Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - The Other Black Girl

Ok, I'm glad I powered through this one because the ending has me reeling! I didn't know too much going into this story but I knew it was about a Black woman navigating a mostly white space. I was very curious to see where it would go & that was NOT what I was expecting.

The first half of the book was slow for me. I kept waiting and waiting for things to get more interesting - & then it finally did! I still have so many questions by the end of the book. What happened to Nella? What happened to the article? This book had similar themes to "Get Out" and I'm very curious to read more reviews and articles after this to find out what others thought.

The last 40 pages made this book for me.

Content Warnings

deamon's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

The plot twist is the must be the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while. The rest of the book was okay but nothing I would recommend reading.

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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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seawarrior's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I'd been waiting to read this book for a while so maybe it was inevitable that it didn't live up to my expectations as a mystery novel. However, I don't regret having spent time with it and absorbing what it had to say.

In creating the political environment of Wagner Books and Nella's personhood the writing was strong and sharply observant. Nella felt like a person who could feasibly exist and it was easy to empathize with her motivations and anxieties as she navigated routine microaggressions from her coworkers and the strangeness of Hazel's possible sabotage attempts. Yet the numerous times facets of her personality and viewpoints were revealed through extended flashbacks was disorienting, which I also felt from the book as a whole. It was difficult keeping up when the chapters switched perspective to a different woman, and wasn't sure if this was meant to be a deliberate effect on the reader or not.

My other primary issue was that the final reveal of the conspiracy each of these women were involved in, and that Hazel was using against Nella, was stunning but not necessarily satisfying. By the time its secrets were unraveled, this overarching conspiracy felt almost silly in comparison to the realistic tone the novel already established. Regardless, it does serve to well illustrate not only the ruthless competition that Black women encounter in the workplace, but the exhaustion of enduring it and maintaining agreeable even when encountering massive insensitivity from white coworkers.

The Other Black Girl may not be a debut with perfect execution, but it has a point to make that is worth paying attention to. I would still recommend reading it and look forward to Harris' future works.

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alisonvh's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I had some minor quibbles about the writing, but it is her first novel, and the story and characters were so intriguing that I gobbled this book up and was sad when it ended.

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