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Other Evolutions
Alma Alt, the sheltered youngest daughter of an interfaith, interracial Jewish-Mexican couple, rarely ventures far from her home on a wealthy tree-lined street in Ottawa, where nothing ever happens. The one time she did, striking out to visit her older sister, Marnie, in Montreal, things ended in disaster as she found out that beautiful, blonde Marnie had been lying about their family’s background, trying to pass herself off as white. The unintended fallout from that betrayal leads to a devastating accident, one that claims Alma’s arm and someone’s life.
Alma is now stuck in a holding pattern, unable to move past the grief, trauma, and injury she suffered that night, all while the bonds that hold her family together crumble, the guilt and resentment between the sisters simmering beneath the surface. But Alma’s life is turned upside down by an encounter just steps from home with an impossible person, the boy she watched die.
With keen human insight and stark and honest prose, Other Evolutions is a literary debut with a dark, speculative twist that reveals the uncanny in the mundane, seeing us through the worst parts of our lives toward the weird and wonderful things right in our own backyard.
Alma is now stuck in a holding pattern, unable to move past the grief, trauma, and injury she suffered that night, all while the bonds that hold her family together crumble, the guilt and resentment between the sisters simmering beneath the surface. But Alma’s life is turned upside down by an encounter just steps from home with an impossible person, the boy she watched die.
With keen human insight and stark and honest prose, Other Evolutions is a literary debut with a dark, speculative twist that reveals the uncanny in the mundane, seeing us through the worst parts of our lives toward the weird and wonderful things right in our own backyard.
264 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2025
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3564 people want to read
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May 5, 2025
I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!
I really enjoyed this book and the way it was framed/the way the character relationships were developed. I found myself relating in different ways to every character and sympathizing with them.
The way themes of grief and belonging were explored were also so creatively and amazingly done!
I really enjoyed this book and the way it was framed/the way the character relationships were developed. I found myself relating in different ways to every character and sympathizing with them.
The way themes of grief and belonging were explored were also so creatively and amazingly done!
May 5, 2025
3.5 ⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for the ARC of Other Evolutions.
The story follows Alma Alt, a Mexican-Jewish Canadian girl who loses her arm in an accident when she's a teenager.
This actually reads like two stories. The first three parts and the final one feel barely connected to each other, apart from the fact that it all revolves around Alma's accident. In the first part, we learn her story. She tells us about her childhood and her family. Garcia's writing is really intimate in the sense that it all feels like it's a friend telling us about her life, the whole thing like a long stream of consciousness, and the absence of dialogue indicators not that much of a miss once you're absorbed in the narrative. The whole thing leading to the accident was beautiful and sad, and I felt my chest tightening with the knowledge of what was coming.
After it, we have to deal with the consequences of the loss and the trauma in Alma's life and how it reflects on her relationships. Up until this point, it's all a perfectly constructed family drama. At so many moments I caught myself (the older sibling in my family) thinking that yes, this does make sense, as it's how my parents would treat me and my brother in a similar situation. Still, despite the difference in our positions within our families, I felt like I understood so many of Alma's thoughts and decisions and her view of the world.
And then, after all of that, we come to the final part, which was honestly very underwhelming. It was still very much well written, it gave me chills in a few moments and in a lot of them I had to put the book down and look at my ceiling while whispering to myself 'what the hell am I reading?'. But, like I said, it felt disconnected from the rest of the story. The ending came out of nowhere, feeling rushed, and it left me dissatisfied. But the whole thing was so well built up until that point that it didn't affect the rest of the experience.
I started reading this book with a lot of expectations, none of which were met. I always thought I knew where the story was going only to be wrong. And because of that it was a really good experience. If I knew more about the story, I probably wouldn't have picked up the book. But not knowing felt really fresh, being so different to what I usually read.
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for the ARC of Other Evolutions.
The story follows Alma Alt, a Mexican-Jewish Canadian girl who loses her arm in an accident when she's a teenager.
This actually reads like two stories. The first three parts and the final one feel barely connected to each other, apart from the fact that it all revolves around Alma's accident. In the first part, we learn her story. She tells us about her childhood and her family. Garcia's writing is really intimate in the sense that it all feels like it's a friend telling us about her life, the whole thing like a long stream of consciousness, and the absence of dialogue indicators not that much of a miss once you're absorbed in the narrative. The whole thing leading to the accident was beautiful and sad, and I felt my chest tightening with the knowledge of what was coming.
After it, we have to deal with the consequences of the loss and the trauma in Alma's life and how it reflects on her relationships. Up until this point, it's all a perfectly constructed family drama. At so many moments I caught myself (the older sibling in my family) thinking that yes, this does make sense, as it's how my parents would treat me and my brother in a similar situation. Still, despite the difference in our positions within our families, I felt like I understood so many of Alma's thoughts and decisions and her view of the world.
And then, after all of that, we come to the final part, which was honestly very underwhelming. It was still very much well written, it gave me chills in a few moments and in a lot of them I had to put the book down and look at my ceiling while whispering to myself 'what the hell am I reading?'. But, like I said, it felt disconnected from the rest of the story. The ending came out of nowhere, feeling rushed, and it left me dissatisfied. But the whole thing was so well built up until that point that it didn't affect the rest of the experience.
I started reading this book with a lot of expectations, none of which were met. I always thought I knew where the story was going only to be wrong. And because of that it was a really good experience. If I knew more about the story, I probably wouldn't have picked up the book. But not knowing felt really fresh, being so different to what I usually read.
September 14, 2025
I downloaded this expecting speculative sci-fi, but instead I found myself reading a slow-burning family drama steeped in grief, trauma, and cultural tension.
The speculative element doesn't exist until the final section. At the book's core, it's about a mixed-race family navigating identity and assimilation, while also dealing with the aftermath of tragedy - surviving the kind of accident that leaves you physically and emotionally scarred, struggling under the weight of being the one who lived, and the pain of not being able to undo what was done.
If you’re here for Pet Sematary vibes or Frankensteinian horror, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re drawn to emotionally complex stories about survival, shame, and the places that grief takes you, this one might speak to you.
For me? Just not my cup of weird. Although, can we just gawk at that cover for a moment? Absolutely gorge!
The speculative element doesn't exist until the final section. At the book's core, it's about a mixed-race family navigating identity and assimilation, while also dealing with the aftermath of tragedy - surviving the kind of accident that leaves you physically and emotionally scarred, struggling under the weight of being the one who lived, and the pain of not being able to undo what was done.
If you’re here for Pet Sematary vibes or Frankensteinian horror, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re drawn to emotionally complex stories about survival, shame, and the places that grief takes you, this one might speak to you.
For me? Just not my cup of weird. Although, can we just gawk at that cover for a moment? Absolutely gorge!
November 29, 2025
An eerily strange read. Starts off as a family drama throughout the years and then becomes a totally different book. Bit of a chimera. The plot works well though. Alma is not a comfortable character to take this journey with. But what human is?
August 23, 2025
Rating: 4/5 stars
Other Evolutions is a literary family-story with a speculative twist, about sibling relationships, identity and belonging (either to a place, a people or a person). We follow Alma, the youngest daughter of a Jewish-Mexican family in Ottawa, throughout the course of her life in the wake of a tragedy that rocks her family forever. A sibling conflict leads to a car-accident that costs a boy his life and Alma an arm. Building up to this moment, and following the fallout in chronological order, Other Evolutions captures a portrait of a sliced open life, and a sister-dynamic weighed down by guilt and resentment over inequality.
What I loved:
If you enjoy a good (generations) modern family-tragedy with complex and well-developed sibling-dynamics; there’s plenty to love here. Rebecca Hirsch Garcia does an exceptional job of placing a set of realistic and relatable characters in a conflict-situation that realistically has no villains or heroes, but only victims. The characters and their emotions towards themselves and each other felt multilayered and complex, and went a long way to getting me invested into their narratives.
The story itself is divided in 4 parts, of which the first 3 felt beautifully paced. There’s a sense of gradual build-up towards an inevitable tragedy, with plenty of time to spare after the event to focus on the fallout of it. The final part falls a little out of step with that pacing (more on that in the next section), but does introduce an interesting thought-experiment. If you know my reading-tastes, you know I love my modern Frankenstein-inspired stories with themes of science-vs-humanity, hybridity and creation, and where they intersect with culture, disability and bodily autonomy. This story offers a lot of food for thought in that regard, even though I’m not quite sure if I think the author explored them fully enough for my taste.
Bonuspoints to the cover-artists, who created a stunning visual that definitely helped to draw my attention to this book.
What I didn’t love:
Although I enjoyed this novel, it can’t say that it met my expectations, particularly when it comes to genre and tone. Both the publisher and Goodreads categorize this as “Speculative/Sci-fi”. The issue is that the speculative element only appears about 80% through the story, and everything up until that point has read as a contemporary fiction story. As a result, the final part of the book threw me off balance a bit, as the speculative element felt out of place and hastily tacked on. To make matters worse, it felt largely inconsequential, as it could’ve achieved the same (emotional) arc without this element.
There were two potential solutions to this strange genre-switch: either cut the speculative element completely (which, again: I don’t think would’ve made too much of a difference for the core of the story), or introduce/foreshadow it far earlier in the story. Regardless, it would’ve been more consistent than the way it was handled in the current form.
Overall, I’d recommend this book, as long as you go in with the correct expectations. Some edits to the blurb and marketing, with a lesser focus on the sci-fi-elements might help to better represent the book and get it into the hands of the correct audience.
Many thanks to ECW Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Other Evolutions is a literary family-story with a speculative twist, about sibling relationships, identity and belonging (either to a place, a people or a person). We follow Alma, the youngest daughter of a Jewish-Mexican family in Ottawa, throughout the course of her life in the wake of a tragedy that rocks her family forever. A sibling conflict leads to a car-accident that costs a boy his life and Alma an arm. Building up to this moment, and following the fallout in chronological order, Other Evolutions captures a portrait of a sliced open life, and a sister-dynamic weighed down by guilt and resentment over inequality.
What I loved:
If you enjoy a good (generations) modern family-tragedy with complex and well-developed sibling-dynamics; there’s plenty to love here. Rebecca Hirsch Garcia does an exceptional job of placing a set of realistic and relatable characters in a conflict-situation that realistically has no villains or heroes, but only victims. The characters and their emotions towards themselves and each other felt multilayered and complex, and went a long way to getting me invested into their narratives.
The story itself is divided in 4 parts, of which the first 3 felt beautifully paced. There’s a sense of gradual build-up towards an inevitable tragedy, with plenty of time to spare after the event to focus on the fallout of it. The final part falls a little out of step with that pacing (more on that in the next section), but does introduce an interesting thought-experiment. If you know my reading-tastes, you know I love my modern Frankenstein-inspired stories with themes of science-vs-humanity, hybridity and creation, and where they intersect with culture, disability and bodily autonomy. This story offers a lot of food for thought in that regard, even though I’m not quite sure if I think the author explored them fully enough for my taste.
Bonuspoints to the cover-artists, who created a stunning visual that definitely helped to draw my attention to this book.
What I didn’t love:
Although I enjoyed this novel, it can’t say that it met my expectations, particularly when it comes to genre and tone. Both the publisher and Goodreads categorize this as “Speculative/Sci-fi”. The issue is that the speculative element only appears about 80% through the story, and everything up until that point has read as a contemporary fiction story. As a result, the final part of the book threw me off balance a bit, as the speculative element felt out of place and hastily tacked on. To make matters worse, it felt largely inconsequential, as it could’ve achieved the same (emotional) arc without this element.
There were two potential solutions to this strange genre-switch: either cut the speculative element completely (which, again: I don’t think would’ve made too much of a difference for the core of the story), or introduce/foreshadow it far earlier in the story. Regardless, it would’ve been more consistent than the way it was handled in the current form.
Overall, I’d recommend this book, as long as you go in with the correct expectations. Some edits to the blurb and marketing, with a lesser focus on the sci-fi-elements might help to better represent the book and get it into the hands of the correct audience.
Many thanks to ECW Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
July 10, 2025
Thanks to ECW press for an e-book ARC in exchange for a review!
3.5/5 rounded up because of its well-written prose, which is expressive when necessary and evasive at other times to heighten suspense and keep one reading. This novel was like an odd mix of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Fred Wah's Diamond Grill with its unreliable narrator, focus on family relationships, and fragmentary, non-linear plot. There is a science fiction element to the story, hidden throughout and exploding near the end - whether it actually fits is the question, but, like Frankenstein, the act of creation comes second to the creation's existence and what it represents in the novel's larger exploration of hybridity.
It's an intriguing novel that doesn't follow one's expectations. It felt very nineteenth-century in its narrative style because it literally begins at the beginning, telling the story of the narrator's life from her earliest memories in a full-out bildungsroman. The limitations of Alma's narration means that some family conflicts never get resolved, including the one revealed in the novel's summary about her sister passing for white, as well as other sudden changes in the sister's behaviour. Alma instead obsesses over the death of her childhood hero Oliver, an obsession only matched by the boy's mother. So, while much of the novel focuses on Alma's fraught relationship with her sister, it's the sister who ends up picking up the pieces, literally cleaning up the family home. That aspect of the story was unsatisfying, especially after all the build-up of the novel's first half.
Some of these challenges reflect in the novel's blurb, which doesn't quite capture what the story is really about. Perhaps with some edits to that summary, they could better reach the novel's ideal audience.
3.5/5 rounded up because of its well-written prose, which is expressive when necessary and evasive at other times to heighten suspense and keep one reading. This novel was like an odd mix of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Fred Wah's Diamond Grill with its unreliable narrator, focus on family relationships, and fragmentary, non-linear plot. There is a science fiction element to the story, hidden throughout and exploding near the end - whether it actually fits is the question, but, like Frankenstein, the act of creation comes second to the creation's existence and what it represents in the novel's larger exploration of hybridity.
It's an intriguing novel that doesn't follow one's expectations. It felt very nineteenth-century in its narrative style because it literally begins at the beginning, telling the story of the narrator's life from her earliest memories in a full-out bildungsroman. The limitations of Alma's narration means that some family conflicts never get resolved, including the one revealed in the novel's summary about her sister passing for white, as well as other sudden changes in the sister's behaviour. Alma instead obsesses over the death of her childhood hero Oliver, an obsession only matched by the boy's mother. So, while much of the novel focuses on Alma's fraught relationship with her sister, it's the sister who ends up picking up the pieces, literally cleaning up the family home. That aspect of the story was unsatisfying, especially after all the build-up of the novel's first half.
Some of these challenges reflect in the novel's blurb, which doesn't quite capture what the story is really about. Perhaps with some edits to that summary, they could better reach the novel's ideal audience.
October 13, 2025
About a quarter of the way into Other Evolutions I wondered why I had requested an ARC for it. I was enjoying it; the story of a somewhat disaffected Jewish-Mexican girl growing up in Ottawa in the late 80's was painted vividly, with a strong, surly voice for the protagonist and plenty of intriguing family mystery to pull me in. But double-checking the genre, I had picked it up in Science Fiction, and it was quite definitely not that, not least that the name of the book and the cover vaguely suggested it too. It turn out the book was not shelved wrongly, there is briefly a pivot into a slightly more science fantasy zone in about the last tenth of the book. None of that genre guff matters anyway, I read it in a day and enjoyed every part of its meandering tale.
Alma Alt is the daughter of a European Jewish emigre and a Mexican mother. She is the second child, and the one who looks like her mother and doesn't pass as white. The tale is told broadly chronologically, though we learn early one that Alma lost an arm at age fourteen and doesn't like to talk about it (though she will finally tell us about halfway through the book). She's a bit of a quiet child, in the shadow of her more brilliant (and blonde) sister Marnie, but the story of her upbringing isn't particularly fantastical, though Rebecca Hirsch Garcia manages to give it that kind of spin (there is an extended bit where Alma goes missing from her Grandmother's funeral which promises a portal to another dimension, and actually involves going around a neighbours house to play videogames). If anything, despite the arm incident, Alma is an aggressively normal if somewhat introverted character. Instead, the story manages to tease out the empathy and wonder in a tale that, outside of the arm event, is really rather relatable. Sure, there is an extended trip to the family in Mexico, but that ends up just being about arguing with aging people about death. So it is certainly a surprise when the book pulls out its twist, and one which feels more rife with symbolic truth than the narrative truth insisted by the realism that we've become accustomed to.
Other Evolutions is fundamentally a really well-written normcore family saga, with a kicker that you could read as sci-fi, fantasy or magical realism (that Mexican family visit perhaps encourages that final reading). It is about living with emotional and physical trauma, though we get to know Alma so well before her accident that it feels like the story only slightly bends for it. And a fascinating exercise in bending your genre at the very last minute. Recommended.
Alma Alt is the daughter of a European Jewish emigre and a Mexican mother. She is the second child, and the one who looks like her mother and doesn't pass as white. The tale is told broadly chronologically, though we learn early one that Alma lost an arm at age fourteen and doesn't like to talk about it (though she will finally tell us about halfway through the book). She's a bit of a quiet child, in the shadow of her more brilliant (and blonde) sister Marnie, but the story of her upbringing isn't particularly fantastical, though Rebecca Hirsch Garcia manages to give it that kind of spin (there is an extended bit where Alma goes missing from her Grandmother's funeral which promises a portal to another dimension, and actually involves going around a neighbours house to play videogames). If anything, despite the arm incident, Alma is an aggressively normal if somewhat introverted character. Instead, the story manages to tease out the empathy and wonder in a tale that, outside of the arm event, is really rather relatable. Sure, there is an extended trip to the family in Mexico, but that ends up just being about arguing with aging people about death. So it is certainly a surprise when the book pulls out its twist, and one which feels more rife with symbolic truth than the narrative truth insisted by the realism that we've become accustomed to.
Other Evolutions is fundamentally a really well-written normcore family saga, with a kicker that you could read as sci-fi, fantasy or magical realism (that Mexican family visit perhaps encourages that final reading). It is about living with emotional and physical trauma, though we get to know Alma so well before her accident that it feels like the story only slightly bends for it. And a fascinating exercise in bending your genre at the very last minute. Recommended.
May 27, 2025
Book Review: Other Evolutions by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia
I picked this book because the cover drew me in. Being a scientist, evolution generally excites me, so off I went on an adventure...
Other Evolutions is a haunting literary debut that deftly intertwines family drama with speculative elements, exploring themes of trauma, identity, and the fractures within interfaith and interracial families. Rebecca Hirsch Garcia’s prose is stark and intimate, drawing readers into the fractured world of Alma Alt, a Mexican-Jewish Canadian teenager grappling with the aftermath of a life-altering accident. The novel’s strength lies in its unflinching portrayal of Alma’s grief and the simmering tensions between her and her sister, Marnie, whose betrayal exposes deeper familial and racial rifts.
The first three-quarters of the book excel as a poignant family drama, with Garcia’s stream-of-consciousness narrative style immersing readers in Alma’s psyche. The buildup to the accident is masterfully executed, evoking a visceral sense of impending tragedy. However, the final section introduces a surreal twist that, while chilling, feels disjointed from the otherwise grounded narrative. This abrupt tonal shift may leave some readers unsatisfied, though it doesn’t entirely diminish the novel’s earlier emotional impact.
Garcia’s exploration of intergenerational trauma, cultural identity, and the weight of secrets is ambitious and timely. While the pacing occasionally lags and some metaphors feel overworked, the novel’s quieter moments—particularly Alma’s reflections on her body and belonging—linger with resonance. Other Evolutions is a promising but uneven debut, one that will appeal to readers who appreciate literary fiction with a dark, speculative edge.
How I would describe this book:
- A lyrical and unsettling exploration of trauma, identity, and the ghosts we carry.
- Garcia’s prose cuts deep, blending family drama with a touch of the uncanny.
- A haunting debut about the wounds we inherit and the stories we tell to survive.
- For fans of introspective, character-driven fiction with a speculative twist.
Acknowledgments:
Thank you to ECW Press for providing an advance review copy of Other Evolutions. This novel’s raw portrayal of familial bonds and cultural dissonance offers much to discuss, and I appreciate the opportunity to engage with its complexities. This would be a great book club discussion book.
Rating: 3.5/5 (for its bold themes and evocative writing, though the narrative’s cohesion falters in the final act).
I picked this book because the cover drew me in. Being a scientist, evolution generally excites me, so off I went on an adventure...
Other Evolutions is a haunting literary debut that deftly intertwines family drama with speculative elements, exploring themes of trauma, identity, and the fractures within interfaith and interracial families. Rebecca Hirsch Garcia’s prose is stark and intimate, drawing readers into the fractured world of Alma Alt, a Mexican-Jewish Canadian teenager grappling with the aftermath of a life-altering accident. The novel’s strength lies in its unflinching portrayal of Alma’s grief and the simmering tensions between her and her sister, Marnie, whose betrayal exposes deeper familial and racial rifts.
The first three-quarters of the book excel as a poignant family drama, with Garcia’s stream-of-consciousness narrative style immersing readers in Alma’s psyche. The buildup to the accident is masterfully executed, evoking a visceral sense of impending tragedy. However, the final section introduces a surreal twist that, while chilling, feels disjointed from the otherwise grounded narrative. This abrupt tonal shift may leave some readers unsatisfied, though it doesn’t entirely diminish the novel’s earlier emotional impact.
Garcia’s exploration of intergenerational trauma, cultural identity, and the weight of secrets is ambitious and timely. While the pacing occasionally lags and some metaphors feel overworked, the novel’s quieter moments—particularly Alma’s reflections on her body and belonging—linger with resonance. Other Evolutions is a promising but uneven debut, one that will appeal to readers who appreciate literary fiction with a dark, speculative edge.
How I would describe this book:
- A lyrical and unsettling exploration of trauma, identity, and the ghosts we carry.
- Garcia’s prose cuts deep, blending family drama with a touch of the uncanny.
- A haunting debut about the wounds we inherit and the stories we tell to survive.
- For fans of introspective, character-driven fiction with a speculative twist.
Acknowledgments:
Thank you to ECW Press for providing an advance review copy of Other Evolutions. This novel’s raw portrayal of familial bonds and cultural dissonance offers much to discuss, and I appreciate the opportunity to engage with its complexities. This would be a great book club discussion book.
Rating: 3.5/5 (for its bold themes and evocative writing, though the narrative’s cohesion falters in the final act).
June 17, 2025
First, thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for allowing me the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.
It is a pleasure to say that I did genuinely like this book!
Other Evolutions: A Novel is a deep-dive into Alma Alt's family life. She's a Mexican-Jewish Canadian, and we find out early on that she lost her arm in an accident. In the first three parts, Garcia tells us Alma's story from the time she was five-or-so, to the time she she loses her arm, and how that has impacted her life and her relationships with her family and others around her.
Here, there is, unfortunately, a bit of a disconnect. With the fourth part entered the "sci-fi" of it all-- despite it still being about the loss of her arm and her relationships with those around her, it definitely through me off because I became so engrossed with her life I completely forgot how it was supposed to be a sci-fi novel.
Regardless, Garcia writes an excellent family drama; her prose is lovely, and for the first time, I found the lack of quotation marks fine-- I even felt like they added to the stream of consciousness writing. I cried when I grasped what had happened the night of the accident-- and I cried again when Alma finally speaks her mind. The novel itself is such a poignant story of grief, trauma, belonging, and family.
I would like add that the abrupt sci-fi didn't bother me as it might readers who enjoy more sci-fi aspects in their reads. I was surprised at where it went-- I wouldn't have guessed what happened in the last bit of the book if I was staring right at it (which I was).
I would happily recommend this book to those who enjoy speculative fiction, family dramas, introspection like nobody’s business, and stories about identity and what shapes it.
--
oh my god.
this is the most sci-fi thing u would catch me reading and all of it happened in the last 30 pages of the book.
review to come
It is a pleasure to say that I did genuinely like this book!
Other Evolutions: A Novel is a deep-dive into Alma Alt's family life. She's a Mexican-Jewish Canadian, and we find out early on that she lost her arm in an accident. In the first three parts, Garcia tells us Alma's story from the time she was five-or-so, to the time she she loses her arm, and how that has impacted her life and her relationships with her family and others around her.
Here, there is, unfortunately, a bit of a disconnect. With the fourth part entered the "sci-fi" of it all-- despite it still being about the loss of her arm and her relationships with those around her, it definitely through me off because I became so engrossed with her life I completely forgot how it was supposed to be a sci-fi novel.
Regardless, Garcia writes an excellent family drama; her prose is lovely, and for the first time, I found the lack of quotation marks fine-- I even felt like they added to the stream of consciousness writing. I cried when I grasped what had happened the night of the accident-- and I cried again when Alma finally speaks her mind. The novel itself is such a poignant story of grief, trauma, belonging, and family.
I would like add that the abrupt sci-fi didn't bother me as it might readers who enjoy more sci-fi aspects in their reads. I was surprised at where it went-- I wouldn't have guessed what happened in the last bit of the book if I was staring right at it (which I was).
I would happily recommend this book to those who enjoy speculative fiction, family dramas, introspection like nobody’s business, and stories about identity and what shapes it.
--
oh my god.
this is the most sci-fi thing u would catch me reading and all of it happened in the last 30 pages of the book.
review to come
December 14, 2025
Realistic to the point bleakness. The story starts from Alma´s childhood and takes it’s time exploring her life and the deep feeling of otherness she constantly experiences from being the child of not one but two immigrants. Alma is a depressing kid even when she is giving in to the whimsical thinking children have. Her world only gets more colorless as she ages and starts to comprehend her status as a mixed race person in a white community. Her relationship with her sister is a focal point, given that Marnie excels everywhere Alma can´t, including blending in.
The accident that takes Alma’s arm is mentioned since the very beginning but the actual scene is so far into the book you start to wonder if the author got lost in their own recollections and is now rambling aimlessly about their life. But it all builds to a point where the accident is nothing more than the culmination of years of building resentment between her and her sister, her parents and the world as a whole. All the scenes she´s recounted in the previous chapters give that one moment a feeling of inevitability.
After that the misery just ramps up and does not let up, Alma wallows in self- pity and fantasies of salvation that just crumble when reality touches them, life goes on while she remains stuck. Is almost miraculous that the story manages to introduce any hope, but it comes in a really weird and unnerving way. Alma is not the only one stuck in the past. Her obsession with her accident and the friend he lost manifests into a physical object and shows her just how wrong and self sabotaging it is to cling to the past. Somehow the story makes you feel there is hope, it is not a magical happily ever after but the realization that we have to keep going, that getting over the worst that happens to us, even if we don´t come out unscathed is still a triumph.
This review is possible thanks to an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley
The accident that takes Alma’s arm is mentioned since the very beginning but the actual scene is so far into the book you start to wonder if the author got lost in their own recollections and is now rambling aimlessly about their life. But it all builds to a point where the accident is nothing more than the culmination of years of building resentment between her and her sister, her parents and the world as a whole. All the scenes she´s recounted in the previous chapters give that one moment a feeling of inevitability.
After that the misery just ramps up and does not let up, Alma wallows in self- pity and fantasies of salvation that just crumble when reality touches them, life goes on while she remains stuck. Is almost miraculous that the story manages to introduce any hope, but it comes in a really weird and unnerving way. Alma is not the only one stuck in the past. Her obsession with her accident and the friend he lost manifests into a physical object and shows her just how wrong and self sabotaging it is to cling to the past. Somehow the story makes you feel there is hope, it is not a magical happily ever after but the realization that we have to keep going, that getting over the worst that happens to us, even if we don´t come out unscathed is still a triumph.
This review is possible thanks to an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley
October 25, 2025
Other Evolutions offers an odd, but interesting read. The family this novel is built around are an interesting mix: a Jewish father who came to Canada after the holocaust; a Catholic, Mexican mother who immigrated to Canada for greater financial opportunities; and their two daughters, Alma and Marnie. Alma, the younger of the two daughters and something of a family disappointment is at the center of the plot. She's always stayed close to their Toronto home. Marnie, the older sister, is a gifted artist who attends college in Montreal. The novel moves back and forth in time so we see the sisters at home together engaging in a sibling sort of struggle between fondness and the desire to hurt. And it's mostly Alma who gets hurt.
The promo material identifies this title as magical realism, which it is in the end, but there's a great deal (pretty much the first 75%) of the quotidian before readers see any indication of magic. When the magic arrives it's a bit creepy, based on a fixation with a neighbor that Alma has had since childhood.
The novel is full of plot twists that give readers lots to think about and that make the novel increasingly complex in a good way, but it also does feel a bit like a compilation of several possible novels into a single, somewhat disjointed novel.
If you're a patient read willing to follow a plot that jumps about, you may well love this book, particularly if you enjoy fiction with a diverse group of characters. If you want something more linear that takes place in a world where the "rules" don't change—in other words, why no magic until so far into the novel?, you're apt to be frustrated.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
The promo material identifies this title as magical realism, which it is in the end, but there's a great deal (pretty much the first 75%) of the quotidian before readers see any indication of magic. When the magic arrives it's a bit creepy, based on a fixation with a neighbor that Alma has had since childhood.
The novel is full of plot twists that give readers lots to think about and that make the novel increasingly complex in a good way, but it also does feel a bit like a compilation of several possible novels into a single, somewhat disjointed novel.
If you're a patient read willing to follow a plot that jumps about, you may well love this book, particularly if you enjoy fiction with a diverse group of characters. If you want something more linear that takes place in a world where the "rules" don't change—in other words, why no magic until so far into the novel?, you're apt to be frustrated.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
May 29, 2025
The first chapter grabbed me immediately and I was even further invested when the main character disappears I expected this novel to go in a completely different direction than it did.
Ultimately, this is a novel about what it means to be a mixed race in a North American/Canadian community the main character Alma has a Mexican mother and a Jewish father. She looks Mexican with darker skin and finds the family sideline her in some aspects of their lives favouring her fair skinned blonde haired older sister.. integral to the story is a car accident that Alma has when the driver Oliver dies and she is badly wounded and loses one of her arms.
The story is set between Canada and Mexico and the difference in the two cultures is interesting and gives the novel additional depth
To begin with I thought I was reading a historical novel could’ve been set at any time, but eventually a personal computer makes it debut showing that the start of the novel is set in the late 90s early 2000s
We aren’t giving too many spoilers out The “new Oliver “ portion of his story feels like a an add-on somehow it’s so short and rather unsatisfactory. I’m not sure that the story needed it the natural realistic elements of the story were interesting and well written on their own.
I read a copy of the novel or NetGalley UK. In return for an unbiased review The book is published in the UK on the 7th of October 2025 by ECW press.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon UK and Waterstones
Ultimately, this is a novel about what it means to be a mixed race in a North American/Canadian community the main character Alma has a Mexican mother and a Jewish father. She looks Mexican with darker skin and finds the family sideline her in some aspects of their lives favouring her fair skinned blonde haired older sister.. integral to the story is a car accident that Alma has when the driver Oliver dies and she is badly wounded and loses one of her arms.
The story is set between Canada and Mexico and the difference in the two cultures is interesting and gives the novel additional depth
To begin with I thought I was reading a historical novel could’ve been set at any time, but eventually a personal computer makes it debut showing that the start of the novel is set in the late 90s early 2000s
We aren’t giving too many spoilers out The “new Oliver “ portion of his story feels like a an add-on somehow it’s so short and rather unsatisfactory. I’m not sure that the story needed it the natural realistic elements of the story were interesting and well written on their own.
I read a copy of the novel or NetGalley UK. In return for an unbiased review The book is published in the UK on the 7th of October 2025 by ECW press.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon UK and Waterstones
December 12, 2025
*** Possible Spoilers ***
This book gets 3 stars because I honestly don't know whether I liked it or not. It's fiction but resembles a memoir. It contains an element of science fiction, but this part doesn't begin until close to the end of the book. In many respects it's quite nihilistic. The plot is paper thin until near the end when the protagonist decides to rescue a robot. I don't know if there's any character development, but we do learn more about the characters as the book progresses, although we may not want to. It reminded me a bit of the old Smothers Brothers routine of 'mom always liked you best', albeit without the humour. I listened to the audio version, and the reader was excellent. She spoke in a very clipped no-nonsense tone, and I could almost swear I've heard her voice before, but where and when eludes me. While I don't know, and have never met the reader, I'm certain someone I know shares her voice inflections. In any event I can't say I enjoyed the book, but it was great for listening to while doing other things. The narrator kept rattling around in the background and it was as if someone was relating something over coffee and just chatting on whether I was interested or not.
This book gets 3 stars because I honestly don't know whether I liked it or not. It's fiction but resembles a memoir. It contains an element of science fiction, but this part doesn't begin until close to the end of the book. In many respects it's quite nihilistic. The plot is paper thin until near the end when the protagonist decides to rescue a robot. I don't know if there's any character development, but we do learn more about the characters as the book progresses, although we may not want to. It reminded me a bit of the old Smothers Brothers routine of 'mom always liked you best', albeit without the humour. I listened to the audio version, and the reader was excellent. She spoke in a very clipped no-nonsense tone, and I could almost swear I've heard her voice before, but where and when eludes me. While I don't know, and have never met the reader, I'm certain someone I know shares her voice inflections. In any event I can't say I enjoyed the book, but it was great for listening to while doing other things. The narrator kept rattling around in the background and it was as if someone was relating something over coffee and just chatting on whether I was interested or not.
September 18, 2025
This book was about a mixed-race family navigating identity, while also dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy - surviving the accident that leaves you emotionally and physically scarred, struggling with the guilt of the one who lived, and the pain of not being able to reverse it back and undo it.
The way themes of grief and belonging were explored were also so creatively and beautifully done!
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the family drama and emotional survival type of novels.
Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the ARC.
The way themes of grief and belonging were explored were also so creatively and beautifully done!
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the family drama and emotional survival type of novels.
Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the ARC.
September 27, 2025
The narrative of Alma Alt’s life draws you along. Alma’s family heritage is Jewish, Mexican, Cabadian but most of all Glebite. Alma’s life isn’t perfect, but at fourteen she has found a boy who sees her, and in doing so changes her life. But equally brings sadness. Then through no fault of her own she finds herself in the wrong place.
Read the book blurb and you will get an idea of this books direction of flow. But you won’t truly understand until you have read it yourself.
Thank you to ECW Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
Read the book blurb and you will get an idea of this books direction of flow. But you won’t truly understand until you have read it yourself.
Thank you to ECW Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
July 15, 2025
This was such a beautifully written, captivating book! i loved the theming of emotional survival and vulnerability, as i truly connected with them. the family dynamic and dramatics were perfectly executed, and i truly enjoyed the plot and pacing. overall, this was well done for a debut novel! i would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the family drama, emotional survival type of novels.
Thank you NetGalley and EW Press for this opportunity!
Thank you NetGalley and EW Press for this opportunity!
July 7, 2025
Beautifully written and immersive. I enjoyed the book and will look out for other works by Rebecca Hirsch Garcia. Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the ARC.
Read
November 16, 2025Let’s just say that I am not the reader for this one and leave it at that.
June 25, 2025
This is a gorgeously written debut novel about the super fun family dynamics that curdle and sour after our main character is in an accident in which someone else dies and she loses her arm, the racial dynamics in modern day society (yes, passing is still a thing), and the stagnation you can sometimes find yourself trapped in post major trauma. Definitely worth your time.
October 28, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and ECW Press for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 2.5 stars
I'm trying to diversify my current reads, reading other books aside from grimdark fantasies or space operas. So I chose this one, a standalone scifi dealing about grief and it's recommend for fans of Emily St. Mandel and I loved her Station Eleven, the only book I've read from her so far.
So I've been reading this expecting something similar to Station Eleven but it was very different.
Most of the reviews I've read so far disliked the last part/chapters. It's feels different from the other chapters. It's the only time it felt like . And I quite like this last chapters, but I also felt that this part felt a little bit rushed, I honestly thought it was going to lead to a sequel but this story has an ending.
Now to the first 2/3 of the novel. I was not expecting this book to be a story of Alma's life from the very start. Since the blurb sounds like it would center around grief. But the novel is pretty much structured neatly with some overlaps. Interracial Life/Family > Grief > Third Act.
I think I probably would enjoy this novel more, without reading the blurb. But it's a decent novel and I really like the author's writing, even when I feel like DNF'ng this, book since I personally didn't expect it to be like this, even if it feels like a YA story, sometimes. The prose really made it possible for me to finish this story.
Rating: 2.5 stars
I'm trying to diversify my current reads, reading other books aside from grimdark fantasies or space operas. So I chose this one, a standalone scifi dealing about grief and it's recommend for fans of Emily St. Mandel and I loved her Station Eleven, the only book I've read from her so far.
So I've been reading this expecting something similar to Station Eleven but it was very different.
Most of the reviews I've read so far disliked the last part/chapters. It's feels different from the other chapters. It's the only time it felt like . And I quite like this last chapters, but I also felt that this part felt a little bit rushed, I honestly thought it was going to lead to a sequel but this story has an ending.
Now to the first 2/3 of the novel. I was not expecting this book to be a story of Alma's life from the very start. Since the blurb sounds like it would center around grief. But the novel is pretty much structured neatly with some overlaps. Interracial Life/Family > Grief > Third Act.
I think I probably would enjoy this novel more, without reading the blurb. But it's a decent novel and I really like the author's writing, even when I feel like DNF'ng this, book since I personally didn't expect it to be like this, even if it feels like a YA story, sometimes. The prose really made it possible for me to finish this story.
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