Scan barcode
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Bullying and Gaslighting
Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, Cursing, and Murder
seawarrior's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Slavery
More...