Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Other Black Girl

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

18 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wish that I had read Black women’s reviews of this book before I purchased it…

While I was reading, I wondered if maybe there was something I was missing. Some context that I, as a white woman, could not understand that made this book - its plot and especially its characters - better than I was perceiving them to be. After finishing it and looking up reviews written by Black women, I think my gut instinct was right. This book reads like it was written by an “OBG.”

I will not comment further on the lived experience of the characters or real Black women. I encourage you to read reviews written by Black readers, especially Black women, if you’d like more thoughts on that.

I will say more about the writing, though. This book is rough. It’s slooooooow going, and then all of the action takes place in the last 50 or so pages. I can see what the author was going for with the ending, but it didn’t hit the way I believe she intended. I think 60% of the first 300 pages could have been cut entirely, and the ending would’ve made a great mid-point, leading up to the rising action and either a MORE shocking climax or a more triumphant one. Comparing this to The Devil Wears Prada (as a quote from The Washington Post does on the cover) is inaccurate and bizarre - the only similarity is that the fmc is an assistant, but her circumstances, the industry, her boss, everything else is completely different from TDWP. I think a better comparison would be to Jordon Peele’s Get Out - there is even a reference to the sunken place in the book. You’re gettjng conspiracy, evil white people, suspicious substances, altered states… it could’ve been SO. GOOD. But sadly, it’s just not.

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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lycheejelly's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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kynajayne's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Very creepy (in the best way). The themes of racism and colonialism are explored so well.

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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miagw962's review against another edition

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dark funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

"What's it really like here? You can be real with me, sis."

Ahhh, really wanted to like this one more than I did. I think it was a combination of me having a really busy couple of months and taking ages to read this or just the writing style that I didn't gel with. The story just did not have me engaged most of the time. I liked some of the discussion on really prevalent societal issues such as the lack of diversity and systemic racism found in many industries such as the publishing industry which this book explores. I just don't think there was any real development of characters and thought the 'twist' was kind of weird (weird bad not weird good) and tagged on at the end. The lead up to it was a little monotonous (although I did appreciate the realism a lot of the time). I feel like I would have liked this more when I was younger, I can definitely think of some books I've given five stars in the past that are similar to this but maybe I've just grown to have different tastes.

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