Though it’s a newer release, Olga Dies Dreaming has lingered in my mind for months. The novel follows a Nuyorican sister (Olga, a wedding planner) and brother (Prieto, a congressman); their mother is a rebel fighting for Puerto Rican independence. She left her kids when they were young, but she stays informed about their lives, contacting them only when she writes a letter to express her support for—or scathing disapproval of—the decisions each child makes, from college to jobs to relationships. Now as adults, they’re navigating complicated lives in a gentrified Brooklyn. I was rooting for these flawed and conflicted characters not just because it was a good story, but because I related so deeply to their conversations about identity, specifically about the unique feelings of diaspora under colonialism. There’s even a scene that imagines a real revolution in Puerto Rico where the Boricuas take back the island for themselves, and reading about it in a fictional future left me sobbing. There are many who are trying to understand and capture Puerto Rican voices right now with an increased attention to its politics and colonial relationship with the U.S.; this is one of the few that speaks to the deep, entrenched fury of its diaspora—through a compelling and fun narrative that includes a satisfying love story, a cast of delightful family members, and plenty of suspense. Gonzalez’s vivid storytelling has even led to a forthcoming Hulu series adaptation starring Aubrey Plaza. — Rosa Cartagena, senior editor