The Other Black Girl was a fabulous read and unputdownable. I thought Zakiya Dalila Harris was so clever to make it a thriller, and the description of it being a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and Get Out is a good one. My only issue was that some of the bits about the resistance group were confusing, and at times I lost the thread of what was going on.

This had so much promise for me but i just didn't gel with the writing fully. I did like Nella as a character and thought she was set up well but the writing felt as a block to getting through to her character properly. I think the premise and idea was good but it just didn't work it entirely how i wanted it to.

Sucked in by the comparison to The Devil Wears Prada I felt a little cheated by this book.

The rivalry and goings on, plus the redoubtable boss do indeed resemble The DWP book, but it stops there. This goes much deeper and is very dark, not a light hearted read by any means.

The book began with a character I didn't recognise from the blurb but I plodded on and soon found my way into the book. Then the flashbacks began to feature characters doing things unrelated to the main story and I got a little confused. Around 60% into the book the penny dropped about what was actually happening, but then I had to suspend my disbelief too.

I do think the book went on far too long with the scene setting and long drawn out descriptions of days in the office. The action took place in the last 25% of the book. Otherwise it was an imaginative storyline that definitely highlights issues not only in the publishing industry but in the world at large.

Be prepared to stick with this until the end for the pay off and to expect a rather out there plot line. I admit being intrigued about how this was all going to end. I did have to read the ending twice just to make sure I had understood the last twist - not the ending I was hoping for, but a good ending non the less.

As someone who works in the publishing industry, albeit in the UK, I was intrigued by the premise of this book, and totally recognised the very white environment that was described in the US, as also applying to the UK. The main character is an editorial assistant in a publishing house and is super happy when another black girls comes to work there. But is the new girl all that she seems? There's a lot of intrigue in this book and the author is good at keeping you guessing.

The main character is quite a bit younger than me, and American, and black, and so I didn't get quite a lot of the references she made, although that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book, in fact it was good to get a difference perspective and learn new things.

I thought the writing was strong and I quite liked the main character, and found her easy to empathise with, particularly in the situation of being a lowly editorial assistant and wondering how to appease her boss, or make things right when she made mistakes (been there!). And also wondering if the new girl was doing better than her and making more of an impression at work.

I was a little disappointed with the ending though, although maybe it's because it wasn't at all what I was expecting (not sure what I was expecting to be honest!) but it seemed a little out there and I finished the book feeling somewhat deflated.

I must admit that I had quite a hard time to get into this story. Mostly because of the language and some not so known to be jargons . Plus there’s the race and workplace trope that I was really looking forward to be explored more but I don’t think I’ve got what I wanted in the end unfortunately. It was too slow and maybe even dragging in the middle of it all.
Overall it’s an interesting experience but one that left me wanting more or something else altogether.

I didn't find this a particularly enjoyable read to be honest. Too long, too dragged out, a plot that only happens in the last one third of the book and was (to me anyway) very far fetched. I liked the story of Nella and the competitiveness between her and Hazel, but that fell away to something altogether more unbelievable. I would have preferred for the author to have explored more that relationship between Nella and Hazel and made it a little more thrilling and edgy.

A thriller with a book bases around race.
I've seen thus book in bookshops and the cover is very inviting. When I realised I already had it from netgalley I was really pleased.
A slow burner with a good story.

Found this really hard to get on with, I really wanted to like the unusualness of the story but it was just so slow - it basically got interesting 80% in. In trying to be a twisting thriller it ended up just being confusing.

An interesting read about race in the workplace. Might not appeal to everyone as quite specific to US publishing with much jargon. However, it is very well paced and reads like a thriller.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dahlila Harris is an ideal thriller for any bookworm, set as it is in the not-so-glamorous world of publishing in a shiny New York high rise.

Nella is a hardworking assistant at Wagner Books and tension sparks at the arrival of another Black girl, Hazel, in their otherwise all white office.

At first, Nella is relieved. But after a humiliating experience with an author and some threatening notes, Nella spirals and becomes twitchy and paranoid.

This book is a slow-burner for sure and it keeps you in the dark about how the characters relate to each other until the very last minute.

It kept me interested in the mystery of it all and the whip-smart writing meant that I was always hanging on for the next moment unfurling, the next cringing tension to simmer.

Overall, a sturdy and engaging thriller with an imaginative social commentary undertow about what it’s like to feel isolated and overlooked in the workplace. A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I very much enjoyed the first half of this book, finding it uncomfortable and challenging in all the right ways. I read this prior to publication, and I noticed the marketing campaign emphasised the "for fans of Get Out" angle, which was a good idea, as the final third took a turn I wasn't expecting and I'm not sure was necessary. The creative office environment was wonderfully pitched, showing moments of humour and worked as a great character study as well. I found the thriller sub plot less interesting. Fantastic cover, really well done..

The Other Black Girl has stayed with me even months after reading it. I feel that this is what sets it apart from so many novels. It highlights the tensions of office politics and dynamics we face in the workplace. It begins with Nella Rodgers being the only Black employee at Wagner books, that is until Hazel arrives. Nella and Hazel unite that is until Hazel becomes the Office favourite. Leaving Nella to question everything; including the unidentified person leaving notes on her desk telling her to leave.
The twists and turns of this novel leave the hair on your neck standing up and unable to put it down until you finish it.

A new friend at work becomes a rival and the problem ultimately far bigger. You will need to suspend your disbelief at times but an entertaining read.

I did enjoy the pace of this book, slowly we meet the characters and are let into their world. There's an underlying uneasiness of something going on under the surface which makes a tense read in a good way - slowly events unfold and the reader puts the puzzle together. Those are my favourites because you don't see what's coming.
I will be honest, I didn't love the big twist but overall I would recommend this thriller.

Zakiya Dalila Harris, we don't know each other but still I ask of you... how could you? How could you write a book like this with a brilliant slow build, one that reveals its hand slowly, and then just when you think you've got your eye on it: the other hand punches you in the face? If you want to incredibly aggravated by an excellent book with a fascinating look at the world and compelling characters, read this book. Just, pack ice for the wound that you will be left with. I have no higher praise.

This had so much packed into the narrative that I loved. A highly tense working environment that brims with menace, manipulation and secrets, an important discussion on the black experience in the workplace and a plot that is full of insane twists and turns. It's a very hard book to categorise. And I think this is also where it's faults lie. It tries to take on too much, and ends up becoming too extreme to be realistic. It's also very slowly paced, which helps build up this feeling of underlying tension and threate, but just doesn't do enough to move the plot forward. I admit that I often found myself not wanting to pick this up as a result, and I couldn't find myself engaging with the story at all.

Don't go into this expecting something light and fluffy and funny. This is dark and gritty and intelligent. It's an insightful look at the extremes people will go to in order to fit in, and the social pressures put on black women within the high powered workplace. I just wish the pacing could have been a bit pacier to keep me entertained.

Nella is the only Black girl at Wagner Books, and is desperate for more Black girls to join to help bolster the diversity workshops she started (but that fell flat on their faces). That is, until Hazel arrives, another Black girl, at the same time she starts getting threatening notes to leave Wagner, and she starts to questions what being a Black girl means in publishing.

I want to preface this review by saying I am white, and this is obviously a book about the experience of being a Black girl, specifically in publishing but also in life in general, and there were many aspects of this book that were not aimed at me or my experience. Which is fine.

That's not why I didn't like this book.

The pacing is very slow, Very little happens throughout the first part of the book, and everything is told through Nella's point of view, who is not particularly interesting or a gripping protagonist. There are numerous times when the story goes on to give you some extraneous detail about someone or other who you never see again, or just goes off on a tangent in a really boring way.

When the action did pick up a little, I still wasn't hugely gripped. Instead I was more than a little bit confused about what was going on with the other, random point of view chapters that were slotted in featuring new characters I'd never heard of before.

And then the ending? I am so confused, but I care so little that I don't want to find out. No major spoilers but... I didn't understand the whole hair grease thing?? How did that... do anything? And Nella's personality seemed to suddenly switch 180 degrees in the face of one scene. There are so many unanswered questions about other characters but I wasn't even invested enough in this book to care now that it let me down so much at the end, which was hugely rushed compared to the slow pace of the rest of the book.

The Other Black Girl is more than worth the hype! This is a thriller that is smart and thought-provoking. The story will make you think. The description of "Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada" is right on the money. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Other Black Girl today!

This is one of the best books I've read in ages! Love the eyecatching cover design, and the writing was second to none. I found the storyline completely absorbing and really enjoyed reading it. I'll definitely be looking out for more from Zakiya Dalila Harris - amazing writer!

A smart, sophisticated thriller that takes a searing look at race, ambition and friendship and what happens when they intersect in the corporate world. At times it did feel like there were two or three stories competing for the reader's attention, but it's rewarding to see how everything ties together in the end. Important, thought-provoking and compelling.