A review by buggirl48
Assembly by Natasha Brown

5.0

The definition of a tiny but oh my god level mighty book is Assembly, and I don't think there's much contest. In 100 or so pages we follow a British black woman who seems to have so much going for her. She's made a name for herself in the firm she works for, has a loving boyfriend and in her eyes views herself as successful, but even with all that going for her she contemplates throwing it all away. A breathtaking debut from Brown that on the surface is a quick literary/contemporary fiction read, but its so much more. Its a look at the history of race and colonialism in Britain, centuries upon centuries of heinous crimes and activity, and how they still present themselves today, some in blatant ways and others in daily microaggressions that many don't see a problem with. There's so many books about race: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, essay collection, poetry, it's all been written and its necessary, but this is the one that stuck with me the most. How Brown tackles this ginormous and multi leveled issue in this tiny neat little book that will make you say "holy s**t" when you finish the last sentence. MY personal pick for what should've been at least a Booker longlist title, it's eye opening, anxiety inducing at times, addicting to read and leaves you thinking about so much more than what you started the book with.