Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m doing pretty well on this month‘s reading plan.
Three down, one in the works.

September‘s #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks.
I‘m excited to finally read the tagged book because I really want to watch the Hulu series.

#black #coverlove @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Enjoyed. Has a Get Out vibe. The middle could‘ve been shorter, but definitely kept me on my toes - couldn‘t predict where it was going.

The low rating on here has me baffled!

This is the perfect mix of wild, unnerving, and twisty- set through a lens of Black Women in the workplace. But if that is not you and you‘ve worked in (or can imagine) any cutthroat office environment, this really works, and makes you question *everyone‘s* motives. Some points shaved for some loose strings, but this has been one of my fave reads so far this year.

Learned a new phrase: “tabula rasa” = “blank slate”.

I like when books (about book editors!) teach me new vocabulary 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️🤌🏻

Raining ☔️ hard outside so cooked up this cozy sheet pan meal and started diving in to the tagged book. Need to bring two books to Book Club in 2 weeks to swap (and I haven‘t even started the Book Club pick!) so figured I‘d use the weather to get a move on.

#Spookoween

Book 3. Really disappointed by this one. I feel it would have been better as a short story as nothing much happens by way of plot. I nearly dnf‘d out of boredom and the big why of the mystery is never thoroughly explained.

⭐️⭐️

#Scarathlon @Emilymdxn #SkeletonCrew

⭐️⭐️ • I really wanted to like this but honestly it‘s not great and it doesn‘t make much sense. And the pace was slow and weird. Ironically, I think this story would have benefited from some serious editing.

Nice surprise came in the mail today. I won this book (autographed by the author) in an Instagram contest to promote the Hulu show. Not sure when I‘ll get to this but definitely want to read before watching the show.

#weekendreads

I spent yesterday cleaning the garage and decorating for Halloween so today I can read all day without feeling guilty that I‘ve got chores to do!

Rushing to finish before the show comes out and takes me for a different ride. I‘m on the edge of my seat !

Started reading this.

I enjoy millennial corporate stories, especially when they highlight challenges black women face. I also didn‘t want to put this down because I just had to know how it would end. But it didn‘t fully work for me. The plot device of concocting something to essentially strip away your blackness was weird, and there was zero development of the “why” concerning who was really behind the sinister conspiracy. #BOTM #Pop23 Becomes a TV series in 2023

This is hands down, one of the best thrillers I‘ve read in a while (I don‘t read many so maybe I‘m not the best judge…). This has a boiling tension from the micro aggressions continually assaulting the protagonist to the most F***ed-up hair party ever! Whoah! What a read.

This is a really good, gripping thriller. I'll be honest, I've not quite got my head around the ending. I hope they make this into a film, it would be perfect for it and might make it clearer what happened to Nella at the end.

#ReadHarder challenge 14: a social horror, mystery, or thriller novel

This book needed a better editor. Way too long. Could have easily been 75-100 pages shorter. It was a good story, but I thought it alittle too far fetched to me. It was trying to be too many genres at the same time. I kept reading and I didn‘t hate it, but I probably won‘t recommend it to too many people. 2.5 ⭐️

I read that if you're a fan of Jordan Peele, you'll love this book. I marathon read this because it was so hard to put down. I definitely recommend it!

Kindly note the lounging animals and toy-strewn living room. Winter break has largely revolved around the dogs. 🐾🎄
Merry Christmas Eve!

I started this book last night and it's already so good. The tension is so subtle but absolutely perfect for the office setting. I'm very excited to see how it all unravels so I plan to finish it this morning.🤓

It's supposed to warm up to a whopping 15 degrees later, which means it's practically going to feel like summer in Nebraska after enduring -40 winds for the last few days. 😂

I wanted to love this one because the blurb was so intriguing but it just didn‘t 100% deliver. There were times I was confused regarding characters and the storyline. I did love reading about the culture and how this is translated to young African American women today and in the workplace. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read for me.

2 stars and I‘m being generous. This book has been circulating around for quite sometime and was recently a bookclub pick. I just finished it and wanted to know what did I just read? It definitely wasn‘t my cup of tea and wouldn‘t recommend it. The Moose Munch saved the day!

Almost a Pan. It took me a while to get through this. I‘m trying to read more books by diverse authors. However, this was a confusing book. Some of the characters I didn‘t understand who they were. The OBG storyline didn‘t make sense to me & I was confused by the end & didn‘t really get it. The narrators did a great job. I think that‘s what kept me listening if I‘m being honest. I liked the main character Nella but the story was drawn out too much

#OminousOctober
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Black

As a writer & thriller reader, I am not sure that genre is exactly what this novel is, but the book‘s a clever, thought provoking & surprisingly funny look at Black women working in the institutionally racist American publishing industry. Great narration. I had hoped for a different arc for main character Nella but this is definitely a fascinating listen! #slowburn #plottwists

Not what I thought it was going to be. It was okay but I wouldn‘t recommend it to all of my friends.

I thought this was going to be a workplace drama and it very much wasn‘t. Once I got over that I enjoyed it. #MarvellousMay book 2/6

What a ride! I went into this one pretty blind, so I thought I was being paranoid about the new girl, but apparently not enough! I did not see that coming. I hated the ending at first, but now I'm starting to think that it was the only interesting choice. If you like a little thriller thrown into your contemporary fiction (in the book industry), this one is for you!

I got mine from Libby, but had to snap a pic at the airport bookstore. 📘❤️✨

I loved the setting of this book and would love more books from this author in the publishing world.
For me, the global conspiracy bit didn‘t work. I would rather it had been just Nella competing with Hazel who is potentially malicious.
This is the second book this year that I think is trying to do too much, especially to be thriller-y. I don‘t know if that‘s just me, but I just want more of these characters living their lives not more “plot”.

The pacing and timing of the storyline is really slow moving and the style of writing is to jump backwards in time several times within a chapter so it made it really hard to keep interest in the main timeline.

I am slightly confused, but very invested!!

A little slow paced for what I typically think of as a “thriller”, but really well-written, interesting premise. I enjoyed it.

I wasn't sure whether to choose pick or so-so. I found it interesting premise Nella working as the only Black girl in a publishing company and then comes Hazel another Black girl and Nella is happy. But then things start to happen and Nella doesn't know if Hazel is helping her and trying to get rid of her. I thought the ending was a bit unbelievable but and I found it a bit confusing too. In the end decided it's a so-so for me.

The movie Undercover Brother came to mind a couple times. Instead of delivering mind altering chemicals through food, it‘s hair products. Microagressions, office politics, respectability politics, and more were covered. Had some small issues (uneven pacing in spots for example), but overall a good read. Just enough darkness to provide atmosphere but not enough to lose sleep over. Would certainly try this author again.

I love this sm. Yknow how often times you get all this social and economic critique in the sci-fi and fantasy genres? Now we‘re mainstreamly getting those vibes from horror/thrillers and I am here for it!!! Ps. If you liked this book do yourself a favor and watch “Bad Hair” (on Hulu and other sites maybe). So good.

I don't know ya'll. There was a lot of hype last year. I finally got around to it and it wasn't for me. It was too long or the plot was too slow, I'm not sure which.

Nella is working in publishing. the only Black woman in her office until Hazel arrives. Excited to have an ally in the office to help with racially insensitive opinions of their colleagues. Quickly, Hazel fails to back up Nella. Hazel explains it away as code-switching, but it‘s clear OBG is trying to set herself ahead of Nella.
Cutthroat office culture + respectability politics are central.
Then I got to the Shani chapters +things took a twist.🛸

Consider this the before photo for my yard clean up ? but what a nice dayyyyyy #roséandreading

Not too far into this yet, but the corporate/cubicle culture politics and “diversity” is embarrassingly familiar.

At times this was a confusing read, there were extra characters that seemed out of place and the pacing was weird. Overall a great premise though and I will probably read more in the future from Harris.

Taking on interoffice politics, microaggressions, abject racism, and black hair care within the publishing industry was interesting for sure. I think as topics goes and feel and atmosphere it fits the horror genre. But the story is let down by a confusing narrative structure and stilted dialogue. The ideas are there, but for me the writing doesn't quite match the concept.

A slow-burn social horror that immerses you in the feeling that *something is not right*

I have some seriously mixed feelings about this book… I liked the premise and it grabbed me from the get but something about it was off… I don‘t know if it was the characters or the pacing or what??? I am glad I read it but not sure I would recommend it.

My snow day plans today!! 🤓🤓🤓

I have to work today, and even though I'm only 40 pages in, all I want to do is curl up on the couch and not put this book down until the very last word on the very last page. 😳❤

8/22 I finished this book yesterday and I had to let my feelings about it settle before reviewing. I loved the premise, it is original and definitely for our time. I really liked the MC. Harris did an excellent job of giving white women like me a view into the experience of black women in the work place. But the pacing was very off and it felt as though the plot and extra characters either needed fleshing out or cutting back. Overall a pick ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can‘t decide if I love or hate this book!

I‘m 80% through this book and I have absolutely no idea what‘s going on! Which, as I‘m usually moaning about guessing the ending too early should be a good thing… I just hope I know what‘s happening by the end!

Thanks for the likes. Don‘t like to give away too much of plot because I figure if you are a Litsy lover, you can read a recap for yourself. Been reading voraciously since I was 5 and I like to share my thoughts with book lovers everywhere.