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imijen's review against another edition
3.0
I'm tired of books that use cancer as a literary device. It's too neat, too conveniently symbolic, to the point that it feels unreal.
The rest of this very short book I quite liked. The simmering, quiet anger of this unnamed protagonist is well written and clear.
The rest of this very short book I quite liked. The simmering, quiet anger of this unnamed protagonist is well written and clear.
I feel. Of course I do.
I have emotions.
But I try to consider events as if they're happening to someone else. Some other entity. There's the thinking, rationalizing I (me). And the doing, the experiencing, her. I look at her kindly. From a distance. To protect myself, I detach.
She is an observer to her own life. A black British woman, successful in many ways, including in her career in banking, due to her own hard work, despite the disbelief of colleagues and others, who cry over performative diversity. The narrator is not triumphant in her success, however, and instead finds herself feeling lost, despairing over the transactional nature in a society where she can never win.
A moment near the beginning really stuck with me, where the protagonist visits her school, to inspire others from a background, when inside she feels conflicted over promoting a way of life she never truly wanted to the next generation.
I also thought the the contrast between her and her boyfriend, a white man with significant generational wealth, was really well done.
This book felt like it had a purpose, and didn't need another 100 pages to fulfil it. It's dense for something short, but still easy to read in a sitting or two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
orlagal's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
hilarylouise's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer and Racism
Minor: Death, Colonisation, and War
calamityin's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Hate crime, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Deportation
Minor: Body shaming, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
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
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
mackenzi's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Contemplative and sad. There are a lot of very relateable moments which made me feel hollow, though on some level much of Assembly seems so distant and out of reach. More than anything this book highlights the feelings I've had of trying to reach out and show my perspective, illustrate the magnitude of institutional racism, built into the system from the ground up, to people in my life, and have them unable to see beyond their individual selves, unable to see the systems that build every part of society. That gap sometimes seems insurmountable. And how do you construct an identity in that world, in their world, when you have that knowledge? Trying to force oneself into that worldview means you're sanding yourself down from a full human being into a shadow of one. Both pain and pleasure leech away until there's nothing of either. At their refusal or inability to see, you have to pretend along with them if you want to have a personal relationship. You have to pretend to enjoy being hollow. And Assembly is a story of someone who has done that for her whole life, even while feeling how soulless and impersonal it is, how deeply depressed she's become, while feeling how she's still a part of that imperialist, colonialist machine, be she successful or failing within it.
It's prettily written and I enjoyed the style. The jumping between the present moment and thoughts of other events, the past, summarizing feelings, drawing conclusions, all in an uncertain voice which halts and interupts itself frequently. It's an easy style for my brain to read, very similar to my own thought process. And the style conjures a distant, detatched, anxious yet resigned perspective. It's very well constructed.
I thought it was funny how most of the top reviews for this book on Goodreads are white men. How they praise it.
It's prettily written and I enjoyed the style. The jumping between the present moment and thoughts of other events, the past, summarizing feelings, drawing conclusions, all in an uncertain voice which halts and interupts itself frequently. It's an easy style for my brain to read, very similar to my own thought process. And the style conjures a distant, detatched, anxious yet resigned perspective. It's very well constructed.
I thought it was funny how most of the top reviews for this book on Goodreads are white men. How they praise it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, and Classism
sangsmiles's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Deportation
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.
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.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Colonisation
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
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