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sektaufeis's review against another edition
- 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
So scharf und zielgerichtete geschrieben - wow.
Graphic: Racism and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, and Cancer
quantumponies's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer and Suicidal thoughts
jennanaps's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Racism, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Hate crime, Classism, Colonisation, and Medical content
theperfectblues's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
schorlett's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Cancer, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Slavery, Alcohol, and Classism
hypocrisis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
more like poetry than a novel, really enjoyed the style. natasha brown knows people and how to cut to their core quickly.
there are many great quotes from this book, yet this one found its way into this unfairly brief review simply because i opened my notes app immediately upon reading it, starting the collection of quotations from assembly.
p.21
"Victimhood is a choice," Rach said. Part opinion, part mantra.
edit: I still find myself thinking a lot about this book and i don't think it was entirely random of me to elaborate on this particular quote, though it must've been subconscious at the time which I'm slightly embarrassed about. Only now do i realise how much of the protagonists' perspective is revealed within those sentences and how they literally foreshadow the plot.
I can't do this book justice... but if you're thinking about reading it you really should!
Graphic: Classism, Racism, Cancer, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Colonisation
endemictoearth's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
The narrator is a Black British woman who has risen to the top of her financial field. She's very wealthy in her own right, and is dating a man who is probably somewhere in the aristocracy, certainly old white money. In the short space of the novella, he goes from 'the boyfriend' to 'the son' as she pulls further away from him and into her diagnosis.
Yes, she has just been diagnosed with advanced cancer. We aren't given details, other than her doctor is planning an aggressive treatment. She doesn't tell anyone, and seriously considers just . . . not. Not fighting, bc what does she really have to fight for? So, content warning for circuitous suicidal thoughts. (I saw some review that claimed those thoughts were disrespectful to people fighting cancer. And . . . I absolutely cannot with that sort of logic. Literature and stories are where we can try out thoughts and explore things. And we don't end the book with her irrevocably making the decision to NOT pursue treatment.)
But that is also missing the ENTIRE POINT of likening the cancerous cells in her body to the cancer that is white privilege. And she is probably best able to speak about that, bc she has been very very close to many forms of white privilege. Her co-workers who view her with suspicion and think she should be happy to share a promotion with a white upper class man who 'needs this for his family'. Her best friend who can fuck up and fail and shrug and go on and isn't held to anything like the same standards our narrator must maintain or be ostracized. Her boyfriend who takes the family estate and lands as his birthright and not something that has been passed down with blood-covered hands. White privilege that begets yet and yet more privilege further and further removed from anyone who's done anything to earn it, and those things and the 'earning' were done on the backs of everyone else.
This book is INCISIVE. It cuts DEEP. And I recommend it to everyone. It's short and not at all sweet.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
anneklein's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Terminal illness, Classism, Misogyny, Medical content, Racism, Sexism, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Xenophobia
zoesta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Moderate: Racism and Cancer
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Colonisation
marjoleinvanderspoel's review
- 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? No
4.5
Amazing. Just as good as everyone said it was. From the very beginning this book will leave you with a gut-wrenching feeling of horrible injustice, and while the themes tackled change and evolve throughout the story, that feeling remains. The only thing I didn't love was the insinutaion that paying taxes was bad, although this was later explained to be because the government funded repayment to slave owners after the liberation with taxpayers money, so I guess it makes sense in that context. Another nuance to add to the conversation, I suppose, although I remain firmly pro paying taxes.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Cancer, and Sexism