better for me than others, but I always appreciate the bearing of the soul so I cannot say any were bad. The author gracefully ricochets between critique, empathy, and an admittance of having no idea what is happening. I especially adored the most vulnerable pieces, where we can see the hearts of the characters and not just how they are perceived. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is not afraid, she keeps digging. While exploring Latinadad, Celebrity, Karaoke, she continues to be ridiculously funny and amiable. Every poem shows off her skill and intelligence, but none feel mocking or superior. I think the key that really pulls this whole shindig off is the compassion that she has for her characters and their decisions. This is not the same as agreement, but it allows each piece of plot to live freely on the page without judgement. The entire experience felt like going to the county fair late at night and continually losing and finding the people you came with- ultimately very unnerving but the relief when she reaches her peeks is visceral.

This was such a weird book and lately I've been in a weird mood so I ended up vibing with this one a lot.

Dreaming of You is about a woman who ends up resurrecting Selena Quintanilla back from the dead.

I really enjoyed this story. This was the first book written in verse that I've ever read and I liked it very much! The concept was extremely unique. A lot of the themes of this novel also really spoke to me. Melissa struggles a lot with loneliness and I've been grappling with similar feelings these days as well. There were times when I found myself snorting and moments where certain lines of prose hit me a little too hard.

Honestly, this book was actually exactly what I needed to read today. It was wild and different and aching and I loved it more than I thought I would.

Thank you to to Netgalley and the publishers for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Special thanks to @netgalley and @astrahousebooks for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada Oliva

Genre: Verse, poetry, magical realism

Synopsis: A lonely poet brings back to life Selena...because if she didn’t somebody else would. Upon doing so, a series of unfortunate and odd events begin to unravel. Through the use of verse and poetry, Dreaming of You is an exploration of loneliness paralleled with how pop culture icons can make us feel less lonely. But these icons aren’t our friends. They never will be. We are still alone.

Review: This is a very quick read and definitely a very strange one. I enjoyed it, especially because I don’t read poetry much. The meanings intertwined within these pages are heavy and relatable. Selena was such an icon for the Latina community so I loved seeing her come back to life, even if it was merely though the art of writing. This one isn’t out until late October but on the bright side, a book about a seance is perfect for the Halloween spirit! I gave this book four stars but am definitely going to reread it sooner to its pub date!

I had an amazing evening reading Dreaming of You. I loved her collection peluda from a few years ago so I knew this would be great. It’s a novel in verse that revolves around a fictionalized version of the poet who brings Selena Quintanilla back from the dead. The title recalls the singer’s posthumous album of the same name. I absolutely loved this book and how effortlessly it switches back and forth between these dark, searing moments and these manic, funny scenes. The speaker’s voice is so clear and recognizable, and as a Brit, it was interesting to see how Selena is perceived and kind of "owned" by her fans in some ways. Very cool, check it out if you can!

I didn’t know what to expect with this novel, it was strange but eye-opening. The format was unusual and unique, but it brought out the story and message. Can I say this novel is absurdist? I will do so anyway 😅 This absurdist novel dealt with issues that get overlooked in our BIPoC communities, especially identity crises and so forth. It was refreshing to read this novel, with the idea of celebrity praise (I too would resurrect Selena) and the impact that celebrities have on us. This book made me laugh and cry, laugh and cry, and so on.

Dreaming of you is timeless, tasteful, and flavored like an experiment gone right. It’s my new favorite novel in verse.

With all the lyricism of your favorite fever dream, the novel follows a journey from seance to self. Melissa is lonely to her core, and imagines Selena Quinanilla as her best friend. So one night, when the darkness is just kissing death’s doorstep, Melissa brings Selena Quintanilla back from the dead. Yet something is off. The Selena that comes back is all static and blur. She can only speak in sound bites from the past. And as Selena begins to crystallize, Melissa feels herself fading.

With tenderness, Lozada-Oliva starts a crusading interrogation of how our relationship to pop culture is disingenuous. What if bringing Selena back just means killing her again? What does it mean to love someone whose tragedy formed a community? As she writes, “is Selena the hole that’s been carved out for me? I can jam my body through it but I’ll probably fall to the other side. Is my body Selena-adjacent?”

Then there is the question of celebrity idolization. Are we all Icarus, taking our darlings too close to the sun? Imagine for a moment if they lived to a ripe old age, long enough to tweet that they are pro-life? We are relentless in our desire to savor celebrities in their prime, yet so quick to discard their humanity. We fine-tune ourselves against them. We juxtapose our jealousy with idolatry to justify their commercialization.

While the novel focuses on our relationship with pop idols, as well feminism, queerness and latinidad; I couldn’t help but wonder if I am part of a generation who is defined by grief, who needs manufactured jealousy to feel anything. I wonder how much social media skews my perception of myself, yet I am still here because I also struggle for a self without others. The novel felt like a personal call-out in certain ways, but I didn’t come out with answers.

Instead, I admire the beauty of the hand that wrote those words.

Instead, I walk out of the pages with my cheeks singed red, reverberating in the aftermath of a haunted slap.

I received a free copy of Dreaming of You from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Celebrity deaths affect us more than we'd life to admit. What if you could bring your favorite star back from the dead?

Written in verse, Dreaming Of You weaves a story of loneliness, loss, and the pervasiveness of pop culture on our collective psyche.

An eerie novel in verse that addresses celebrity, obsession, jealousy, loneliness, and more. You might be able to bring back your idols, but at what cost?

Lozada-Oliva takes us on a delightfully morbid journey to bring back the beloved singer Selena. Through meandering poems about social media, culture, bodies, etc., Lozada-Oliva captures both a sense of unease and beauty.

There were several things that drew me into Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s, Dreaming In Verse.

•In recent years I’ve grown fond of the novel in verse structure.
•I like the cover art.
•The description of the book made it a must-read for me: it’s about SELENA!!!!
—And—
•I figured anyone who had the gall to essentially resurrect Selena Quintanilla was worth giving a go!

I think the author was creative in envisioning the themes explored in this book. It was weird and absurd and at times hedged on the side of comical. But then there were the more pressing themes relating to identity, love, celebrity worship, disillusionment, death, and obsession.

I was a bit surprised that the story didn’t focus much more on the resurrection of Selena. While I appreciated especially the dialogues of Selena’s father, Abraham and even her murderer, Yolanda there were times I felt that the story fell short of its original intention. I found myself confused several times wondering who was narrating; the author or Yolanda.

So many questions and thoughts followed the murder of our beloved Selena and so I suppose I would have enjoyed exploring those more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really need to do more research and request books written by diverse authors as this one proved that we have a lot of undiscovered gem out here!

Thanks Melissa for writing this one!

The in-verse format perfectly blended with the tone of the storyline which created a balanced narration and emotion.

RATING: 4stars

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a wildly strange and hilarious novel in verse. The author narrates the story largely in stream of consciousness. This sometimes didn’t work for me as it was a little confusing, but the book really picks up steam about a third of the way in when the plot is more established. The humor is dark and sometimes the content is really thought provoking. I found myself laughing out loud at some parts. I read the book and listened to the audiobook, which is masterfully narrated by the author. Lozada-Oliva has such fantastic delivery, I would recommend pairing the physical book and audiobook. I found the poems easier to follow when read aloud. I recommend this book if you’re looking for something unexpected.

Thank you Astra Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

i had actually never listened to selena's music before, so first of all thank you for introducing me to the soundtrack of my life for the next few months.

dreaming of you is a novel in verse that follows our narrator as she resuscitates selena, and the consequences of that decision. it's poetry that touches on the magic, using horror elements to highlight the difficulties of fame, growing up in a world that doesn't feel made for you, and the uncertainties of navigating life and romance as a woman. to me it straddles the line between horror and speculative almost historical fiction ? we love a slightly revisionist but academically supported reading !

it's a funny book that made me laugh, and it's also tender, clever, slightly weird and creepy. there are poems that honestly brought me to tears and the little experimentations with form felt truly meaningful. there's a balance in the poems between going forward with the story and having moments of poetic pause, there's a strong nostalgia too, and a vivid quality to how the past shows up on the page. i really liked the way technology, digital and analog, kind of "interferes" and snakes its way into the novel.

so yes! more more more!! so many thing that i love in poetry are there: the way it blends specific cultural references that i don't always get, how it has slightly autobiographical moments, the weirdness, the academic perspectives... it's just steeped in intertextuality in a way that hits my soft spots.


I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I don't think I have the right words for how much I love this collection. It is very easy to get confused at the beginning, especially if you make the same mistake as I did and focus too much on the narrative of bringing Selena back to life. Though it is the central theme in which the pieces evolve, what really made a great impact to me is how her words made me feel. This is definitely the most "freaky" poem collection I have ever read this year. I loved how it pushed the boundaries of reality and magical realism while discussing feminism, coming of age, sexuality, life and death. Absolutely gorgeous.

I still have so much to unpack but will probably do so on my blog later. Big thanks to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the eARC.

Dreaming of You is a beautiful and raw ode to loneliness, love, and of course Selena. The poetry speaks to my millennial heart and the life and society we find ourselves navigating. The writing is a mix of direct and whimsical as the poems themselves are written in a variety of styles. The overall theme and story is brought to life through snippets of imagery, emotion, and style but many of the poems can also be appreciated and read independent of the overall story and still have quite an impact. I will be looking back to a few to add to the catalog of poems I discuss with my middle schoolers.

This is a story of mirrors, or what happens
when you bring the mirror back from the dead
and when you look in it,
you see yourself eating yourself

Alright, so I can't possibly explain to you how much I adored the heck of a wild ride that is this book and how much the crazy of these poems vibed with my crazy! I mean, just WOW! This felt like a fever dream, a roller-coaster ride, a lyrical feast, a surreal theatrical performance, a series of thoughts that moved my synaesthesia in extremely unpredictable ways, all of those things in the best way possible!

What do I even talk about first? The way the author perfectly connects her past and her heritage with modern themes? The absolutely needed queerness that warmed my heart and made my soul so happy? How incredibly innovative and unlikely anything one could ever read or perceive the idea of the zombie-Selena was? How real and personal even the most absent-minded of descriptions felt?

One of my favorite poetry collections I read in 2021 and definitely one of the most underrated poetry collections that came out in 2021 as well!

God, I can't even put into words how original and cool this felt! Just... WOW!

Melissa Lozada-Oliva's Dreaming of You is an absurd yet heartfelt examination of celebrity worship.

A young Latinx poet grappling with loneliness and heartache decides one day to bring Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla back to life. The séance kicks off an uncanny trip narrated by a Greek chorus of gossiping spirits as she journeys through a dead celebrity prom, encounters her shadow self, and performs karaoke in hell.

I was able to see Melissa Lozada-Oliva at an author event for this book and it made me appreciate this work even more! She's a brilliant and gifted writer and showcases how to have fun with her stories.

I read this book about a week ago and have not stopped thinking about it. I have read a lot of books in my life time. I know what I like and I stick to it however this book was unlike anything I'd ever read before. The book revolves around a girl called Melissa resurrecting the famous pop star Selena and then absolute chaos ensues. I couldn't tell you another thing about the plot if I tried as it is such a fever dream I believe I will have to read it another five times before I truly understand it. It was a real joy to read. I'm amazed more people don't talk about it. Truly the perfect book for those looking for weird girl books

A lonely, witchy poet called Melissa resurects murdered Tejano pop star Selena and then has to watch the chaos unfold without her. Reanimated Selena absconds with Melissa’s best pair of jeans, and is back in the public eye. Despite being the person who brought Selena back from the dead, Melissa is relegated to the sidelines and she struggles to accept that her literally life-giving love of Selena does not mean the pop star owes her anything. The reader is taken on a rollicking-yet-macabre tour by Lozada-Oliva, touching on all the uncomfortable emotions surrounding our obsession with fame. The result is a slightly uneven, very powerful and always funny reading experience that will have you eagerly anticipating Lozada-Oliva’s next collection.

Slightly unhinged but highly relatable, this novel in verse about a lonely young woman who resurrects her favorite pop-star was quick and engrossing. Put on some Selena and binge-read it.