Reviews

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

samiworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

readingsolo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny fast-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

5.0

blankpagealex's review against another edition

3.0

Well-written, thrilling character study with smart themes about the difficulties of being an "other" in a homogeneous place. There is a sense of dread that slowly builds throughout that seems to be aiming to give the reader a sense of the experience of microaggressions and how they can wear the recipient down over time.

The ending of the book tries to pack too much plot into too few pages and I think the mystery could have been clearly laid out earlier. The plot instantly shifts from a slow-simmer to an overflowing boil and it was hard to keep up with the revelations that came too quickly. I don't mind unanswered questions - I actually prefer a book leaves more to the reader - but this didn't give us enough information to properly ponder the big questions it raised.

beegcly's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars. I’m not sure that I fully understood this book. More thoughts to come as a reflect more upon it

kristenraeham's review against another edition

3.5

Thriller that takes place primarily in a workplace setting.

Nella is fed up with microaggressions as the only Black woman at a publishing house. Until Hazel is hired.

Then the notes warning Nella to get out begin.

She soon realized there is more at stake than just her career.

Read if you love...

✨thrillers

✍🏼editing & publishing

✨workplace setting

I feel like thrillers are usually fast-paced, so it was a fun switched for a slower pace thriller. It wasn't constant cliffhangers, but I was trying to figure out what was going to happen.

The behind the scenes into a publishing house was also a really fun setting, and learning a little more of what happens in traditional publishing.

There were definitely things in this one that I knew were a part of what was happening, but I wasn't able to fully put it all together. And let's be real, I prefer that kind of thriller (& mystery); it's no fun when you can figure out what's going to happen.

📍New York

✨Representation: Black MCs

‼️Content: racism; gaslighting; stalking; toxic friendship; racial slurs; emotional abuse; bullying; and so much more 

gregfielder's review against another edition

4.0

Probably more like 3.5 than 4

bsmith27's review against another edition

2.0

This is a novel that needs an editor. Most of the action of the novel takes place in the last 50 pages. There's also a flashback portion that could have been really interesting but ended up being confusing and not even really telling a story. The premise of the book is that some black women are selling out other black women to get ahead in corporate America. Also they were giving chemical lobotomies to women by using hair care products? Nella is an assistant to an editor. She is the only black person in the building and has slowly made her way up. Then comes Hazel who quickly befriends everybody and seems to be climbing the letter quicker. She seems very shady and then Nella learns that she actually is working for the editor trying to cover up everything that happened a long time ago. I don't even really know what it was that happened a long time ago because the author was so not clear and by that when I'd lost interest in the story line so I didn't even go back to reread it. I didn't like the premise of this story that in order to get ahead you have to play the white game. However having books about diverse characters is always a good thing.

brokawkristi's review against another edition

4.0

What a fantastic take on The Stepford Wives model of thriller.

werewolfandswearwolf's review against another edition

3.0

I'd read the synopsis for this ages ago, so by the time I finally got a chance to actually read it I'd assumed it was just a basic office thriller and was increasingly baffled as it became apparent that

Spoiler

there was some sort of large-scale conspiracy

happening.

I'm white so I can't speak to the racial dynamics at play (though reading through the reviews by Black women on here confirmed some suspicions I had and brought a lot to my attention that I would have otherwise missed), but as far as the actual writing itself, I had a little trouble with the timeline (going back and forth between 1983 and 2018 was one thing but at one point it flipped back to just a month earlier which threw me off) and the number of narrators there ending up being by the end.

That said I did like how descriptive it is as a whole, as well as all the NYC-specific details (after living in Brooklyn for nearly 13 years), and enjoyed getting a look into the publishing industry.

abbyplatt's review against another edition

1.0

This book was odd. It pulled me in because I wanted to know what happened, but it was all build up for 300 pages for all the action to happen in the last 20. I also had to re-read the epilogue numerous times and still not sure I know what happened?