Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Assembly

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Assembly by Natasha Brown

40 reviews

itsinourhands's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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satellitesiken's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

How do we examine the legacy of colonization when the basic facts of its construction are disputed in the minds of its beneficiaries?

With its many incisive observations and beautiful prose, Natasha Brown's literary debut is a stunning and sharp examination of race, british history (colonialism), capitalism and misogyny. Unfaltering in her candour, and in an very deadpan, eloquent, sometimes witty
and often gut-wrenching manner, this unnamed narrator's (Black british woman of Jamaican descent who works in finance) authentic portrayal of the impacts of Colonialism, everyday microaggressions and the general Othering that marginalised groups
experience is genius. How a novel this short can pack such a punch is nearly inconceivable to me.

Be the best. Work harder, work smarter. Exceed every expectation. But also, be invisible, imperceptible. Don't make anyone uncomfortable. Don't inconvenience. Exist in the negative only, the space around. Do not insert yourself into the main narrative. Go unnoticed. Become the air.
Open your eyes.

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sib_reads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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iisa's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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my_plant_library's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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vif's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A really clear and powerful look into what it means to be a black woman in the corporate world. It looks at how class, race and gender plays a role.

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crimsonlilies's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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roraisabella's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

a gripping and important read. i read it in one sitting. the themes and some of the lines stick with you for days after, however the pacing and style of writing was difficult to follow at times for me. if you like intellectual and poetic writing, you may appreciate it more.

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savvylit's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

In just over 100 pages of fragmented prose, Natasha Brown dissects the racism inherent in everyday life in the UK. From endless microaggressions to very direct slurs, Brown examines the legacy of British imperialism and how it affects our narrator's every interaction. Assembly is a story about agency, detachment, identity, and generational oppression.

Overall, I loved Assembly. This novella was bleak, heart-wrenching, and thought-provoking. An excellent book - not to mention debut! - from Natasha Brown.

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jesshindes's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Natasha Brown's Assembly is short - a short novella - barely longer than short story length. It tells the story of a nameless narrator, who - like Brown - is a Black woman who went to Oxbridge and then into the City, following two days of her life at work and then her journey into the countryside to visit her white boyfriend's parents for a family party. So far, so simple; but Assembly packs an incredible punch into its 100 or so pages. It's a story about participating in systems that don't respect you; that require you to fit yourself into a different shape in order to achieve what the system tells you is success. It's about the hundreds of microaggressions that shape the narrator's experience in her high-powered job, and about the white men around her who perpetrate them sometimes deliberately, sometimes completely unawares. It's about what happens to the narrator internally as she puts her head down and lifts her hands up to climb the corporate ladder, and about her desperation - articulated in a shock decision - to escape.

Clearly, I don't have a lot of experience of the milieu that Brown describes. I've never worked a corporate job and I had a ton of privilege and confidence to support me through my Oxbridge experience. But one of the triumphs of this book is the efficiency with which she issues descriptions: I could see every single member of her cast, often after just one or two sentences (and a lot of this work is done very effectively through dialogue or free indirect speech). I felt like I understood the world she was showing me and I was grateful for her skill and her surgical precision in depicting it.

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