The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia makes for a collection of surreal stories that makes for a mixed-bag read. Some stories were diamonds, others, not so much.

This book contains a stunning collection of the short stories, some of them just 5-10 pages, the last one “Woman into cloud” is the longest, like a small novella.
Each story is totally unique with a voice of its own. I surprised the scope they cover.
Al stories brilliantly written, bouncing on the boundaries of the realism and fable. You finish one story, you want continue to read on, to start a new one.
You closed the book, the stories don’t leave you, you keep thinking.
As usual for multi-stories books, some stories you like more and some less, some you remember and some you forgot. Some are very uncomfortable, triggering the thoughts you would like to avoid..
Overall it’s a great debut collection.

The girl who cried diamonds was a great audiobook. I liked the stories, as they were a bit creepy, strange, but wonderfully written.

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: women are clouds, eerie stories, horror collection, literary gems, stark and memorable

The Girl Who Cried Diamonds by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia
My Rating: 4
GR Rating: 3.51
Pages: 208

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

While I typically enjoy short story collections, this one left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. The description of the collection suggested there would be supernatural/fantasy elements in these stories, however, by the end of the collection, most of them were grounded in realism. The stories were written well, but they were not the stories I was expecting to read, so a more accurate blurb might have given me more reasonable expectations. As it was, I kept waiting for the magical twist, or the fantastical reveal, which, more often than not, never came, leaving me feeling disappointed.

The concept of a girl whose tears formed into diamonds seemed like a great premise for a short story, as it could be taken in a number of ways, but I found the direction of the narrative all too bleak for my tastes, dealing with exploitation, abuse and despair. These themes were present in other stories too, and generally, female characters felt at risk or under threat most of the time. I would say this was the underlying theme of the collection, so it left me feeling quite down about humanity, or at the very least, about men. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, as it too deals unflinchingly with uncomfortable truths about contemporary society and its maltreatment of women.

The final two sections were actually one story split into two parts, each much longer than any of the other short stories. This was not clear to me until I began the final section, so it was an interesting surprise after growing accustomed to a shorter length of story. While I enjoyed several aspects of this final story, once again, the disparity between expectation (short story) and reality (novella) was not a pleasant one. The threat of male violence towards female characters was present here too.

A final note on the narration. The voice actor seemed like a good fit for the telling of most stories, yet at times, the pacing, or the intonation, seemed a little off somehow. I would find myself rereading sentences back to myself, in my head, the way I imagined I would have interpreted them on the page. Of course, listening to any audiobook, instead of reading, adds a layer of interpretation between the text and the listener, but in this instance, it did not always seem to me to be spoken the way it was intended to be read.

What an outstanding collection of short stories. Each captured the complexity’s of femininity. Obscure and creepy and breathtakingly beautifully written.

I would absolutely love to see lengthened versions of these tales, they very much reminded me of old folk tales that your grandparents would tell, old family yore. Or of course read more of the authors work.
Excellent! An easy 4 stars 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW press audio for the opportunity to listen to this audio book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading THE GIRL WHO CRIED DIAMONDS & other stories by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia! These fourteen stories were all great! I found this book to be the perfect fall read. The element of fear was a though line in these stories and they featured uncomfortable situations and an eerie quality. I especially enjoyed the stories from a female perspective and the mentions of periods and weight. My fave story was My Full Catastrophe as right away the opening paragraph was so relatable to me. The protagonist just broke her new headphones and was wearing sneakers with a hole in them. Then the story takes an intense turn and gets very creepy with a stalker and loss of control while in a fall Ottawa setting. I really enjoyed the Canadian setting and the horror elements. I also listened to the audiobook and the narrator Tara Koehler was excellent. What a great debut collection!

I found myself not forming any interest in these stories, or any care for the characters, and this affected my enjoyment of this collection.

Really enjoyed reading/listening to a series of short stories instead of a novel this time round. The stories were quite varied in length so worked well for a walk or short journey. However a few times it took me a minute to realise that I’d gone in to a new story, I struggled to keep track.
There was a strong female lead focus to the stories, although not all females were strong. Some of the stories were quite strange, and not necessarily something I’d have picked out as a solo read. However in a collection it was less noticeable.

Thank you to ECW Press Audio and netgalley for access in exchange for my honest opinion. This was one of the books I requested on a whim and I'm so glad I did. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

This is beautiful collection of poetically written, speculative fiction tales each with a weird and wonderful twist; Some of which are horror based and have a degree of J. G. Ballard in style.

If you enjoy short stories, which are bizarre and thought provoking, then this book is definitely worth checking out. There are definitely a few stand out tales, personally my favourite was ‘Mother’ but I also enjoyed The Girl Who Cried Diamonds and Damage Control.

Definitely an author I will be looking out for in future and wonderfully narrated. 3.75 rounded up.

I loved this collection of speculative/literary horror stories! I especially loved Mother and The Girl Who Cried Diamonds.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC!

In the book the girl who cried diamonds and other stories they have many different stories some longer than others and all of them were strange and odd tails I love stories that are weird and a tad on the macabre side but these were just confusing nonsensical and with the exception of the girl who lost her father in the other story with the girl who saves the guys life and in turn he stalks her I found the rest of the story is nonsensical and ridiculous. I especially thought the story with the boy who lost weight and was been invited to a popular girls party only to find her upstairs in her room alone and she wanted them to trade kind insults while looking at each other‘s scars I thought that was dumb and found no purpose to that activity much less the story as a whole. I also thought the story where the woman becomes a cloud and can no longer communicate with her wife was one of the stupidest stories I have ever read and I hate to be harsh but it was just dumb and I found no point to it sometimes things are just too obscure for others to get and I think with most of the stories in this book that is the case. Who is really looking forward to reading these stories but sadly was disappointed I get the symbolism but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I want to think the publisher Ionut galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was a whirlwind of a collection. The titular story, "The Girl Who Cried Diamonds", was the obvious standout; amongst its peers (particularly earlier counterparts "My Full Catastrophe" and "Mother"), it shares a similar theme of the exploitation and cruelty against women. But where other stories in this collection echo that sentiment, "The Girl Who Cried Diamonds" screams it. It's unafraid and exact in what it wants to say, and the story's ending hammers in the violent reality that many women of color face.

Honorable mentions to the some of the other wonderful stories:

- "A Golden Light", which is the primer into this collection, is melancholic and wistful, short and bittersweet. Zadie, having recently lost her father, hardly even realizes she's grasping for hope when it comes to her in the form of sunlight. This story digs at the concept of hope and how it always seem to be both questionable and concrete: there's something out there, but we don't know what; and when we receive the answer, what will we be left with?

- "Damage Control" recalls the unrelenting insecurity, bodily angst, and desperate plea for inclusion that can only belong to high schoolers. Leonard arrives feeling like a brand new boy for the school year, only to feel unrealized in his different form and practically eclipsed by another girl, whose own embodiment of a new self serves as a foil to his. "Damage Control" plays at the dichotomy of perception — what will I do to be accepted? What will I become when I'm not?

- "Goodbye, Melody" is a succinct recollection of girlhood and friendship. It mentions one quote that I wrote down immediately, which was: "What a heartless young girl I was."

- "Mother" is as enthralling as it is horrifying. The premise had me wishing this was a larger story so that I could read more of it, but I also feel like its length as a short story sustained its suspense.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Most if not all of these short stories leave you with this feeling of being haunted, either by the sense of being watched or by the feeling of relation to a character. The author's ability to take you through her character's feelings with ease and it sticks with you long after you're done, in my case, listening.

I cannot even express how much I loved this. There are lot of different stories here and I loved all of them. I related to most of them too. I related to hem too much and that is true horror.
The narration was flawless. I don't think anyone could have done it better.

This publishes next week and you are absolutely going to want to give it a listen.

This was marketed as a horror collection, but feels more like speculative fiction to me with a deep focus on the experiences and horrors of attempting to live in a female body. From a girl who cries diamonds to a wife that transitions into a cloud, the state of a woman’s body and specifically how that body is treated, commodified and claimed are central themes to the collection.

There are some real standouts. The suspense and horror of Mother, the surreal Woman Into Cloud, and The Girl Who Cried Diamonds. Were the standouts, slyly diving into the definitions of women and women’s bodies through some strange and horrific elements. The writing throughout is strong and well developed, with characters that have weight even in their short lives on the page.

There is a little coldness to this collection that seems to limit the emotional impact of the collection. There is joy in moments even when the rest of the world seems to be falling apart. Adding moments of individual care and beauty with the pain, horror and challenges would make the world feel a little more rich and real.

AHHHHHHHHHH! GIVE ME ALL THE HORROR AND SUSPENSE SHORT STORIES AND I'LL BE THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE LAND! Okay, I am so thankful to ECW Press, Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, and Netgalley for granting me early digital access to this absolute GEM (title pun) of a book that has me in the perfect reading mood just in time for summer's start. We love dark and twisted tales in this household and The Girl Who Cried Diamonds gave me everything I needed to scratch that itch. There were stories about supernatural abilities, and murderous families, all with eerie endings that will make you ponder for days on what you just digested. The Girl Who Cried Diamonds & Other Stories is set to publish on October 3, 2023, so get your pre-orders in now yall!