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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
I was more invested in the first half of the novel, when Nella was navigating her coworkers, bosses, and microaggressions in the publishing world, plus her new frenemy Hazel. But things took a strange twist and then it felt like Nella was being gaslighted by a bizarre cult, and things unraveled quickly.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I learned more about Black culture in this book than I've ever learned before, which I really liked. But I really didn't like the plot of the book, the ending, or how long it took for anything to happen.
So much promise at the beginning of this book, but then it all went horribly wrong. What could have been a great story and a real statement about Black women’s work experiences, devolved into contrived conspiracy silliness. Very disappointed.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this story. The mystery of it all definitely kept me intrigued. I wish the ending was stronger though.
the way this book has been described in its synopsis and labeled as a thriller, “sly social commentary”, and part of the growing canon of black horror had me really intrigued and excited to start reading.
unfortunately i was really let down by its execution. nella felt like she was lacking multi-dimensionality as a main character and she wasn’t helped by the structure/pacing harris chose.
the themes (“the struggle” as exhausting, the motivations for complacency, success as a benchmark of worthiness, and the lengths one is willing to to go in order to “make it”, etc.) had so much potential but the execution, i felt, really let it down. wish i could like it more but it fell really flat for me :-(
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes