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A review by blankpagealex
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
3.0
Well-written, thrilling character study with smart themes about the difficulties of being an "other" in a homogeneous place. There is a sense of dread that slowly builds throughout that seems to be aiming to give the reader a sense of the experience of microaggressions and how they can wear the recipient down over time.
The ending of the book tries to pack too much plot into too few pages and I think the mystery could have been clearly laid out earlier. The plot instantly shifts from a slow-simmer to an overflowing boil and it was hard to keep up with the revelations that came too quickly. I don't mind unanswered questions - I actually prefer a book leaves more to the reader - but this didn't give us enough information to properly ponder the big questions it raised.
The ending of the book tries to pack too much plot into too few pages and I think the mystery could have been clearly laid out earlier. The plot instantly shifts from a slow-simmer to an overflowing boil and it was hard to keep up with the revelations that came too quickly. I don't mind unanswered questions - I actually prefer a book leaves more to the reader - but this didn't give us enough information to properly ponder the big questions it raised.