YMMV / The Diamond Girls

• Fridge Horror: Terry reveals he intends to tell his wife and daughters about Dixie. However, one can’t imagine they’d be too thrilled to find out he not only cheated on his wife, but has been hiding the fact he had a child with his ex-lover for around a decade. His wife has just had a baby herself and the revelation will probably emotionally destroy the family.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Doubling as a Moment of Awesome, Bruce standing up to Sue and declaring that even though he has no obligation to be here, he’s staying to help them anyway because he thinks it’s the right thing to do and because he’s grown fond of Dixie and the others.
  • The ending scene, which sees the family reunited and willing to work together to support each other.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Whilst discussing the different blocks and streets of the Planet Estate, the Diamonds mention that some planets were excluded by the people who planned out the Estate, including Pluto. Then, in 2006, Pluto was declassified as a planet.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • The rather wimpy-looking Bruce using martial arts to fight off a gang of boys to protect Jude.
  • Dixie rushing forwards to catch Mary when she jumps out of the window and succeeding.
• Nausea Fuel: When the Diamonds discover someone broke into the house and threw up in the kitchen sink.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Everything that happens to Mary, who is being abused by her mother.
  • The argument between Martine and Sue, and its aftermath: Sue is distraught by how badly things have gone and that everyone looks down on her because of her circumstances, whilst Martine, believing she is not wanted, heads back to London by herself and is also revealed to be pregnant at the age of only sixteen.
• Unintentional Period Piece: While not affecting the plot much, there are a few references that date The Diamond Girls to the early 2000s (it was published in 2004), some more obvious than others.
  • Rochelle mentions being a fan of the band Busted, who were popular at the time only to disband in 2005.
  • Jude mocking Ryan as looking like an extra for Pirates of the Caribbean references the first movie, which came out in 2003.
  • Jude is mentioned as watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on video; Buffy is still well-known despite ending in 2003, but the part about it being on video dates it.
  • Pluto is mentioned as being one of the nine planets; it was declassified as a planet in 2006.
  • The most dated reference is probably the girls pretending to be on Top of the Pops, which ended in 2006; it's also seen as 'tainted' now due to the heavy involvement of Jimmy Savile, who was revealed to be a child predator following his death in 2011.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: This novel features Teen Pregnancy, child abuse, mental illness, teen delinquency and violence, poverty and allusions to drug addiction, and yet is considered a children’s book and can be found in the children’s section in some libraries and stores.
• The Woobie: Mary. She’s psychologically and physically abused by her mother when her father is out and the only one she dares tell is her friend Dixie, whom she begs not to reveal to anyone out of fear. She’s also started to believe that her mother is right about her being "dirty" on the inside. The poor kid is only six years old.

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