Unexpected, fascinating, and unputdownable.

I was thrilled to receive an advanced e-galley from Netgalley - I’d been hearing so much hype about this book, and it was worth the hype. This book was whip smart, relatable, & refreshing.

It’s hard to categorize this book in a specific genre - it was contemporary, it was suspenseful, there was even a touch of science fiction. It was unlike anything I’ve read before, and I really really enjoyed it. A really great debut.

When a book is described as: The Devil Wears Prada and Get Out, you assume it's going to be good. And this did not disappoint. It took me one sitting. I was constantly turning the page trying to figure out what Hazel had in store for Nella. If she was trying to be her work friend, undermine her with their boss, or plotting something even more terrifying. I learned a lot from the book as well. About Black voices, how diversity is important for more reasons than we believe. And more importantly about code-switching and my expectations from POC.

The story of what happens when you’re the only black person working at the publishing company Wagner Books, that is until another black person is hired. Things seem to spiral, very quickly.

This story touches on the feeling of isolation, and not having your word and view as a person of colour heard.

I absolutely loved this book, and felt it was refreshing to have a black woman portrayed as a “normal” black woman. No past traumas, no victimizing, besides the notes that seem to start appearing shortly after the new person is hired.

Getting into the main characters head, and hearing her thoughts on being the only person of colour, of having another person of colour hired and the relationship she tries to build with this person. As a white CIS woman it is hard to put myself in her shoes but it was told in a way that can be empathized as a woman at least.

This story takes you on a little conspiracy trail too, which I felt needed a little more to it. I wanted more of a background to this as it does end up playing a big part. This has to be my only complaint of the entire book. I wanted a little more from this.

This book was not what I was expecting. I would say the Get Out comparison is more accurate. I was expecting a story about diversity in publishing with a hint of a thriller.

For the majority of the book I was bored and was waiting for something to happen/a revelation. The ending kind of disappointed me because I felt like nothing was resolved/explained much. The ending also made me go "what the heck happened that was crazy." I understand why it ended the way it did, but I was a bit unsatisfied.

This read was different from what I normally read, and it was intense which made it worth it. I think it would be really interesting as a movie or show!

Rounded up to 3.5.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a copy!

I received this ebook from Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley. I read the description of this book and, seeing as I loved The Devil Wears Prada, I was ready for a funny book with a feel good ending. Man was I Wrong!!! This may take place in an office but that is the only comparison to The Devil Wears Prada. The bit in the description about being the only black person at her publishing company also gave me the impression that it would delve into this discrimination and the multitude of ways it holds people of colour back but, again, this was not how the book went.

This book is more of a psychological thriller than any other genre in my opinion. Perhaps if the description had been written in a different way then I wouldn’t have been so disappointed with the book. The book is really slow at building the real storyline and a Nella doesn’t react to many situations like one would think. Why wouldn’t she tell her boyfriend about the notes? She is upset and scared so why not tell the one person that has your back? The ending was a complete change from the rest of the book but it really isn’t enough to save it. I would have given this a higher rating if I had been asked to read this with no introduction.

Thank you so much NetGalley!! I do not know how to review this book other than saying it was so so good. I see where it is compared to Get Out and The devil wears Prada due to the woman in the workplace but my gosh. This book got my attention and I could not put it down. Thank you so much. I think giving detailed reviews spoil books and I can tell anyone that this is worth reading. When it comes out, read it..so good!

*ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This book was totally and completely unique. The writing and pacing was perfect, with each chapter as well as the letters adding additional intrigue while propelling the story forward in a way that was always clear, even when the reader was in the dark.

The subject matter was incredibly important, focusing on racism within the publishing industry, not just with representation in books themselves (though that is definitely touched on), but behind the scenes, in publishing and editing in particular. Nella, the main character, is the lone Black editing assistant at her publishing house, Wagner books, which she has worked at for ten years. That is, until a new Black assistant, Hazel, is hired, and almost immediately after this, Nella begins receiving threatening notes to leave Wagner. Nella desperately wants to trust Hazel, to have a work friend who understands the lack of racial diversity in their industry, who she can vent to and rely on to back her up, so why does her gut tell her that she can't trust Hazel?

The characters were well-developed and layered, making it extremely enjoyable to pick them and their actions apart in search of everyone's true motives. Each twist and reveal was shocking, some on the side of science fiction, but the book still felt very real and was definitely made better by the fact that, as stated in the acknowledgements, this book was largely based on the author's personal experiences.

I very much enjoyed the fact that the story took place at a publishing house, with the main character, Nella, being an assistant editor. It was a very interesting setting and very enjoyable to read about, especially knowing that Harris herself spent time in editing.

I very much enjoyed this book and think it is an absolutely wonderful debut that will speak to many people, and hopefully open up more dialogue about the importance of diversity in publishing. And if you're looking for a creepy book to keep you on the edge of your seat, The Other Black Girl will fill that need, too.

This book started out strong. We meet Nella Rogers who is the only black employee at the white-dominated publishing house, Wagner. Nella has been working at Wagner for two years and has been consistently trying to push for more diversity in her workplace. So, when another person of colour, Hazel, gets hired, Nella becomes very excited and the two hit it off right away. However, it’s not long before Nella starts receiving anonymous threatening messages that cause the plot to unfold from there.

I thought the micro aggressions and white fragility encounters were really realistic in this book. I was so frustrated at the audacity of some of the characters. Also, I enjoyed reading the sections that included Nella’s best friend and boyfriend; they were well-developed characters that seemed like real people, not just foil characters.

I enjoyed parts of this book, but on the whole I thought the pacing was inconsistent. It dragged on for awhile and then many things snowball towards the end of the novel. I also wasn’t expecting multiple POVs. At first I found it confusing, but they did help add another lens to the story.

With all that said, I will definitely pick up anything else the Zakiya Dalila Harris writes in the future.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for an e-ARC of this book!!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, having requested it following a Bloomsbury Night online event, where it was described as having 'elements of a thriller'. I think that was misleading.

2.5* rounded down. After a prologue set in 1983 where a woman is fleeing New York, most of the narrative is set in the present day of 2018 and concerns Nella, who works (as the only Black woman) at a publishing house called Wagner's. Then another Black woman (or girl), Hazel, is employed, and Nella assumes they will be allies, but that is not how things turn out. Most of the novel is very slow. There are chapters from the perspective of Shani which are initially completely mystifying, but gradually begin to make sense. That is to say they make sense in the context of the completely bonkers revelations in the last 80% of the story.

The author had interesting things to say, but the almost fable-like concluding chapters didn't work for me in a novel which had up to that point read as realism. A half star for the very ending, which was, if you buy into the author's premise, a little chilling...