Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the e-arc of this title, received in exchange for an honest review.

Finally, Nella is no longer the only Black editorial assistant at Wagner books, but when someone starts leaving threatening notes on her desk she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.

This book fell a little bit flat for me, primarily becuase I went in expecting a thriller and - for about 75% of the story - that is not what I got, which is unfortunate beacause the concept had the potential to pull off a nice, creepy Twilight Zone-esque effect, if executed correctly.
The narrative didn't quite grip me and for a thriller, it gave me more meandering than any real twists and turns. The thriller element was ultimately introduced too late to build any real suspense and so when we finally got to it, while there was tension there could have been more had the stakes been raised earlier. For this reason I think this book would be more enjoyable if read without the expectations of the thriller genre.
Aside from a few too many flashback scenes inserted in the middle of conversations and 'present day' scenes-that often went on a bit too long so by the time you were returned to the present you may be a bit confused as to where you left off-I did overall enjoy the writing style and narrative structure of this book, and would recommend but not as a thriller.

I will be honest. I am white. I consider myself as free from racism a white, middle class person can be, but no doubt I missed many points a Black reader would pick up on in this book. However I very much enjoyed this. I could empathise with Nella’s enthusiasm for social activism as she did try to increase the awareness of lack of diversity of the workplace in the publishing house with which she feels lucky enough to have secured a job. Does she feel grateful because as a black girl she has to try harder, or simply because of the company’s reputation and good for anyone to work there? Nella had been there two years, working hard to show her dedication and skills. She was still treading carefully, trying not to upset her co-workers, her boss, the big boss when Hazel joins the company. Another black girl and surely a new friend?
However something is not quite right and Nella spends a long time questioning herself. But then she receives a note telling her to leave.
The reader knows there is a parallel story of Shani trying to uncover information and the two storylines eventually interweave.
There is a gradual build up throughout the novel, yet it is not slow. However the ending was very abrupt and left me shocked. This is an ideal book group book as I needed to discuss this ending with others and can’t wait to do so.

Absolutely love this book. This is going to be one of the best books of the year. Timely insightful and scary, I highly recommend it.

I went for this book after seeing the cover, loving the title and reading this synopsis on NetGalley: “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.”

Sounds fabulous, right? Well, with the only small issue that I had no idea what Get Out was all about. At about the halfway mark I finally googled the movie and let’s just say it all started to make sense. If anything, I’d say this book is a lot of Get Out with a teensy bit of The Devil Wears Prada.

Cleverly done, well written (this is a debut!), a bit of a slow burner (then again, I began reading this during a reading slump so that may have been me?), once I got halfway through I couldn’t put it down. Partly because I needed to know what would happen, partly because oh-em-gee it was so strange. Is it a mystery? Is it a thriller? Is it horror? I don’t even know how to categorise it. But it’s most definitely a serious social commentary on both the publishing industry and black women in the white-collar workforce, and for that alone it’s worth a read.

Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed ‘The Other Black Girl’ I loved the writing, the characters and the premise of the story. I avidly read through the novel without guessing how it would end which is a good sign for me. BUT the ending was a disappointment. The sudden swerve into something akin to science fiction spoilt it for me.

The Other Black Girl is a modern, relevant and very original story set in the largely white publishing world. It is predominantly told from Nella’s POV - she is a black editorial assistant who for the past two years has been trying to make inroads and improve her company’s diversity. When another black girl joins the company, she is so excited but the reality of the situation does not meet her expectations. The author has commented that several of the workplace experiences are based on real-life experiences and this is blistering portrayal of the casual racism and microaggressions black people suffer regularly. This debut has generated a huge amount of hype but for me it doesn’t completely live up to it. I found the first half of the book very slow and contemplated giving up on it. I am very glad I didn’t as the second half is a completely compelling as we realise that there are sinister motives at play against Nella. The story is also told from some other character’s POVs in short bursts and sometimes this is done in different timeframes - this felt overcomplicated and unnecessary in some cases; especially when you only heard from that character once or if there was a massive gap between when you first heard from them and when you heard from them again. Overall, this is an enjoyable, original and thought-provoking read but one, for me, that does not live up to the massive hype around it.

Great debut novel about a black woman working in the seemingly glamorous world of publishing in Manhattan. Nella is the only black woman on staff and is delighted when another black woman, Hazel, joins the team. But is there room for both of them? There is a thriller element to The Other Black Girl but also social commentary about diversity and a black person's experience working in a predominately white world. As a white woman this opened my eyes on this subject.

<i>“‘well-meaning white folks’ were sometimes far worse than white folks who wore their racist hearts on their sleeves”</i>

Reviewing this one is going to be difficult, because I really don't want to give <i>anything</i> away. It's pitched as The Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out, and it's certainly much more heavily influenced by the latter, with an explicit reference to the film used at one point of the book.

Nella is an editorial assistant at Wagner, a successful publishing house. She is also the only Black employee on the editorial and publishing floors which are full of daily microaggressions. That is, until Hazel joins the team. Hazel is confident, friendly, and immediately well-liked in the office. Not long after Hazel's arrival, Nella begins to find anonymous notes left for her — "LEAVE WAGNER. NOW." Could Hazel be behind the notes?

I found this book such a great read. There is such a feeling of unease and distrust built up, leaving Nella along with the reader feeling totally unsure of who can be trusted or believed. The influence of Get Out is very apparent not only with the surreal plot point that appears just over halfway through the book, but in that experience of being on edge and sensing that <i>something</i> is not quite right.

Beyond that, I don't want to give too much away to anyone who wants to give the book a go. At times it's an uncomfortable read for a white reader; it's supposed to be uncomfortable. Despite the heavy influence of Get Out, it's a really fresh take on racial identity and Blackness that I definitely recommend to anyone intrigued by the premise.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I can see that this book is going to divide people's opinions. but it gets a thumbs up from me. The creepy, eerie atmosphere the author builds is fantastic. The slow build up of the tension worked for me, I was suspicious of everything and everyone presented to me. Who is friend and who is foe? Yes there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Yes, most of the action comes in the last 10% of the book. From some the signs are going to be too subtle and the ending frustrating, but I couldn't put it down. I was gripped from the off.

This book is going to generate a lot of discussion, not just about its content, but whether you love it or hate it. READ IT!!! It's the only way to be a part of it.

This was quite a good story, but the pacing was slow for most of the book, then it ended abruptly without really explaining what was going on or what happened to everybody.

Avoid entering into reading the stunning and chilling 'The Other Black Girl' by Zakiya Dalila Harris with any preconceptions. It defies definition as any particular genre - is it an office drama? Thriller? Horror? In reality, a warped and mind-bending mix of the three. It is challenging and difficult to process for all the right reasons.

Nella has worked at Wagner publishing for two years, the only black assistant navigating a space dominated by white people. She is hopeful for her future, even if the possibility of a promotion to editor still feels ever elusive. When Hazel-May joins Wagner, Nella is grateful to have another black employee as an ally, particularly in opposing the racist stereotypes which are featured in the new book of one of the company's bestselling authors. Why then does Nella feel more alone in her struggles than ever before and is suddenly receiving aggressive notes telling her to 'Leave Wagner. Now.'

This book is a slow-burn examination of what it is like to work as a black employee in an office environment steeped in white supremacy. Nella's attempts to unpick and challenge the racist viewpoints of her colleagues are met with disdain, acting as a scathing indictment of the publishing industry, and white dominated office spaces in general. Some readers may complain the plot is slow-moving but the insight into microaggressions, tokenistic attempts to launch 'diversity townhalls' and the overarching mystery of the missing black editor, Kendra Rae Phillips, the discomfort is layered, culminating in a sinister conclusion beyond anything I expected.

With 'The Other Black Girl', Harris has created something uncomfortable, terrifying and timely. Readers will be divided and struggle with this one, highlighting why it is such an important read. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve seen Zakiya Dalila Harris’s debut referred to as “Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada” and I was definitely reminded of Jordan Peele’s films as this story unfolded.

The narrative has three acts to it:

Nella is the only black woman working at Warner publishers. She is worn down by the need to represent and being given manuscripts to check for their sensitivity. A lot of the scenarios strike true and it is no surprise that the author uses instances from her own experiences within the day-to-day office interactions and politics.

When Hazel, a new black employee, is taken on things become more like a thriller. Nella is left intimidating notes and is undermined and outplayed by Hazel, who does everything to be friends with the white office girls and the editors at the expense of her identity and accepting racial injustices.

The third act moves into a more sinister and fantastical narrative, which highlights the issues and dilemmas surrounding people of colour and representing your culture. Do you continue to stand up, highlight injustice and point out prejudice and thereby face abuse on social media, potentially harm career prospects, mental health etc or do you jettison that in order to become accepted and assimilated in a white-dominated society?

A page turner that has a clever concept and wisdom to impart.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the complimentary advance review copy of this book.

This was a real page turner. Compelling, quick-witted, darkly funny, and kept me hooked. Think it could be described as a literary version of "Devil Wears Prada" meets "Get Out".

This spectacular debut was extremely thrilling. It had me on edge from the first page to the last. I wasn’t sure who or what to trust which is exactly what you want in a thriller. The writing flows seamlessly making it easy to lose yourself within its pages for hours at a time. And while there are a lot of POVs which I normally find jarring, I found that this structure only added to the tension, constantly making you wonder what’s going to happen next, why and to whom.

In addition to being a tense workplace thriller, The Other Black Girl presents an interesting perspective on race and white privilege within the publishing industry (which is still very much white dominated) and workplaces in general.

Nella is a fantastic character – strong willed and determined, even when her instincts tell her that she’s in danger. I warmed to her quickly and really enjoyed her development over the course of the story.

I was really interested in Kendra’s storyline so I would have liked to see more of her POV and backstory. Likewise, Lynn was a major character who was almost always off-page so I would have liked to see more from her perspective too.

Overall, this is a gripping thriller that I suspect will be a huge hit this summer.

I was initially interested in this book by the comparisons to Get Out, and upon finishing it I feel that that truly is the best way to describe THE OTHER BLACK GIRL. Zakiya Dalila Harris tells the story of Nella Rogers, the sole Black editorial assistant at Wagner Books, and the way that her life changes when another Black woman is hired - but not in the way that she thinks. It is a slow burn that revolves around Harris’s meticulous integration of microaggressions and tokenism within office politics. It is a very well written book, and a brilliant concept.

Though this is neither horror nor thriller (it’s about the impact that unconscious racism could potentially have on society, much like Get Out), it does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when the more sinister events unravel. It will make you uncomfortable - but that’s the point. Saying that, if you found Get Out farfetched then you might struggle a little with this; nevertheless, for me, the way that Harris explores the theme of race in a different way than we are used to strengthens the plot and its plausibility.

Regarding the alternating points of view - I can understand why these were included and I did feel that they added some value to the story, but I don’t think anything would have been missing had these been left out and the information in these chapters could have been incorporated in different ways throughout the book. I kept anticipating that there would be some discussion of these external characters that just never came.

Overall, this was a very thought-provoking read and I felt that the way Harris chose to explore her themes was unique and forces readers to question the society we live in. Massive thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredible book tackling the whiteness and lack of diversity in Manhattan publishing - compared to The Devil Wears Prada and I completely agree! Incredible writing

I loved this book and would recommend it to everyone, I love all the characters and this reminded me so much of the Devil wears Prada

With thanks to netgalley & the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for this honest review

This shines a great light not only about trying to get ahead in the world of book publishing but the various insecurities and competition POC face - that it does it in a very clever, lightly satirical way and could be applied pretty much across any similar US/UK office environment makes for some smart essential reading. I also admire its ambition in stepping outside that to introduce the 'horror' element, but while that's both fun and chilling enough to work in some ways, overall it felt a little underdeveloped with the two strands failing to quite come together. That said, it's a fun, curious ride. Definitely worth a read. 3.5 stars.

This book was not for me. I barely managed to get quarter of the way through.
It was just too boring. So many pages just about hair!!!

The Other Black Girl is a story about Nella, an editorial assistant for Wagner Books. Nella is frustrated with being the only Black employee and despite pushing for change and diversity, she settles for her place in the pecking order and daily microaggressions, So when another Black girl begins working at her office she is thrilled to have someone to share the experience but that quickly becomes nightmarish.

This book was not what I was expecting. Although it had a slow pace, it had a brilliant mix of reality and horror and the tagline of The Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out is completely apt.