Scan barcode
A review by balkeyeston
Assembly by Natasha Brown
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In less than 100 pages, Natasha Brown has given us a finely calculated portrait of Blackness being wielded by white people as both a blessing and a disease. I'll refrain from spoilers here, but the extended metaphor of disease in particular is just *chef's kiss*. While Assembly is yet another book on the brutality of post-Brexit/post-Trumpian racism and nationalist denial, it lays bare the wounds of racialized microaggression, inherent class privilege, and nationalist stereotyping.
It's really difficult to go into further detail about this without spoilers--especially because the novella is so short I'd essentially be quoting from the whole book. All I can settle with for now is that Assembly is "The Yellow Wallpaper" of our social undoing.
It's really difficult to go into further detail about this without spoilers--especially because the novella is so short I'd essentially be quoting from the whole book. All I can settle with for now is that Assembly is "The Yellow Wallpaper" of our social undoing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cancer
I am absolutely obsessed with how Brown extends the metaphor of Blackness as a cancer . This comparison forces us to truly feel the pain inflicted on the narrator both when she endures situations of racism and when she must decide whether to conform to a white society or embrace herself in her entirety--even if it means dying because of it.