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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
mysterious
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
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Universality is a really sharp and clever book. It’s not just about social issues like race, class, and media, but also about how people use stories to create division—or to gain power. Each character thinks they’re telling the truth, but you start to realize everyone’s shaping the story to suit themselves.
It made me think a lot about real-life figures who use controversy to stay in the spotlight. Unsettling but smart.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Strong first chapter but then seemed to get a bit lost.
Grading based on expectations here, I read it immediately after Booker longlisting and do not think this needed to be a novel. Would have been a better essay or thought piece. In fact it felt more like an opinion piece than a novel…