Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Assembly

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Assembly by Natasha Brown

40 reviews

kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition

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

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emzireads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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lemonsandligaments's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

The topic of this book is incredibly pertinent in today’s world.

However, for a 100 page book, it’s quite a drag to get through. The pacing is very slow.

The writing style makes it seem like there are ten layers of bricks between you and the main character, and another ten between the main character and the rest of the cast.

This was quite fresh for the first few chapters, showing the main character’s internal monologue in a constant flow.

Then you have a doctors visit and a bunch of other events described that way, and it gets excruciating. This narrative method normally uses all 5 senses, but the main character only seems to be a fan of sight.

The part where

she takes a walk during the party preparations

is very important as she

deliberated her situation with some finality

, which I would expect to be isolated and direct with no padding for a stronger punch.

Unfortunately, I find that it is clouded by quite a bit of fluff and random references (which would work in less pivotal moments), and I recognise that this might be a matter of personal taste.

Giving the main character such a voice just makes everyone seem like paper cutouts, or a yell from the other end of a long tunnel. This is fine since the book is about the main character. In this case though, even the main character seems foreign.

I know her occupation and what she wants and experiences but there is not much more than that, perhaps this was on purpose. Not having other elements strongly tied to the book’s theme (e.g., maybe a bit about how she was as a child) makes her sound like she’s the manifestation of a checklist.

Elements not necessarily about her overt racist experiences or job can help humanise her, and make the book so much more moving.

The main point if this book is hammered in with the various anecdotes, especially with how the main character’s relationship is as transactional as it gets. I really liked her breakdown of that.

The rest of the anecdotes were just iterations of subtle verbal racism that did not delve into the deeper systemic aspects that some might not know about, which would’ve made for a good educational opportunity.

This book is probably for an audience that knows what they want out of it, as reading it without checking the blurb first has brought confusion.

Lastly, I feel that this book can be condensed into a collection of poems that contain the best descriptors and really nail the pacing of those tense moments.

If this book were about most other topics, this rating would be lower.

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

brown's assembly is so effective in achieving its goals that it's akin to a manifesto, a subdued rallying cry of exasperation, exhaustion, rage, and detached numbness of those who are black and british.

there's not a whole lot of plot here, merely different contexts and scenes from the narrator's life that eventually come together to form a finished puzzle and allow the reader to understand the reasoning behind her ultimate choice.

the novel's very reflective and introspective, and straddles the border of being almost preachy at times, but somehow it works: one couldnt possibly understand the narrator's current circumstances w/o being aware of the larger historical and political forces that precede her, shaping britain and its ppl into what they are - and how they act towards her and those like her - today.

i have to say brown does a stellar job of depicting what it's like to be a black british woman, even one on the ascent. i felt claustrophobic, exasperated, constantly judged simply reading abt the narrator's daily experience. the lie of being taught to always strive and be better so things can get better, but in reality it's never enough no matter what one does, white ppl will always deem minorities as outsiders granted unfair advantages. no wonder the narrator's seemingly bone-deep exhausted; the clownery rly never ends.

while the narrative can feel disjointed at times bc of the frequent, abrupt changes in setting, assembly is nevertheless an impactful book.

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notellawilliams's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

4.5

such a fascinating and political book, about race, love, abuse, power, class, and success. completely obsessed with it, though found the book got a little too prescriptive and plain towards the end.

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