Reviews with content warning for Racism - Assembly

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Assembly by Natasha Brown

131 reviews

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a book club pick which I would never have read otherwise and while I'm glad I read it, I never really clicked with it. Ultimately it's a me problem because I just don't really get on with stream of consciousness narratives. It meant I never connected with the main character and because there's almost no plot I didn't feel drawn into the narrative. However I can see that it's a good book for what it is and it's very effective in the way it discusses some really complex issues like racism, colonialism, classism and sexism. So while it's definitely not for me, I can see why so many other people loved it.

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koyalites's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

4.0

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notthatcosta's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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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