Reviews - The Other Black Girl

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The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

6.81k reviews for:

I really enjoyed this... up until it got weird. I thought this was a realistic-type thriller and there was going to be some intrigue. I kept reading and waiting for the exciting thing... only to discover some absolutely insane plot about a hair grease that makes Black women less Black? The whole Kendra Rae thing had potential, and I loved the writing and Nella. I just have no idea why this book took such a bizarre turn. It felt like the beginning and ending were two different books. I may need more time to process this.

I'd read more from this author, but the way it became a book about some magical hair grease just didn't work for me. I get the idea in theory, and understand the point she's making about cultural expectations for Black women in the workplace etc., but I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to like this hair grease personality changer.

slknight13's review against another edition

4.0

I wanted to love this book so much. The whole idea of a thriller around the idea of being the only black female at work...and then another black female starts working with you but strange things start happening cuts to the core of the existence of working in a predominately white space. The whole premise is intriguing. The idea that someone has your back when you are no longer the only minority at work is a very real phenomenon. As a white passing person of color (WPOC), I have not been subjected with too many microaggressions (although there was a colleague who asked whether my mother was "yellow"). However, I have had colleagues call other co-workers by my name instead of their name and one person of color state that they never felt as though they felt anyone had their back until we started working together. These are real experiences that people deal with on a regular basis. (The New York Times did a whole article about minorities being called the wrong name even though they are not even the same ethnicity. For example, one is black while the other is Indian. Or in my case, one of us is black while the other is Asian.) Back to the book: I understand the concept of code-switching and learning the rules of how to succeed in an environment where you are the "odd man" out. As I began to write this review, I decided to give it one more star because I realized the complexity of the writing for Harris to tackle such a difficult subject. The ending was fantastic, and she did a nice job of tying up the loose ends.

emily_b's review against another edition

3.0

This was like a 3.5 for me. At the core there’s a really interesting concept here and a lot of really important topics are brought up, but it left me wanting a little more. I’m interested to see where Zakiya Dalila Harris goes from here!

wonderlandfairy's review against another edition

3.5

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

3.5/5 stars. Guys, I’ve been bamboozled again into thinking this book was like “Get Out” and “Stepford Wives” as they claim to advertise on these books. I’m having flashbacks to the book I reviewed earlier this year, “One of Our Kind” because why are the endings of these books so DISAPPOINTING! I’m just so tired of seeing Black people succumbing to whiteness at the end of these narratives when all you want to do is see them win! Positives first though…I really liked the story’s set up and found it relatable and intriguing since like the main character I’m a young Black girl and an assistant in publishing as well. I also really liked the messages that paint many pictures of what it’s like to work in all white spaces and the difficulties that come with that. I appreciated the conversations about how we define blackness, the ideology about what it means to be “a good Black person” at work or in white spaces and the unfortunate benefits of that, and the mental and physical load we take on from micro agressions, flat out racism, and racial violence we see or experience daily. That was done well, but it just sucks that you get to the last thirty pages for all of the messaging to just be flushed down the toilet. You end up getting a scene that just emphasizes the idea that being complacent and tempered is better than living and breathing your Black identify and experiences. I KEPT WAITING FOR THE BIG FIGHT AGAINST THIS IDEA BUT IT NEVER CAME. And where did Malaika go at the end??? She totally disappeared, was really hoping she’d pop out like Rod in “Get Out” and save her bestie but there was nothing 😭. Just felt like a waste after knowing the outcome. Also the OBG resistance wasn’t the most well-fleshed out and the culprit of the story, so to speak, is not well explained either as far as how it works. Like we’re just supposed to believe that it does what it does just because we’re told so? I need methods, scientific explanations, something! *sigh* if anyone has an actual story that resembles “Get Out” PLEASE send my way because I have yet to find it.

prisjo's review against another edition

3.0

More like 3.5
This book took a while to get going for me; the initial parts are all about setting up for the action that largely occurs in the later parts of the book. Once it gets going, this is a very good read. It is genre defying: think literary fiction plus horror plus crime. As I mentioned earlier, it takes some patience get into the book, but once that happened I couldn't put this down.