I was provided The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris as an ARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and thanks is extended to the author, publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to do so.
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.
I loved this novel that was slow burning at the start before reaching its suspense filled climax at the end. It has been compared as The Stepford Wives meets Get out and I would say it had more Get Out vibes for sure and I was totally within the books grasp from the very start.
The story line itself is intriguing and interesting and the characters are so well written and captivating. I didn’t find a single page of this book boring if anything I felt genuine fear whilst reading it and an intense dislike for some of the acts that characters were carrying out.
My only criticism was that I found the ending frustrating and even more frustrating that I cannot go into why without giving spoilers … so spoiler alert without giving away anything to major I found it intensely frustrating that after receiving so much prejudice, discrimination and hate from a privileged group in society, to then have your own people turn on you also left me with a feeling of utter hopelessness and despair that left me with boiling blood and an intense rage. However, I appreciated the reasons why the author did this and so although it frustrated me, I appreciate the power of doing just that. I just felt that following such a build up and tension that I was left with lots of questions and needing more in terms of the backstory and generally just more information.
However, this didn’t take away from the experience and it is still a strong 4 star read for me.
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