Reviews with content warning for Racism - Assembly

A Black British woman writes what is basically her manifesto and suicide letter explaining her choice to not seek treatment for her metastatic cancer and details her history of continuous dehumanization and racism with a list of incidents of workplace sexual harassment, microaggressions, and full on racist interactions in every level of her life but most significantly in her professional sphere. She's promoted in her banking career but the suits make it seem she's just a diversity hire/promotion to look good. One day in her job after her promotion, a man married to one of her boyfriend's sisters goes on rant on how Black and Hispanic people have it easier but he's not actually against diversity, he just wants fairness. Then she's invited to her boyfriend's his parents weekend marriage anniversary dinner at his estate home, with further classist and more racist mocking by them, and throughout all that, we learn through the MC how Britain still doesn't recognize their history of abusive imperialism and colonization. We see how abortive losers use immigration as scapegoat to justify their mediocrity and seek validation for their loser selves being racist. The MC shares her grievances of being dehumanized every moment of her life and how she's literally done, so much so, that beating cancer and surviving would condemn her to keep this hellish state and how not only would she be a cancer survivor, but a Black cancer survivor, so all that would add to her being further objectified and cheaply used as "inspiration". It's a very bleak book bc you can feel the mc's exhaustion soak through you as you read and you get so angry at the fact that the white instigators of all this are oblivious throughout all of their lives. Sometimes though, it feels like the MC has a chip on her shoulder and maybe she's overanalyzing her boyfriend's parents and sister mundane behavior bc living in a white world is startling enough but no they open their mouths and they really are like that. The writing here is insightful, with gut-punch quotes. You'll have a hard time trying to not highlight the whole thing.

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nachonees's review

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

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jamesdavid's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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drapetomaniac's review

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challenging reflective slow-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? Yes

4.75

This book is absolutely wonderful. It's a small snippet into the narrator's life as she navigates being a black woman in corporate London. As the book progresses and she arrives at her boyfriend's estate, she enters a reflective moment and thinks about her life in relation to English nationalism and how she is contributing to that. It doesn't feel like the same points repeated in other books, however, which makes this book even more special.

My only tool of expression is the language of this place. Its bias and assumptions permeate all reason I could construct from it.

This line is definitely my favorite in the book. I don't have much to say about this quote, it simply encompasses how colonialism has affected everything in modern life, even the way language is worded.
Overall, a fantastic quick read and would 100% recommend.

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