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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
medium-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
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let's just say Assembly was better and that was a very mid book.
I don't understand the point. What was the opening chapter about? Other than to shit on commune's lol. What did the opening chapter have to do with the rest of the story? I guess it introduced the characters but the rest of the book was completely unrelated. I get it was satirical but I think its dangerous to platform racist/xenophobic views BECAUSE any racists that read this book won't UNDERSTAND that it's satirical. I also get that those voices are what we've been hearing in the media since 2020 but again, why would you as an author want to be echoing them?!?! If you can recognise that they're BAD whyyyyy would you write a book that comes across as agreeing with them? I don't understand. And you CAN do a satirical commentary on the insanity that is the world right now, but this was not it. Assembly did everything this book was trying to do but better.
Quotes I liked:
-'She was so, so tired of watching people's lives from afar. Watching the world turn and evolve as she herself faded away. It was easier not to look.'
-'People were complicated, yes, but perhaps the same loves and fears motivated them all.'
I don't understand the point. What was the opening chapter about? Other than to shit on commune's lol. What did the opening chapter have to do with the rest of the story? I guess it introduced the characters but the rest of the book was completely unrelated. I get it was satirical but I think its dangerous to platform racist/xenophobic views BECAUSE any racists that read this book won't UNDERSTAND that it's satirical. I also get that those voices are what we've been hearing in the media since 2020 but again, why would you as an author want to be echoing them?!?! If you can recognise that they're BAD whyyyyy would you write a book that comes across as agreeing with them? I don't understand. And you CAN do a satirical commentary on the insanity that is the world right now, but this was not it. Assembly did everything this book was trying to do but better.
Quotes I liked:
-'She was so, so tired of watching people's lives from afar. Watching the world turn and evolve as she herself faded away. It was easier not to look.'
-'People were complicated, yes, but perhaps the same loves and fears motivated them all.'
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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
reflective
tense
medium-paced
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read Brown’s debut when it came out, and so seeing her on the Booker longlist was a nice treat- I liked Assembly a lot, and I knew I was going to enjoy Universality, which is indeed what happen. And yet. This is a very slim novel, and I think needed more to flesh out what Brown was doing with the characters and the idea of language, as well as satirizing the British media class and the idea of anti-woke sentiment. The strongest part of the book was the opening section, the expose which sets the story off; subsequent sections weren’t nearly as fascinating.
This book is an excellent conversation starter and a compelling read. I did feel that a lot of problematic ideas were left unchallenged (which is fine if you are aware of the counterarguments already, but not if you aren't) and that it could have done with a bit more meat.
That being said, this is a provocative and shape shifting narrative that spirals out in an exploration of the zeitgeist and capitalist system. Well worth reading if you like social commentary in your contemporary fiction.
That being said, this is a provocative and shape shifting narrative that spirals out in an exploration of the zeitgeist and capitalist system. Well worth reading if you like social commentary in your contemporary fiction.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought that this was a decent enough book about social mobility, class and the experience of young people in Britain in the years during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic. The characters aren't remotely likeable and the book doesn't feel like it fully told their stories but it provides a glimpse into their lives nonetheless. The structure of the book, beginning with a long-read article and then digging behind how it came to be written was different. I don't think that it lived up to the promise of the blurb, which implied something more akin to a murder mystery or a thriller than what we got. Nonetheless, I'd definitely give Brown's other book a go as a result of reading this one. Overall, I felt that it was enjoyable but nothing truly special.
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes