Other Evolutions Book Review

Other Evolutions is the debut novel by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, whose debut collection, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds and Other Stories (2023), was shortlisted for an Ottawa Book Award and was the runner-up for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. The book, at its core, is a slow-burning family drama steeped in grief, trauma, and cultural tension, exploring how a Jewish-Mexican family navigates identity, assimilation, and dealing with the aftermath of surviving an accident that leaves one physically and emotionally scarred in the struggle of being the one who lived and the pain of not being able to stop it.

As a reader, you follow Alma Alt, the youngest daughter of an interfaith and interracial family in Ottawa, who struggles with a deep sense of otherness that follows her as a shadow. Having inherited her Mexican mother’s darker features, Alma deals with colourism from early on and recognises the beauty placed on her fairer older sister Marnie, who also has more Eurocentric features — laying the groundwork for a sister dynamic saddled with guilt and resentment. This conflict leads to a car accident that results in catastrophic loss. The novel follows the aftermath in chronological order as Alma is stuck in her own limbo, reflecting on her body and sense of belonging.

The novel was interesting and did not follow my expectations; I mean this in a good way. Rebecca Hirsch Garcia does an amazing job creating realistic and relatable characters in conflicts where, realistically, there are no villains or heroes, just victims. The characters and their emotions are multilayered and complex, fully pulling me in and leaving me invested in what they may say or do next. The writing is well-paced, and there is a gradual build-up towards the unavoidable tragedy and its aftermath. The last few chapters, however, do take a sharp turn and delve away from the slow-burning family drama and introduce a sort of Frankenstein-inspired grief monster, which I wish had been explored more and had Easter eggs planted earlier in the novel.

Reviewed by Amu Unimna