If every story in THE GIRL WHO CRIED DIAMONDS would have been like “Mother,” “Woman into Cloud,” or even the title story “The Girl Who Cried Diamonds,” this would have been a five-star collection. Unfortunately for the reader, these three stories all come toward the end of the book, and I can imagine some readers not having the patience to make it to these gems. If I hadn’t agreed to review this book for NetGalley, I would have put it down after the first few stories. That’s because, while every story in this book sounds pretty (Hirsch Garcia has a beautiful lilt to her language), many of them are not actually *stories*—i.e., nothing happens. There’s always a brilliant magic realist setup, but then just when we get to an interesting reveal, the story ends, leaving me deeply unsatisfied every time. Only the three stories mentioned “go anywhere” or “do anything.” The rest read like character studies about whom you might one day write a story. Also, I requested this book because it was shelved under horror, and “Mother” was the only story to come anywhere close to horror. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!

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!

All great stories. First time I read this author and loved each story. Very talented author. I especially loved the first story.

I really enjoyed some of these stories, particularly the first one, but others fell a little flat and felt overwritten. However, I do think these stories managed to deliver an atmospheric and eerie feeling, which is hard to do over text so I praise the author for that!

WOW WOW WOW. This was so insanely good oh my god, my new favourite collection of short stories ever. Every single story was disturbing and beautiful and strange and stunning. Woman in a Cloud, Mother, The Golden Light, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds, all masterpieces. I love reading the work of Canadian women, this was so so fantastic. Excited to see what else this author comes out with in the future. I’d love to purchase a copy of this when it is published. My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.