Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - The Other Black Girl

Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

20 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wish that I had read Black women’s reviews of this book before I purchased it…

While I was reading, I wondered if maybe there was something I was missing. Some context that I, as a white woman, could not understand that made this book - its plot and especially its characters - better than I was perceiving them to be. After finishing it and looking up reviews written by Black women, I think my gut instinct was right. This book reads like it was written by an “OBG.”

I will not comment further on the lived experience of the characters or real Black women. I encourage you to read reviews written by Black readers, especially Black women, if you’d like more thoughts on that.

I will say more about the writing, though. This book is rough. It’s slooooooow going, and then all of the action takes place in the last 50 or so pages. I can see what the author was going for with the ending, but it didn’t hit the way I believe she intended. I think 60% of the first 300 pages could have been cut entirely, and the ending would’ve made a great mid-point, leading up to the rising action and either a MORE shocking climax or a more triumphant one. Comparing this to The Devil Wears Prada (as a quote from The Washington Post does on the cover) is inaccurate and bizarre - the only similarity is that the fmc is an assistant, but her circumstances, the industry, her boss, everything else is completely different from TDWP. I think a better comparison would be to Jordon Peele’s Get Out - there is even a reference to the sunken place in the book. You’re gettjng conspiracy, evil white people, suspicious substances, altered states… it could’ve been SO. GOOD. But sadly, it’s just not.

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foresturken's review against another edition

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funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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3readingcircus's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lycheejelly's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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helenferg's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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laynemandros's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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sorcha's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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jaynereel's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

hmm so I loved the setting of a publishing company and the book started off strong before slowing wayyy down before picking back up at the very end. the ending definitely threw me - I totally wasn’t expecting it and was very intrigued, but it happened SO late! once the plot twist happens at like 95%, the book is essentially over. some confusing elements and not totally clear on the satire - wish the plot twist was earlier on so I got to read more about the whole concept and flush it out more, but overall I think this would be a great read for book club for discussion and I would in fact recommend. and I’ll definitely watch the adaptation!

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marissasa's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The ending of this book and the implications of the final reveal were really well done and thought-provoking, but it just took so long to get there. The first 75% of the book felt like it was dragging on for so long and I was not engaged with a lot of it, which is sad to say because the topics and themes in this book are really good ones that I think the author had a lot to say about. I just couldn't get over how slow it was, and how we were thrown into a bit too many points of view amongst the different chapters and how that lead to more confusion and unanswered questions than anything else. I am glad to hear that this is getting a TV/film adaptation though because I think it will do better in that medium where we get to see the tension and off-putting nature of the characters and situations portrayed visibly as opposed to just described in paragraphs upon paragraphs in the main character's mind.

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tesseliza's review against another edition

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4.0

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