Zakiya Dalila Harris

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Time, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Parade, Goodreads, Fortune, and BBC ​​​“Riveting, fearless, and vividly original.” —Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Hotel “A brilliant combustion of suspense, horror, and social commentary that leaves no assumption unchallenged and no page unturned.” —Walter Mosley, internationally bestselling author of Devil in a Blue Dress Urgent, propulsive, and sharp as a knife, The Other Black Girl is an electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career. A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.

A Novel

The Other Black Girl

Veronica Overholt

Mouths full of gin and juice and post-work exasperations

Liyah 🤎

Has a not so crazy twist and a very cool premise but the pacing didn’t do either justice. There’s a mystery involved and I wish more of the plot really honed in on it. It feels like it’s not the central focus until the very end.

Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and the micro-aggressions, she's thrilled when Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events cause Nella to become Public Enemy Number One and Hazel, the Office Darling. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella's desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It's hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realises that there is a lot more at stake than her career. A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.

“… it was a push she’d always had within, from the day she’d first learned that it would not be enough for her to simply go to college, get good grades, and get the interview. That it wouldn’t be enough to simply show up to work; to simply wear the right clothes. You had to wear the right mentality.”
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I guess every day is a horror/thriller when you are living in the dystopia that is 21st century. Seriously, it is depressing to tune in to the news and find another unbelievably racist or sexist or homophobic or otherwise bigoted headline every day that is enough to wipe your faith in humanity clean.
So, in that regard, this book doubles as a thriller AND a dystopia. Fun.

To start off with the positives of this book, The Other Black Girl is a great portrayal of navigating the workplace as a black woman, showing the stark racial imbalances in the white-collar industries. The story really leans onto the microaggressions and the justified anger, forced suppression, and the self-doubt of the main character as a result. She desperately needs an ally, who shares the same experiences, who understands and listens, and it is crystal clear why.
The story takes on a sinister, mistrustful air as it goes, doing a great job of pulling you in with a feeling of frustration and dread sitting in the pit of your stomach.

And yet.
Lets’ move on to the parts I didn’t like.
Already a slow-paced novel, the novel takes around 250 pages to set up the pieces to make its final big move. That is a big gamble to take for the twist at the end, and unfortunately, it was too disappointing for me. (view spoiler)[ I felt like the story focused too much on the black women hurting each other rather than the driving force behind the act itself: the social imbalances white people have constructed for centuries to get “others” jumping through hoops to be accepted in the rigged system they have built. Yes, Hazel is a villain, but she is not THE villain. (hide spoiler)] This, combined with a main character that was too passive for the sake of the plot, made the whole thing a bit too unsatisfying.

Overall, a good read for representation, not so much for the thriller aspect.

3.5/5

Arianna scasino

This book made my heart swell and break. Grateful to experience it 

Storm Sylvester

I really enjoyed this but I wanted to know way more about KP & Shani. The whole ending kinda happened in six pages at the end & felt rushed. 

Amelia Hruby

A Good Morning America, Esquire, and Read with Marie Claire Book Club Pick and a People Magazine Best Book of Summer Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Time, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Parade, Goodreads, Fortune, and BBC Urgent, propulsive, and sharp as a knife, The Other Black Girl is an electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career. A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.

While I did enjoy reading this book, I found it lacking in coherence. The true grit of the storyline seemed to only show its head in the last 50 pages, and left me scratching my head at the ending. Credit where it’s due, the book addresses an important issue, effectively portraying micro-aggressions towards black women. However, I'm uncertain about the author's intentions with the final 20 pages, which made an interesting thriller feel somewhat unbelievable. It's hard to believe that a black woman would be on board with the events in that portion, which left me questioning the book's overall aim.

Robyn Claridge

Patricia Nelson

Wow. Hard to write about this one without spoiling it. My advice - read it soon before you hear too much. I had heard a bit about the book that had me guessing some things too early, but I'm glad I read it so soon after it was widely available. There are MANY ways that this book will have me thinking about it for a while. It got a lot of buzz and didn't disappoint.

This is a mystery/thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I really liked the character Nella. The tension kept building in a way that made me want to just do nothing else but read. The twist ending was absolutely unexpected! My one unanswered question is about Colin's book. I hope it failed when it was published. Highly recommended!

shellybn

Charlsy Sekyere

⭐️1

This book is borderline awful. Definitely DNF-worthy. The last 10% to 15% of the book is the actual plot, which is honestly subpar. The rest of the book consists of shallow, underwhelming passages disguised as deep commentary about black identity (specifically black womanhood) that draws upon tokenism, privilege, microaggressions, black respectability politics and stereotypes in a white, corporate world.

I found the book to just be bad. I can't even begin to describe how terrible I found the book. It has been a long time since I've felt so drained by reading a book. 

The protagonist, Nella is unlikable and flat, the dialogue and social commentary felt one-dimensional, and the book lacked tension or suspense to be classified as a mystery thriller.

All in all, this book wasn't worth my time and energy. I should have honestly dNF'd, but I have an irrational aversion to not finishing books.

Jerilynn Hallett 

Alexa M

The first third of this book is addictive. But the ending, although clever, missed the mark a bit for me. There are so many things left unresolved that I feel very unsatisfied. 

Dylan Williams

Jenny 

I didn’t love it or hate it. I was expecting more payoff for how much setup there was. Overall meh.

Sarai Johnson

I have some serious critiques for this book: it unfolds slowly and aimlessly, almost all of the characters are flat. But it reminds me of stories I liked very much like “The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” and “A Habit of Waste” by James Weldon Johnson and Nalo Hopkinson respectively. It is truly satire designed to raise questions… not answer them. The question is… is there not freedom in being unaffected/aware of black pain and suffering? Wouldn’t it be easier to be unbothered? To detach? Unclear.

I struggled to finish this. I just about understand the Get Out comparison but it's tenuous so if that's what draws you to this book, adjust your expectations 

Seven Echo

Jayme Bosio

Finished reading my first book of 2022 and it was just so good. The ending absolutely broke me.

Cindy Wincek

Great read. Not sure what to do with the end though.

Lily Trambley

I was on the edge of my chair reading this for almost the entire thing, 3 stars only because the ending felt unfinished to me and I wanted a bit more. Definitely worth the read and an interesting look into what it’s like to be the only POC in a white industry/office

Fraser Simons

Interesting concept that didn’t completely hit for me, due to pacing and overwriting. 

What begins as workplace drama showcasing white micro aggressions at a massively white majority workplace. Slowly—excruciatingly so, sometimes—it shifts into a satirical metaphor that, along with the epilogue, firmly rooted this as a 3 star rather than 2 star rating. The last bit of the book is really, really good. 

This took a long time to develop a plot and was very heavy handed in its very granular on the workplace interactions front, so much so that even the nibble of a plot you get (at about 25% in) was almost enough for me to call it a day. If you can dig through the spinning wheels though, there is some interesting things going on; in the back quarter of the novel, especially. I don’t know how many people will make it there though. What appears to be the main subject matter discussed are the white space dynamics, and that kind of lulls you into thinking you know what this is going to be. 

But then the “weird” shit starts happening. And it does all come together. 

However, I’m not entirely convinced this wouldn’t have made a much better, more intense, short story or novella. I’m not sure it justifies the page count despite the plot structuring. I think everything about it might have been punchier and very little lost had it been reworked. There were several dnf moments I had to claw through. No matter what the pay off is like at the end, aspects of it clearly didn’t work for me. 

I have a feeling this will be a pretty polarizing book due to that. Couldn’t get through it—love it to bits. You’ll find me somewhere in the middle. Glad I read it. But unable to get over how puffed up it felt.

Naomi Olojo

Definitely gave me Get Out Vibes. A thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat and had me staying up till 3am to finish. Wasn’t a big fan of how late the final reveal came and how quickly wrapped up it was but that ending??

Madhuri Sridhara

This was not at all what I expected it to be. 

It was enjoyable reading about Nella and finding out about her life, passions friend and background and how it all changes when an other black woman joins the publishing company she works at. It was a nice balance of awareness of black culture and regular work politics. 

But a little after midway, the book suddenly starts taking a 180° turn and slowly becomes an unbelievable mess with no point of return. The whole thing gets more and more convoluted and at the end all I wanted was some closure about all the unanswered questions even though I doubt it'll make sense. 

2.5 stars for the first half.

Nicki

Sierra Bradley

I wanted to like this book but it just didn’t come together in the end for me. I almost stopped reading it in the first couple chapters because it felt very dumbed down, maybe for a white audience? Like every white microaggression and Black Moment ™ amongst the black characters was very exaggerated. In fact, almost all the white people were caricatures of ignorant white people. I guess this makes sense given the later themes of the book, but I should have followed my early instinct to stop reading lol. I wish I had seen the comparisons to Get Out before I read it because the weird otherworldly/satirical themes that come in halfway through the book came out of left field for me and I never really got back into it after that. Maybe this genre of book just isn’t for me, but I thought I was getting a mystery/thriller when it’s more like a satire mixed with a drama with a hint of a mystery.

Cheryl Hedlund

Nella is the only black person working in the editorial department of a prestigious publishing house in New York City. It is her dream job and everything she has been working so hard for most of her life. But it is tough navigating this very white work culture as the only black girl. Until Hazel walks in as a new hire. A confident and beautiful black woman. Nella is excited to have someone at work who understands and can be a workplace ally and friend. But things don't develop quite that way. This story builds tension slowly but surely. It starts as a workplace thriller but there are also horror elements. I think fans of Jordan Peele will enjoy this book. The real plot parts don't happen until later and then the pace is fast. The ending feels rushed. There are chapters interspersed from other points of view. Some in the past. Some in the present around Nella, but that Nella does not know about. Giving a wider context to what is happening. They can be confusing, but they start to come together later. I listened to the audiobook, and it had different narrators for each POV. It was very well done and I enjoyed the listening experience. I appreciated the ambigious ending, but I do wish it had just a little more development at the end. This is being adapted by Hulu and I think this story is a great one for film or TV. I hope that they do it well. Such a strong and ambitious debut novel. I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Other Black Girl A Novel

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