Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 3.5 stars
The Other Black Girl was a semi-satirical work of fiction that took on race in the workplace. I very much appreciated the social commentary about race that was shown and explored in this book. It will elicit excellent conversations for readers of all races.
I found Nella to be a likeable character, much more so than the “other Black girl” Hazel, who just started at Wagner Publishing. I was sucked in from the start but somewhere along the way, I got lost due to the chapters with ancillary characters such as the Black author/editor duo from the past, and the mystery characters working in a secretive group. I know they were probably used to add a vague element that would slowly build tension, but for me, the tension came from the sketchy notes Nella received.
I think publicity and or marketing needs to tread carefully when describing a book as a cross between X title & Y title because it builds expectations which are easy to miss the mark on. Additionally, when a blurb says the book is a dynamic thriller or that it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, you go in waiting for those feelings to takeover. In my opinion, this was a work of contemporary fiction with a suspenseful element.
Overall, this is a great book for readers to learn from as it holds a mirror up to issues that many people fail to see or choose to ignore.
Quotes I liked:
With heightened awareness of cultural sensitivity comes great responsibility. If we’re not careful, ‘diversity’ might become an item people start checking off a list and nothing more—a shallow, shadowy thing with but one dimension.”
“Even when you just subtly imply that a white person is racist—especially a white man—they think it’s the biggest slap in the face ever. They’d rather be called anything other than a racist. They’re ready to fight you on it, tooth and nail.”
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