THE OTHER BLACK GIRL

Head officially still spinning from the summer blockbuster that is The Other Black Girl! In this suspenseful, thought-provoking novel, Nella is a young editorial assistant at a big New York publishing house, eager to make her mark but ever conscious of her status as the lone Black girl at work. Enter new employee Hazel, who is Black, self-possessed and savvy in a way Nella has always aspired to be. But when Nella begins receiving threatening notes at work, and cracks appear in what she’d hoped would be an idyllic work-wife friendship, Nella begins to suspect a more sinister force is trying to derail her career - and unravel her life in ways she could never have imagined.

This novel is full of well-crafted surprises and sucker-punch moments, with pacing that accelerates like a contemporary fiction freight train. A heady brew of satire meets thriller, the story escalates from microaggressions to unexpected plot twists that will keep readers guessing until the end. The Other Black Girl offers a clever and original examination of race, class, ambition, and the complicated perceptions of “responsible Blackness.”

Inspired by Nella and her frenemy Hazel, I made this HAZELnut N(ut)ELLA bundt cake - surprisingly intense and not as sweet as it appears, I think it would do these characters proud. Having two bundt cakes in the house can be dangerous, but not as dangerous as … I’ll end this review there to avoid any spoilers!