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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Idk how to feel about this one but I'm disappointed - there were some things that worked regarding the themes explored, setting and tension, but then a lot of things that didn't for me, like tone, characterisation, cohesion and resolution. Maybe more thoughts to come, but for now it's about a 2.5 rating.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A thriller book that actually have a believable yet unpredictable twist? I thought I'll never see the day.
I don't normally find myself enjoying most contemporary thriller as most of them tend to be one-note, predictable, lacking any type of diversity, or all of the above. This book manages to light a candle of hope within me that there's still a chance for contemporary thriller. It touches on a topic that I don't often see a lot in thrillers. From navigating workplace and potraying the feeling of 'otherness' from being the only minority (specifically Black) person in the building to capturing the feeling of burnout from having to handle both micro and macroaggressions as a Black person in a professional setting, specifically the publishing industry. These topics and the showcase of the extreme length that someone will go through to handle them were then interwoven successfully as the core reasoning for the main twist of the book. It's often thrillers that actually dare to touch on more sensitive and often untouched topics that create the most suspenseful experience and I certainly got it from this book especially by the last 20% of the book. Furthermore, I though the way the book handle the twist was very surprising. I thought it was going to go in a different direction for a second but the book was able to give an even better, double-meaning twist to it.
I think if the book were to go a little bit more detailed in regards to showing the cruel reality behind the scene for publishing as a Black person, I would've given it a full 5 but I am still highly highly recommending this book.
I don't normally find myself enjoying most contemporary thriller as most of them tend to be one-note, predictable, lacking any type of diversity, or all of the above. This book manages to light a candle of hope within me that there's still a chance for contemporary thriller. It touches on a topic that I don't often see a lot in thrillers. From navigating workplace and potraying the feeling of 'otherness' from being the only minority (specifically Black) person in the building to capturing the feeling of burnout from having to handle both micro and macroaggressions as a Black person in a professional setting, specifically the publishing industry. These topics and the showcase of the extreme length that someone will go through to handle them were then interwoven successfully as the core reasoning for the main twist of the book. It's often thrillers that actually dare to touch on more sensitive and often untouched topics that create the most suspenseful experience and I certainly got it from this book especially by the last 20% of the book. Furthermore, I though the way the book handle the twist was very surprising. I thought it was going to go in a different direction for a second but the book was able to give an even better, double-meaning twist to it.
I think if the book were to go a little bit more detailed in regards to showing the cruel reality behind the scene for publishing as a Black person, I would've given it a full 5 but I am still highly highly recommending this book.
dark
tense
fast-paced
I decided to re-read this since I recently found out it's been adapted into a TV show on Hulu and I wanted to have my mind refreshed before starting the show. I actually ended up liking this book a lot more the second time around, and I'm quite excited to see how it's adapted into film.
In The Other Black Girl, Nella is the only Black woman who works at her publishing company, Wagner Books. Publishing is already very white-centered and Nella has a hard time being surrounded by white co-workers. Everything changes, however, when a new Black girl is hired to work at Wagner. Nella at first is excited to have another Black woman to work with, but things start to get real when Nella receives a note that just says: "LEAVE WAGNER NOW."
This book covers racism so well. I really love how the author took the idea of someone of your own, in this case Black people, turning against you and help the opposing side (white supremacy), and turned it into a thriller premise. The book is really slow at the beginning, and it's overall a slow-burn book, which I like, but some might find it boring. I personally liked how the character's and setting was developed before getting into the more thrilling aspects of this book. You feel like something is just off for the first half of the book, and then shit really starts to hit the fan. The plot twists that Harris adds are bonkers, and I positively loved the ending.
Honestly, I don't have many complaints. At times, I felt the book lacked focus and I was a bit confused, but everything tied up nicely by the end. There were a few parts of the book that were sort of unexplained, like some of the added character POVs, but I'll forgive it because I just loved the concept and execution of this book so much. Some characters also were lacking in dimension a bit, like Nella, I can't say a single thing about her except that she was the was the only Black girl at her workplace. I think this book could've been exceptional if these issues were fixed.
All in all, a thrilling, albeit with a slow beginning, book that has an interesting plot that'll keep you on the edge till the end.
In The Other Black Girl, Nella is the only Black woman who works at her publishing company, Wagner Books. Publishing is already very white-centered and Nella has a hard time being surrounded by white co-workers. Everything changes, however, when a new Black girl is hired to work at Wagner. Nella at first is excited to have another Black woman to work with, but things start to get real when Nella receives a note that just says: "LEAVE WAGNER NOW."
This book covers racism so well. I really love how the author took the idea of someone of your own, in this case Black people, turning against you and help the opposing side (white supremacy), and turned it into a thriller premise. The book is really slow at the beginning, and it's overall a slow-burn book, which I like, but some might find it boring. I personally liked how the character's and setting was developed before getting into the more thrilling aspects of this book. You feel like something is just off for the first half of the book, and then shit really starts to hit the fan. The plot twists that Harris adds are bonkers, and I positively loved the ending.
Honestly, I don't have many complaints. At times, I felt the book lacked focus and I was a bit confused, but everything tied up nicely by the end. There were a few parts of the book that were sort of unexplained, like some of the added character POVs, but I'll forgive it because I just loved the concept and execution of this book so much. Some characters also were lacking in dimension a bit, like Nella, I can't say a single thing about her except that she was the was the only Black girl at her workplace. I think this book could've been exceptional if these issues were fixed.
All in all, a thrilling, albeit with a slow beginning, book that has an interesting plot that'll keep you on the edge till the end.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
N/A
Ultimately, I thought this book was fine. The beginning was slow and it picked up in the last 100 pages or so. Ironically, it could’ve used a better editor.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not an OwnVoices reviewer so please take all of my thoughts with a grain of salt and instead seek out reviews by Black readers first.
I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this one. The only things I knew going in were that it's not a rapid-fire thriller and that some (mostly white) people didn't like or didn't get one of the twists. Sounds like y'all need to pay more attention to the comp titles because When No One is Watching got pretty much the exact same reception.
While The Other Black Girl was a little bit toned back (less grisly murder and more paranoia/selling your soul) the concept is really clever. Because it's all about what the "token diversity hire" people deal with after they've been hired and are working amidst a majority white cishet workforce. It talks about code-switching and internalized racism.
I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this one. The only things I knew going in were that it's not a rapid-fire thriller and that some (mostly white) people didn't like or didn't get one of the twists. Sounds like y'all need to pay more attention to the comp titles because When No One is Watching got pretty much the exact same reception.
While The Other Black Girl was a little bit toned back (less grisly murder and more paranoia/selling your soul) the concept is really clever. Because it's all about what the "token diversity hire" people deal with after they've been hired and are working amidst a majority white cishet workforce. It talks about code-switching and internalized racism.
mysterious
slow-paced