after reading and loving ASSEMBLY by natasha brown, i was so excited to give UNIVERSALITY a read. it's a witty book, there are a lot of ideas packed into such a small amount of pages. unfortunately it felt as though few of those ideas were developed further than the they could and should have been. so many of the interesting parts of the first half of the book fell away in the second. unfortunately this was a book that said so much about capitalism, class, identity politics, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the british public's shallow desire for a return to the "good old days", and yet it also barely said anything at all. unfortunately this did not have the staying power ASSEMBLY had for me.

Natasha Brown has hit her stride. She is a master at saying a lot and using a little. This, her second novel, while not as slim as her first, packs more dynamite on each page that other books that work at the same subjects and take at least twice the length to do so.

Hard to put down once you pick it up! There's an air of consequence that maintains throughout the book. Highly recommend.

Natasha Brown’s second novel is an immensely smart and original look at the lifespan of a news story. The novel revolves around the story of a man who is bludgeoned with a gold bar during an illegal rave held on a Yorkshire farm during COVID lockdown. A struggling journalist, Hannah, sees the story as an opportunity to further her career. Hannah solves the mystery of what happened that night and the subsequent story goes viral. In the aftermath, we see the shockwaves of the piece in the lives of its subjects: Richard, the investment banker who owns the farm, Lenny, the reactionary journalist who hires Hannah to write the story, Jake, the perpetrator of the attack, and his hippy commune brethren. As Hannah’s piece is metabolized by audiences, the ulterior motivations and class interests of all involved are revealed. Brown’s novel looks at how our consumption and politicization of viral stories is all in service of a cynical media landscape that creates and exploits a culture war to generate revenue. The fates of these characters hinges on their ability to successfully navigate this cannibalistic environment.

This is an oddly interesting book as it begins with a brutal beating with a gold bar worth millions. Then the focus shifts to Lenny, the journalist/interviewer who tells us the story of this family and their exploits. Initially I slogged through it but became invested as it deals with cancel culture, right wing politics, and greed. Lots of dark humor that's always appreciated!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a really original format to the book that I haven't seen before. It starts out with a journalistic "article" that tells the story of the gold bar (contemplating COVID restrictions, class struggles, and cults - lots there!). For people that are fans of podcasts, it immediately pulls you in.

After the "article" though it pivots to the actual people engaged in that article; the journalist, the finance guy, and Lenny. Lenny is one of the most interesting characters to come along in a while. It was so compelling to get the thoughts behind someone like her. Each of the characters were actually more engaging than you expect from the "article". There is way more back story there and everyone has their own motivation which really impacts how you perceive the original "article".

It is also interesting to see the same right/left conflicts take place in the UK. I understand this is happening everywhere (UK, Germany, etc.) but as Americans, we don't usually get a deep dive into them. I am fascinated by all of that, especially what drives people's thinking in this day and age. It is even worse when you overlay the media dynamics, which this touched on as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy.

I hadn't read Natasha Brown's debut book, so I was curious to see what this one would be like, especially given the premise--a man assaults another man by beating him with a gold brick, and then a journalist unearths many of the cracks in society when she writes about the incident. To some extent, this felt like a book jacket that didn't really encapsulate what the book was about. The idea of someone committing such a violent offense with something that stands for wealth and class (especially in that the gold is a literal brick) was interesting, but the execution was much more subdued and slower than what I was looking for. I think if someone is looking for a more messy, circumspect novel about ideas, then this will probably be a good literary fit.

Universality will be out March 4, 2025

Where to begin?

Universality is a deliciously brutal little book. It's centered around both an event and an object. The object in question is a gold bar, and the event is a person using the bar to harm someone else.

When the book opens, we follow a journalistic account of an illegal rave, during which someone was bludgeoned with a gold bar. The scope widens, panning out until we can see it in its entirety. Everyone involved, and how their actions and beliefs affect everyone around them, until the first smash of the bar into the skull.

And then the story shifts. And shifts. And keeps shifting.

It's addictive and effective- I found myself pulled in a million directions. Ultimately, it's an examination of classism, racism, sexism (to name a few) and how these topics affect us all.

I loved it.

What a smart, darkly humorous and timely novel.! My first read from Natasha Brown but I will be going back to check out her debut. This almost reads like a short book of stories, though they are each connected through one or two characters. Very sharp quick read.

I haven't read Brown's debut, but I'm interested to go back and do so now after the opportunity to read Universality. Brown accomplishes quite a bit in such a short novel. This was structurally interesting as it opens with a long-form article investigating a strange incident where an individual is found bludgeoned nearly to death with a gold bar during an illegal rave. The article is seemingly an exploration of class, but then the novel transitions to following several of the individuals involved in the article and what follows is the novel's real exploration of the power of words and language. This novel investigates the power of how we tell stories - how we tell them to others and how we tell them to ourselves. I found the author's use of very flawed characters manipulating language and story-telling to be a compelling way to explore the subject.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

For me, this book solidified Natasha Brown's place on my list of powerhouse authors. Universality is split into four parts- first, we have an extended article following an illegal rave in which one person is struck by a large gold bar. Secondly, we meet Hannah, the Author of the aforementioned article as she hosts a dinner party following her article being optioned to adapt to film (heavily fictionalized of course, and you'll see why). In part 3 we meet Richard, the owner of the large gold bar and amoral banker as he recounts how (unfairly- according to him) his life has been destroyed by the publishing of Hannah's article. (though he gets little sympathy from me as I am a true believer that if you don't want people to find out about your bad behavior, don't behave badly). Finally, we meet Lenny, Lenny is Richard's parter and her section of the story takes place during an interview where she is questioned about her stance on politics and her book about "woke capitalism" (which I would LOVE to read if it were a real book). This novel starts with a bang and ends with a louder, more devastating bang. While there is no clear "hero" in Universality, I do think that the readers of this delicious novel will find themselves sympathizing with the character they most relate to. For me, personally, Hannah and Lenny's parts resonated with me so strongly. My hats off to you, Natasha. This was an obvious five star read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. This novel opens in the form of a journal article, describing an incident during an illegal-pandemic era rave in which an individual beats another man with a solid gold bar. The article continues on to describe the circumstances leading up to this rave, introducing a whole host of characters involved; the novel continues on in sections from there, with focus on the aforementioned characters, and exploration of many themes including race, class, etc.

This book was an interesting one and outside of the initial journal article, much of the book is centered on conversations or expositions about topics like wealth, class, racism, etc. in capitalist societies. There were many questions raised in this book and many thought provoking issues raised. I appreciated the structure of this book in that it utilized the first part of the story and the novel’s primary event to center the book, with the remaining sections providing different backgrounds and perspectives from the characters involved. I did struggle sometimes to “get” the point of these different sections and was unsure if the author was leaving questions open-ended or encouraging the reader toward a specific answer, which is likely on me as a reader.

I’d recommend this book to those who enjoy books with lots of social and political commentary, along with those who enjoy less plot heavy and more contemplative fiction.

With her second book Natasha Brown has become one of my “if she writes it, I will read it” authors. She’s an incredible writer especially when you consider how much gets done in so few pages.

Her sophomore novel Universality tackles a number of themes such as classism, right wing politics, left wing politics, cancel culture, success, failure, Occupy Wall Street, the media and the role it plays in the greater world, the power of the written language, the power of the spoken language…the list goes on. And yet the book is only 176 pages! She seamlessly intertwines these themes with story and characters without being preachy. Even if her characters are preaching to an audience, the book itself, to me at least, did not preach to its readers.

My one issue with the book is that I didn’t form strong emotional connections to the characters. Many of them are purposefully unlikable (or at least that’s how I read them), so it may just be the nature of the novel’s content that made me have a hard time with its characters. Not anything about the author’s writing abilities.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

There is certainly a lot going on in Universality, and at times I got a bit lost. The book touches on timely themes, and is darkly humorous. I am interested in reading more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the copy of Universality by Natasha Brown. This book was not for me. I wasn’t able to get interested in the story or even care about the characters and I wish I had been able to because every so often something in the story would start to interest me. If you’re looking for a short read with lots of social commentary woven in you might love it. 3 stars

It’s quick and stimulating. It’s capitalism, consumerism, climate change, politics, equal rights -- and is there anything else?

The story started when Jake grabbed a solid gold bar worth a half million just sitting on the mantel. He used it to strike an activist down. He had enough of Pegasus who formed a self-sustaining farm community: the Universalists. This leader was striving to create change with equal rights for everyone except he was in control.

The characters made it seem like a TV series with the billionaire, Richard Spencer, the journalist, Lenny Leonard, the interviewer, Marin Bass, and the runaway with the gold. I could see similarities with politics and greed.

The story touched on real-life news stories related to class divisions and racism with the power of words. This short book had a lot to say. It was set up to send readers into a storm of thoughts.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of March 4, 2025.

I had read Brown’s debut, Assembly, and enjoyed it, so I was excited going into Universality. It’s definitely a whirlwind of a book. The first part of the story opens with an article detailing a crime that took place at a seemingly abandoned farm that had been taken over by a hippie commune. One of the members had been bludgeoned, nearly to death, by a gold bar. From there, Brown introduces the readers to some of the worst people one could know, and I say that positively. The characters are all very real. While at times the story seems outrageous and overly complex, it’s grounded in the reality of its characters. I will say that I enjoyed the first part of the story more than the rest, and I’m still not too sure how I feel about the ending. I do think some of this went over my head, which is not at the fault of the book, and definitely my problem. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading this book overall, and it was a nice quick read for the end of the year. 3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House for this Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for my honest review!

Similar to Brown's debut novel Assembly, Universality explores morality, politics, race, class, and the meaning of success.

The story opens with a hilarious depiction of a small anarchist collective during quarantine, with our journalist learning about this group and its characters after an evicted member bludgeons another with a gold bar. They had been squatting on a billionaire's abandoned farm property, courtesy of the now-evicted guy's mother sleeping with said billionaire and asking if her son could stay somewhere. This mother is a controversial figure herself, having created a name for herself with a book titled "Woke No Mo", a screed against identity politics in defense of working class whites.

Each section of this book presents a different piece of a story - the journalist's take on the gold bar incident, the journalist latter ruminating on this experience while with her friends, the billionaire banker's own experiences of upward class mobility and strained relationship with his wife, the mother's attempts to publish a second book and her remarks at a book festival. In this aspect, the book reminded me of Hernan Diaz's Trust, which also used various perspectives on a single experience in order to tell a story in its plurality.

What always impresses me about Natasha Brown is how her books are so short, yet pack so much punch. 4.5 stars, rounded up.

I really enjoyed the first part of the story quite a bit. The storytelling of the gold bar and all the characters associated with it kept me flying through the book. The ending and last bit of the story seemed to drag a little bit. I was still engaged with the story but didn't find the characters and storytelling voice as interesting as in the previous part of the story. The book is heavy with social commentary and unlikeable characters which I usually enjoy reading from. I think this book would have benefitted from a longer story and fleshing out the characters and their relationships just a little bit more. I would definitely read more from Natasha Brown in the future because the conversations that the author engages with in the book were very interesting.

I need to read Assembly but I have only heard great things about Natasha and this cover was too attention grabbing for me to pass. I did really enjoy this! its very readable and the initial plot set up was so interesting and made me laugh. Touches on socio-economic, class, being a writer in the contemporary digital space and more. Multiple flips in POV which I did enjoy but I think the women at the end was my least favorite and I know she was created to be that way but the ending didn't land as strong as I wanted it to.