I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing.

I was a bit wary about this book with it being categorised as literary which i’m not a fan of. However, i’m wanting to mix up the type of books I read (usually I stick to crime/thriller) that I decided to just go with it.

I’m not sure at all about this book. From what the blurb said the book was about, I was really into it. But the actual book had me disappointed, not what I was expecting from the plot.

The actual plot of the story happened in the last 25% of the book. So it felt like it was a waste of time reading the first 75% which didn’t really add anything.

Most of the book is set in Nella’s POV which is fairly easy to follow. However, it really confused me when it went to different characters POV that weren’t within Nella’s story. It’s not until way over halfway that it makes sense to how these other characters fit into Nella’s storyline.

It’s a very slow read and honestly not for me at all.

Absolutely loved it!
So funny, so dark, so enjoyable, so disturbing.
This book is fresh and hooky and important.
I'm just sad I've finished. Write the next one fast please, Zakiya!

Nella is the only Black editorial assistant at Wagner Publishing (there used to be one Chinese American woman but she moved on). Of course she encounters faces like hers in the post room and computer department, but the floor she’s on is unremittingly White, and full of the microaggressions you might expect. Then, one day, she smells the smell of a hair product and sees Black hair through a gap in the cubicle wall, and in waltzes Hazel.

But it’s not that simple. Is Hazel her new best friend, or is she a competitor? When Nella worked so hard to get the office diversity events working and tries to speak up about a very unfortunate portrayal of a Black character in a novel, Hazel wafts around making friends and influencing people. And of course she has perfect hair and links to an amazing hair cafe, of course she runs a not-for-profit and supports young Black writers, and of course she has a partner originally from the Dominican Republic and lives in the “right” bit of Harlem, while Nella has always struggled with her hair, and has a White boyfriend (who’s still lovely!) and lives in the bit that White people prefer.

When Nella starts receiving anonymous notes telling her to leave Wagner, who could be behind them? Meanwhile, in a dual-time narrative we hear about a couple of Black people in the industry in the 1980s, with parallels to what’s happening now, and a parallel time narrative about another Black woman who’s encountered a “The Other Black Girl” at her workplace with … difficult outcomes.

My full review on my blog: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/book-review-zakiya-dalila-harris-the-other-black-girl/

The Other Black Girl is a psychologically suspenseful story, unlike any that I’ve read before. It pulls you in instantly, takes you on twisty journey, gives you a knowing, satirical wink and totally smashes any preconceptions you had about what the story might be.

Nella Rogers is an editorial assistant at Wagner publishing house. For years she is the only Black girl in the office, then Hazel is hired. Nella assumes they will bond, swap stories and form an allegiance, being the only two Black girls at Wagner, but that’s not quite how things play out…

Nella starts to receive anonymous notes telling her to leave Wagner. She finds herself suspecting Hazel due to things she’s noticed about Hazels’ behaviour – particularly how Hazel is around Nella versus how she is around their white colleagues.

As well as Nella’s narration, we also get chapters from Kendra Rae, a former Wagner editor who shot to fame in the 1980s, never to be heard from again… Kendra’s back story is crucial to the narrative, to establishing the sinister undercurrent at play and to give context to what Nella finds herself caught up in.

You might think you know who the other black girl of the title is referring to as you’re reading – but perceptions shift and you end up considering a few characters. That’s one of the reasons the intriguing storyline worked so well for me.

From the early chapters a sense of foreboding is established – you know we are building up to something big, but just when you think you might have something figured out, the story curves into a place I definitely didn’t anticipate. Which I found engrossing and exciting.

From its bold call out of racism within the publishing industry to its exploration on how Black people can succeed in an industry – in a world – that is institutionally stacked against them, to a story with a dry tone and sharp, satirical edge, The Other Black Girl is a read that leaves you thinking, has something to say and that I just couldn’t put down.

Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a free copy by e-book.

I did enjoy reading this book. I always love stories that have black characters in them as I can relate them to a lot of my close friends. I liked that the book felt really fast paced and that went well with the New York locations.
I thought the language flowed well.

I really liked the friendship between Nella and Malaika and they were my favorite characters. I also really liked the humorous side to the story and found parts really funny and relatable.

I found that I had to try and sometimes go back and try and remember how it was all connected and who was on whose side so to speak.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, and I think actually it's probably better if you don't know anything about it. I found it a really compelling read - I've ignored a lot of other things I should have been doing to keep reading just one more chapter this week!
The characters are great - they're interesting, engaging, and although it's a slow burn, I felt very invested in Nella and wondering what on earth was going on! Nella's friend Malaika is also brilliant and I was almost shouting for her to help Nella at the end!
It's hard to classify, somehow, so although it is full of suspense, it doesn't quite sit as a thriller. And although it's set in a publishing house, it isn't quite a devil wears Prada! The ending left me feeling angry and unsettled, which may well have been intentional!

An enjoyable if somewhat conventional workplace thriller, with well-written social commentary and an important grappling with the publishing industry. Definitely worth the read!

The Other Black Girl is a book that is exceedingly hard to label in terms of genre. Early reviews were labelling it as a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and Get Out, which I think you will agree is a pretty intriguing mix. I’d say that if that comparison does stand up anywhere, it will be the Get Out part, but it is also quite reductive and doesn’t quite do the book justice. I’m not sure that any comparison would have really told us what this book is trying to do. It is much better to go into it with an open mind.

Nella is a young black woman who works for Wagner Publishing, one of the most prestigious publishers in New York. She is the only black person who works there on the editing staff; every other person of colour works in reception, or the mail room, or on the cleaning staff. Nella is so excited when another black woman, Hazel, starts on the editing staff, and they hit it off straight away. But when Nella receives a mysterious note telling her to leave Wagner, and Hazel quickly catapults up the ladder ahead of her, Nella begins to wonder if the two things are related.

Like those films that tell a story from inside Hollywood, there is always something that feels a little bit voyeuristic reading a book that is about the publishing industry. Author Zakiya Dalila Harris is no stranger to the world of publishing, having worked in it herself, and that experience makes Nella’s day-to-day life very immersive. But whilst many films about films or books about books can be guilty of rose-tinting their industries, Harris goes in completely the other direction. If the title and the synopsis don’t give it away, The Other Black Girl is a book primarily about race, and the publishing industry does not come out of it very well. You don’t need to be an industry expert to know that there is still a major gap in publishing; the number of black editors and authors is painfully lacking compared to their white counterparts, and Harris does not shy away from making that clear. Nella is obsessed with a book that was written and edited by two black women, and the fact that even in 2018 (when The Other Black Girl is set) that is a remarkable oddity tells you a lot of what you need to know.

And honestly, if it sounds like I am talking a lot about the politics of the publishing industry when this book has been compared to Get Out, then you need to know that it is these politics that form the best moments of the book. Nella has spent most of her two years at Wagner trying to bring up the subject of diversity, and she has been shut down by colleagues every time – colleagues who are performatively supportive of people of colour, but who think being left-handed is a sign of diversity. Nella has made a point of getting on well with her colleagues, but as the mysterious notes keep coming and her paranoia grows, she begins to not only notice but really acknowledge the micro-aggressions that come from being one of the few black faces in the room.
The scenes that take place in the office, when Nella is feeling trapped and overwhelmed, are truly suffocating to read and experience with her. She feels like people are out to get her, to target her, and we are completely along for that ride with her. Harris’ strongest writing is in creating these small moments, these tiny aggressive looks or words, shared seconds between characters that might mean everything or equally nothing at all. By the end of the novel, I was as unsure as Nella who she could actually trust – up to and including her best friend and boyfriend who had been nothing but supportive.

There are some genre defying twists that take place in The Other Black Girl, and they make it into an unpredictable, slightly surreal read towards the end. But honestly, if Harris had only shone a light on Nella’s working life, and how the lack of diversity can eventually wear down even the staunchest individual, I would have still been seriously impressed with this book.

Honestly, if it doesn't get shortlisted in next year's Booker Prize or Women's Prize, something is wrong. This is the type of book which grabs the reader's attention from the very early chapters. I was hooked on the book from chapter 3 and was unable to put the book down... I have read my fair share of thrillers but this will be on my recommended list for a long time.

This book has been described as “Get Out” meets “The Devil Wears Prada” and whilst ordinarily I’m not a big fan of putting high expectations on books this one absolutely lives up to that description. The eery tension builds throughout the book and it feels like the more that gets revealed the less we really know who to trust.

Whilst obviously this is a book that has a lot of parts that will be most relatable to Black people I didn’t feel like it was at the exclusion of everyone else. I can certainly relate to the feeling of whether to compromise your principles for the sake of fitting in or getting ahead.

I found Nella to be a really interesting character. She’s almost stuck between these two worlds with her extremely white workplace and her feeling that her reasonably comfortable upbringing makes her somehow “less Black” and leaves her unable to truly fit in either world. She talks about being called an “Oreo” by other Black people having attended a predominantly white college.

Harris’ writing had a nice flow to it and I enjoyed the different viewpoints so we could see more of what was going on beyond what was Nella was experiencing. The growing tension kept me fully gripped and the second half in particular I blasted through pretty quickly.

My only complaints would be that sometimes the time jumps felt a little clunky, sections were labelled with the date but I couldn’t always remember what the date was of the last section so for me I prefer the passage of time to be shown within the plot. I also felt that some of the more secondary characters could have done with a little more fleshing out, Nella’s boyfriend, Owen, and best friend, Malaika, most notably.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would definitely read more books by Harris. Without spoiling anything I did feel the ending was open to a possible sequel and would absolutely love to read that!

This is an unusual one. Marketed as a suspense/thriller novel, I would be more inclined to describe it as satire or stinging social commentary with a twist in the tale.

Our protagonist is Nella, a young Black women starting out her career as assistant to an editor at a prestigious publishing house Wagner. Nella is the only Black person at Wagner until Hazel comes along. Hazel is an accomplished, composed young Black woman who fits right in at Wagner and begins to ingratiate herself with her white colleagues and superiors, much to Nella’s chagrin. When Nella begins to receive anonymous notes, she begins to wonder who is Hazel and what are her motives?

The manifest problem with this book for me is that the twist is pretty clunky and is executed in a fairly awkward fashion. The book is also about 50 pages too long.

Having said that, I quite enjoyed it
for its tongue in cheek takedown of the racism rooted in the publishing industry, and the tokenism that goes on in terms of diversity, which I imagine is applicable across many industries.

If you enjoyed Such A Fun Age (I loved it) and Black Buck, this is in a similar vein, albeit that it fell a bit flatter for me than those two. 3/5⭐️

Took me a while to really understand the plot and sub ploys. Once I got my head round it though I found this a very enjoyable read.

This was a book that took me a while to get into but once I did I couldn't put it down and wanted to know what happened next. I think because of this I was disappointed by the ending. There was a lot that went unanswered and a lot that was left ambiguous which works well for most thriller novels however, I don't feel like this book falls directly in that genre/category.

I liked the premise of <i>The Other Black Girl</i>, I'm just not sure it was executed that well. The majority of the plot happened within the last chapter/chapters. I'm not sure what place the character of Kendra had in the whole story and I'm still confused on her involvement yet she even had her own chapters.

On a positive note, I did appreciate the witty dialogue.

Nella is the only Black girl working at Wagner Books, one of the biggest publishing houses in the country, she is elated when another Black girl, Hazel, starts working there. She is looking forward to having an ally at work, someone she can work together with in promoting more Black writers and promote diversity at work However, Hazel soon turned out to be different from Nella and some rivalry arise.

Hazel's behaviour is suspicious and she seems set to undermine Nella.

This book was not what I had expected. Very interesting theme: the one of lack of diversity in publishing houses, however I found the storyline difficult to follow and very convoluted.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, it has a great storyline and it kept me hooked until the very end. I loved the characters of Nella and Malaika, I do feel like her relationship with Owen could have been included a bit more, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend to others.

I was a bit disappointed with this one. The story sounded intriguing: a very white American publishing house with one black assistant. Then another black assistant joins and then are they a benefit to one another or are they competition?
For me, the build up was just too long at over 300 pages of not a lot happening and then all of the action right at the end. I don't mind a slow build to a story but the balance felt out.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book, was not the book I was expecting. It was slightly comparative with get out, but only barely. I haven't read or seen the devil wears Prada so I can't comment on that, but probably more of a stepford wives kind a vibe.
I wouldn't say this was a thriller. It was a very slow burn until the final third of the book when things started to slot into place.
So it starts off 30 years before with a woman boarding a train to get away from the media frenzy about some comment that is causing a public backlash. It doesn't say much else other than she has a very itchy scalp.
Then it cuts to the main character of Nella. A woman who works for a very successful publishing company - and she's the only black female there. All's well and good until.....
"The first sign was the smell of cocoa butter"
Here comes the second black girl to fuck shit up!
If you work anywhere doing any job, you know there's always someone there like Hazel. Toxic and always happy to see you fail. Taking the credit for something you did. Yep, we all know a Hazel.

Although I have given this 3 stars (I'd push to 3 and a half) that could be because I'm still upset that it wasnt more fast paced and exciting. I did plough through the last 30% faster than the middle 30%. But it was absolutely thrilling that it was a book filled with women of any colour and dipping into moments of their lives was refreshing. I would like to read more of that, and I will 100% be on the lookout for the authors future work.
This will be posted on my Goodreads page, Instagram page (goddess.of_gore) and my monthly wrap up blog (trials and tribulations of bigmamavix) on blogger

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As always, thanks so much to Netgalley for sending this to me!

The Other Black Girl is described as Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada – a look into the cut-throat world of publishing that examines the difficulties of a Black woman in an extremely white industry. When her publishing house finally hires another Black woman, Nella is excited to finally have someone who shares and understands her experiences. However, when Hazel’s hiring coincides with a sudden onslaught of abusive anonymous messages landing on Nella’s desk, she starts to wonder if maybe this hiring wasn’t so fortuitous after all.

I thought Nella was a great main character – I liked her instantly, and I sympathised so much with her frustration, her attempts to make her white colleagues listen to her and understand her viewpoints, her attempts to be as gentle as possible to keep from being pegged as aggressive or difficult to work with. We also meet Hazel, who’s mysterious, and (to use a favourite word of mine) capricious – sometimes sunny, other times inexplicably sullen and closed-off. I also enjoyed the writing style, particularly the descriptions, which were vibrant and evocative.

Unfortunately, this book moved far too slowly for my taste. I had reached the 60% mark and barely anything had happened. Considering that this book is supposed to be a thriller, I wasn’t thrilled in the slightest. The best I could do was a sort of mild interest in finding out who was sending the mysterious notes and why, and this feeling wasn’t strong enough to compel me to continue. For me, this book could have had a hundred pages cut from it, easily, and we wouldn’t have lost much of value.

I think The Other Black Girl has a great premise and a strong cast of characters, but its glacial plot progression left me unable to finish the book.

This is a really good and thought provoking read. It is a real slow burner of a story that takes time to build up the plot and characters. It really is one of those books that you have to read to the end so you can truly appreciate how clever it is and in many ways how chilling it is! It is a story that needs to be absorbed slowly to have its full impact. I’m going to be thinking about this book for sometime to come.

The Other Black Girl is a modern literary thriller set in New York, examining themes of diversity and the lack of it in the publishing industry.

I read this book so quickly, I must say it’s really engaging. The dialogue flows well and characters come alive on the page. I really feel like I got to know Nella and Hazel’s characters in particular.

The description of the work environment Nella finds herself in is something I think a lot of others can relate to in creative sectors, particularly those from a Black or minority background. Working in media myself, I can see the lack of diversity in places I’ve worked. And I really like that this book brings that to the forefront and doesn’t shy away from it. As a white cis woman, I feel like Nella’s feelings in this book are educational and I would definitely encourage others to read it for this purpose, particularly in these creative industries.

The book is very compelling, I read it in about 24 hours and I did keep wanting to know what happened next. Unlike other reviews, I did enjoy the book as a whole, including the earlier chapters, as opposed to the last 20% as some have mentioned.

I did think that the twist was quite predictable, and I saw it coming as soon as it was introduced (without any prelude to what it was) but this could just be me, as I read lots of thrillers!

I also wish that the other people’s’ stories in the book had been examined at the end of the novel, as I am now left with lots of questions and lose ends for them.

When I got to the last chapter I though ‘oh is that it?’ But I did like the epilogue’s ending overall, but again saw it coming a mile off.

3.5 stars (but on the higher end hence 4 stars!) Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this title.