Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Assembly by Natasha Brown

17 reviews

calamityin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's about exhaustion, it's about burnout. Can I ever live up to the life I was supposed to have? Is it even worth trying?

One possible theme is that one cannot stop, but must always keep moving, something Brown directly challenges with her character who questions why the movement is necessary. Much of this questioning rings into suicidal ideation, with detachment, confusion, and resignation all seeping into the words, and the main character's consideration of her cancer diagnosis further bolsters this idea.

As the book came to a close, I was left with the distinct impression that this book was supposed to be a speech more than a novel. It was saying something not about a narrative story but about experience on the whole, which I can understand turns many readers away when they find they cannot connect with the characters. I, however, thought this worked beautifully and could feel myself aligning with an orator who can tell the audience is not getting what they should from the presentation. By the end, I was drawn back to the early image of a talk at a school for young girls, encouraging them to pursue the life of the MC, while the MC herself is questioning if she wants to continue pursuing this life.

Altogether a beautiful book that I will be buying a personal copy of so that I can make my own annotations to the text on my next read.
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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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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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jennanaps's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • 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

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fatfrog's review

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dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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schorlett's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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lady_bountiful's review

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challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

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anneklein's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

4.25

holy shit
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aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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abrownb15's review

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adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

Powerful whirlwind of colonialism and modern day struggles with diversity. Especially interesting in relating to the protagonist’s boyfriend and his family. 
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notthatcosta's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • 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

3.75

This book is like a 100-page fever dream. There is so much said in so little time, but the pacing and the  structure ties it all together somehow. I appreciated how little exposition there is, and yet I was able to discern the fundamentals of what was happening, despite the non-linear, splintering structure. 

Even as plot lines and moments fade in and out within the space of a few pages, I remained grounded in the motions - I felt tension, fear, frustration and even peace at points. I was also confused a lot, don't get me wrong.

While part of me would have liked more than the snapshot we received of this story, I was more impressed at the economy and the confidence in its delivery than I was disappointed in its length. 
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