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A review by hayleyholliday
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
2.75
Interesting plot. Some of the themes about micro aggressions, tokenism, colourism, white fragility etc seemed really well written. However, I think the conclusion of this novel was unsatisfying; the additional perspectives were unnecessary and I am still left with lots of unanswered questions.
The political conversations had in this book, particularly at the end - although important and relevant - didn’t feel very fluid. It came across as unnatural rather than aiding the storyline.
Had the ending been better and the other perspectives cut short, I think this book could have been a 3.5-4 stars.
I think the plot of this book was an interesting idea and had so much potential but unfortunately it was a bit disappointing and underwhelming.
the ending felt like the equivalent to “and then they woke up and it had all been a dream”. It was almost as if it ended with the mystery being solved by a little bit of magical realism when there was absolutely no other elements of magical realism throughout the book? Like there was a scary thing happening throughout the book and mysterious characters and what’s going to have happened for it to be answered with “it was the magic hair product all along!” I kind of feel like maybe the author just really rushed the ending.
The political conversations had in this book, particularly at the end - although important and relevant - didn’t feel very fluid. It came across as unnatural rather than aiding the storyline.
Had the ending been better and the other perspectives cut short, I think this book could have been a 3.5-4 stars.
I think the plot of this book was an interesting idea and had so much potential but unfortunately it was a bit disappointing and underwhelming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, and Racism