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A review by kassielovestoread
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I'm honestly struggling with how I feel about that ending...
The actual construction of this novel was a mess. The book opens up with a scene of a woman fleeing from something. But you don't actually get to understand that prologue until 50% or so into this book. You have to bear with the story as it tries to set us up for a mic drop moment of a plot twist. For me, that plot twist was delivered so matter of factly that it came off as a "...are you serious? thats it?" moment. This book is advertised as a thriller so I was hoping for a bigger reveal to leave me truly on the edge of my seat. I was still horrified at the reveal, don't get me wrong! I just think this book had a fantastic concept; if the author would've taken a deeper dive into a sci-fi element rather than a contemporary/literary one, then this could've been a 5 star read for me.
There are a few perspectives the reader is introduced too but again, they were done so poorly that I felt no connection to those characters, nor could I really understand the significance of the varying perspectives. I'm disappointed because this could've had such an interesting take on the pick me's of the black community (Ben Carson, Stacey Dash, Candice Owens...etc). That ending left me with such a bleak feeling- was this supposed to be a cautionary tale? Or was it to showcase that the fight against OBG's isn't worth it since they're always one step ahead?
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's possible that I just didn't get it and I'm okay with that! There was so much potential in this concept :(
The actual construction of this novel was a mess. The book opens up with a scene of a woman fleeing from something. But you don't actually get to understand that prologue until 50% or so into this book. You have to bear with the story as it tries to set us up for a mic drop moment of a plot twist. For me, that plot twist was delivered so matter of factly that it came off as a "...are you serious? thats it?" moment. This book is advertised as a thriller so I was hoping for a bigger reveal to leave me truly on the edge of my seat. I was still horrified at the reveal, don't get me wrong! I just think this book had a fantastic concept; if the author would've taken a deeper dive into a sci-fi element rather than a contemporary/literary one, then this could've been a 5 star read for me.
There are a few perspectives the reader is introduced too but again, they were done so poorly that I felt no connection to those characters, nor could I really understand the significance of the varying perspectives. I'm disappointed because this could've had such an interesting take on the pick me's of the black community (Ben Carson, Stacey Dash, Candice Owens...etc). That ending left me with such a bleak feeling- was this supposed to be a cautionary tale? Or was it to showcase that the fight against OBG's isn't worth it since they're always one step ahead?
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's possible that I just didn't get it and I'm okay with that! There was so much potential in this concept :(