Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Assembly by Natasha Brown

110 reviews

candycains's review against another edition

informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book reads as a series of micro essays on black womanhood in Britain, wrapped in the package of a slice of life of a woman meeting her in-laws. At times I felt that the writing was so literary and beyond the confines of plot that it lost me a little. Yet that is simultaneously one of its strongest points. A very poignant and poetic read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, and Sexual assault

felicityebhaslin's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This haunting book is sure to get you out of a reading slump.  Calculated and spare, it follows an accomplished Black British woman in finance as she navigates workplace misogynoir, a medical diagnosis, and her relationship with her boyfriend—a white man of old money.  In sharp, evocative fragments, she contemplates the part she plays in the system that disenfranchises people like her but even more so interrogates the complicity of her boyfriend’s family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

ssinforshort's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

This was unique, super short, but also packed with so much.


This stream of consciousness book kept me interested, and included a lot Black British history that I wasn't aware of. I will definitely be doing more research after this. 


I do think this would have been better if it was told fully in verse. The even shorter form would have made it easier to dissect. Though, this may have been the authors intent. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, and Colonisation

happilyeveralli's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Fans of Ling Ma’s SEVERANCE will likely enjoy the prose of this pounding and reflective analyzation of racism. 
This is an impeccable novella. I think that a work should always aim to unsettle the current worldview of its readers, but the number of my review reflects my indecision about how I felt about the ending. The novella touches on dread, and that’s how the ending made me feel. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I just think that I’ll have to sit with this one for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Colonisation

sophiaroesler's review

challenging reflective

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual harassment

sektaufeis's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Hat mich tief beeindruckt und ein must-read für weiße Männer. Als weiße Frau konnte ich teilweise relaten, aber es war eine sehr unbequeme Erfahrung so eine allumfassende Schilderung vom durchdringenden Rassismus nur für ein paar Seiten auszuhalten. 
So scharf und zielgerichtete geschrieben - wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Racial slurs

peachmoni's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Cancer

fiaharringbook's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Deportation

quantumponies's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Suicidal thoughts