Thursday, July 24, 2025

Five top books that feature toxic friendships

Christina Dotson is an Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award runner-up. In addition to writing, she is a licensed clinical social worker for a palliative care practice and lives in Kentucky.

Dotson's new novel is Love You To Death.

At CrimeReads she tagged "five books guaranteed to give you the toxic friendship vibes we love to see." One title on the list:
Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl

As the only black woman at a major publisher, Nella Rogers is elated to see another black woman, Hazel, join the company. When messages telling Nella to leave the company begin appearing on her desk, she suspects Hazel may be after her job, after all, she’s the new office darling.

But is it Nella’s career she’s after, or does Hazel have darker intentions for her new office bestie? As the late, great Zora Neale Hurston once said: All my skinfolk ain’t my kinfolk.
Read about another entry on Dotson's list.

The Other Black Girl is among Mary Keliikoa's eight top workplace thrillers, Tania Malik's five unconventional office novels, Stephanie Feldman's seven novels featuring ambitious women, Caitlin Barasch’s seven novels set in the literary world, and Ashley Winstead's seven titles that explore collective guilt & individual complicity.

--Marshal Zeringue