Thank you to Bloomsbury for the ARC!
Themes; Race, privilege, bullying, tokenism
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 the micro-aggressions, she's thrilled when 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 cause Nella to become Public Enemy Number One and Hazel, the Office Darling.
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 realises that there is a lot more at stake than her career.
There is a story in itself on how I got this ARC. I saw the book on Twitter with a cover of an Afro pick and it was pushed as Get Out X The Devil Wears Prada but in publishing which is a bit of me! The issue is the one person I knew in Bloomsbury had left, so I was like how do I get one? Someone put a tweet out saying they wanted a copy and I said me too, then the fabulous Eleanor Marie Rose liked my tweet, followed me and WORKS FOR BLOOMSBURY. Of course I slid in her DM's and was like hey girl....can I get a copy? She said she would ask so I waited and I still didn't get one! I never enter giveaways and I did just to get the book. I didn't win so I gave up and made a note to buy the book when it comes out and then Eleanor messaged me for my address. WOO HOO!!!
The Other Black Girl follows Nella who works in an all white publishing house in New York, as she tries to follow in the footsteps of a Black editor who worked at Wagner years ago on a book by a Black author that was successful and then disappeared. Nella's trying (and failing) to make her work place more diverse. Hazel appears as the Other Black Girl and Nella instantly feels like she can have an ally at work but Hazel is one shady girl and is manoeuvring her way to Nella's boss, colleagues and somehow knew her boyfriend's name even though Nella didn't tell her. Then the notes start.
I've never worked for a publishing house that I didn't own but I can imagine how some Black girls must feel in a white space. Especially when Nella pulls up the Black stereotypes one of the white bestselling authors mentions in his latest book yet she's forced to apologise. That got me so mad!
It really is a book about there not being enough space for us and we are expected to hold ourselves to fit in. Lots of microaggressions throughout the book and the whole time I really wanted Nella just to punch Hazel in the face and find herself her job where her brilliance was appreciated! I'm sure the book will split opinions beacause at times it is an uncomfortable read but books like this are needed so people can have a better understanding. Especially where publishing is always talking about diversity yet moving at a snail's pace, The Other Black Girl highlights why it's important to make room for others.
The book is more Get Out vibes than The Devil Wears Prada but it's a gripping, twisty thriller with laugh out loud, super relatable moments.
4/5
Grab a copy
Follow me Instgaram
Comments
Post a Comment