A review by lehine
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was an EXTREMELY slow burn. It reads more as a workplace drama than a thriller. I don’t mind waiting for the latter part for action, but there really wasn’t a sense of tension for the vast majority of the book. I think the music is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting in the TV show.
If you read it as a fun if fucked-up workplace drama, there are some interesting observations and interactions that will make up for a lot of what’s missing. There’s loneliness, jealousy, ambition, failure, success, and annoying coworkers that seemed truer to life than attempts at tension. If you read it as a thriller you’re likely to be disappointed. The ending was extremely predictable and a huge let-down.
Nella as a character confuses me. At times she has strong principals, at others she folds like a lawn chair. This serves a purpose eventually, but seemed like poor character building for most of the book. She’s also a really shitty friend, and ashamed of her boyfriend so that’s not healthy.
The way she was brought up making her feel “not black enough” vs being the only black girl in the office felt like the most authentic struggle in the book. Imposter syndrome of sorts.
A glance at the reviews on Goodreads shows that the majority of 5-stars came from white readers, the majority of 1-stars from black readers. Criticisms seem to center around the lack of good editing (ironic for a book about an assistant editor at a publishing company) and who exactly this book’s audience is.
If you read it as a fun if fucked-up workplace drama, there are some interesting observations and interactions that will make up for a lot of what’s missing. There’s loneliness, jealousy, ambition, failure, success, and annoying coworkers that seemed truer to life than attempts at tension. If you read it as a thriller you’re likely to be disappointed. The ending was extremely predictable and a huge let-down.
Nella as a character confuses me. At times she has strong principals, at others she folds like a lawn chair. This serves a purpose eventually, but seemed like poor character building for most of the book. She’s also a really shitty friend, and ashamed of her boyfriend so that’s not healthy.
The way she was brought up making her feel “not black enough” vs being the only black girl in the office felt like the most authentic struggle in the book. Imposter syndrome of sorts.
A glance at the reviews on Goodreads shows that the majority of 5-stars came from white readers, the majority of 1-stars from black readers. Criticisms seem to center around the lack of good editing (ironic for a book about an assistant editor at a publishing company) and who exactly this book’s audience is.