The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

 

Title:  The Other Black Girl

Author: Zakiya Dalila Harris

Read by:  Aja Naomi King, Joniece Abbott – Pratt, Heather Alicia Simms, Bahni Turpin

Publisher: Simon & Shuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 33 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Shuster Audio.  Thank-you! 

 Nella Rogers is the only black employee at Wagner books.  She dreams of being able to move up in the company from editorial assistant and works hard at her job.  Nella is happy when another black employee, Hazel, starts at Wagner.  What she doesn’t understand is how Hazel becomes the star employee at Wagner books leaving Nella in her wake.  After she receives a mysterious note at work, Nella starts to wonder what exactly is going on.  Who is Hazel and what is her goal?

 The Other Black Girl is a genre defying novel, but I think it’s best described as a slow burn workplace drama that delves into microaggressions and office politics.  I was intrigued by the storyline and what it was like for Nella at her workplace and in her home life.  Besides this primary story, there is a side story going on where there seems to be a group of people that are trying to protect Nella and another group that is out to get her.

 I had to listen to the ending two times and to be honest, I still don’t know if I quite understand it.  I was engrossed in the story but got to the end and wasn’t quite sure what had happened, so I listened again and am still confused.  This is a four out of five stars just for this reason.  I really enjoyed the story, but the end could have been fleshed out better.  I think this would be a good book club novel just to discuss the ending.  I want to talk to someone about it!

 The book was primarily told through Nella’s point of view but did have chapters with other characters point of view.  The narrators were switched for each new character which I enjoyed. Aja Naomi King was the main narrator as Nella (and a few others) and she was a great narrator.  She changed her voice for some of the other character’s (like Nella’s boyfriend Owen) and did a great job.

 Favorite Quote:

“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.”

 Overall, The Other Black Girl is a good slow burn workplace drama with a surprise ending.