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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
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
I unfortunately found this story a bit too slow for me, however the last quarter of the book had me more invested. I don’t know how to put this book into any categories.. definitely different than anything else I have read.
2.5?
The premise was intriguing and I was invested in a slow burn office drama/ thriller. But the execution and reveal was laughable. Feel my intelligence as a reader insulted. I feel like. The ending borders on the edge of offensive??
I will say, I did like the detailed insider info on how the publishing industry works. And it was a page turner because I was curious about what was happening. But that was about it I think.
The writing was a bit amateur as well. A lot of instances where it was one line of dialogue and chunks and chunks of clunky exposition or inner monologue without it organically being dispersed. Could've done with less references to Black Twitter that added nothing. The storyline from the past was laughable too I'm so sorry.
I think a better plot would have been for Nella to be an unreliable narrator/ nefarious villain all along since the seeds have been planted of her being uncomfortable with her own identity from growing up in mostly white neighbourhood and threatening and overanalysing her interactions with the "other black girl" aka Hazel. But god. That ending is. Irredeemable. So sad because I was sure I would like this.
The premise was intriguing and I was invested in a slow burn office drama/ thriller. But the execution and reveal was laughable. Feel my intelligence as a reader insulted. I feel like. The ending borders on the edge of offensive??
I will say, I did like the detailed insider info on how the publishing industry works. And it was a page turner because I was curious about what was happening. But that was about it I think.
The writing was a bit amateur as well. A lot of instances where it was one line of dialogue and chunks and chunks of clunky exposition or inner monologue without it organically being dispersed. Could've done with less references to Black Twitter that added nothing. The storyline from the past was laughable too I'm so sorry.
I think a better plot would have been for Nella to be an unreliable narrator/ nefarious villain all along since the seeds have been planted of her being uncomfortable with her own identity from growing up in mostly white neighbourhood and threatening and overanalysing her interactions with the "other black girl" aka Hazel. But god. That ending is. Irredeemable. So sad because I was sure I would like this.
Boring. I’ve never been a fan of contemporary fiction - I thought this book would change that but it didn’t. Wanted to DNF but my ocd didn’t let me
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love the concept of the book--the mystery and suspense kept me returning to it as often as I could, wanting to know what was happening and what was going to happen. Unfortunately, the execution left a lot to be desired. On the sentence level, the frequent exposition felt clunky--I wanted Harris to trust her reader more. More broadly, while the plot was compelling, the pacing felt off, especially in the last 50 pages or so. Harris spent so much time building to the reveal, then everything wrapped up so quickly that it felt, to me, a bit anticlimactic, and also strangely unclear. If Harris continues to write fiction, I'm excited to see what comes next as she hones her skills.
Read for The Late Night Book Club. I really, really enjoyed reading this book. I loved it until the end. I was planning on giving it 4 stars until the resolution. I was so excited when Nella was starting to piece everything together, only for her to develop into a similar version of Hazel herself. I really thought Vera was going to overhear the conversation that took place in the bathroom during the Jesse Watson meeting. Overall, I found the book really interesting, I just wasn’t a fan of the ending. However, I definitely plan to pick up Harris’s future writings ☺️
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
where is the rest of the story?? It just ends abruptly, lots of build up and characters that just don’t pan out in any way by the conclusion of the story.