About the Book :
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 New York City book publishing.
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.
A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.
My Review:
Very well written and twisty thriller but the ending just wasn’t for me. Loved the inside look into the New York publishing world, though. I was hooked from the beginning!
“The first sign was the smell of cocoa butter.”
This lively and imaginative story explores what it’s like to be the only black woman in the workplace. Nella is a rising star in a fictional publishing company but must deal with microagresisons on a daily basis. Things start to look up when another black woman named Hazel is hired at the company. Will this new hire be helpful to Nella, or will it make her position at the company more tenuous? There are subtle hints at foreshadowing, but the book does not start out like a traditional thriller, instead reading like contemporary fiction.
There is something off about Hazel’s behavior right from the beginning but everyone seems to fall in love with her so Nella chalks it up to her own imagination. I loved the author’s sharp and witty observations about life in the publishing world and I honestly could not figure out if Nella was just being insecure about her own job or whether Hazel was not being totally up front about her background.
“Nella didn’t know what to make of any of it. The kind of celebrity status that Hazel had achieved in such a short span of time rubbed her in a way that bothered her, and it bothered her that she was bothered at all—especially since she and Hazel were supposed to be on the same team.”
This tension is sustained well throughout the story, but my issue with the book was the surprise twist at the end, which turned this book into more of a horror genre. Whoa. Even though I enjoyed this book, I did not think the ending was 100% necessary to the plot. I think you should definitely go into this one without reading any spoilers! I loved the cover and the overall pacing of this book so pick this one up if you want to see what all the buzz is about.
(Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.)
