A bold, memorable and entertaining satire, it reveals the contradictions of a society shaped by entrenched systems of economic, political and media control. -- Booker Prize Judges

Terrific ... Brown is a talented satirist, for sure, and her commitment to contemporary detail is impressive ... an incisive exploration of the power dynamics of storytelling. - Observer

Smart, twisty and original. -- David Nicholls

Confirms Brown as one of the most intelligent voices writing today ... Brown knows that her readers' biases are the most satisfying currency she can trade on and so creates, in a mere 156 pages, an impressive matryoshka doll of a story, where each established fact is progressively re-rendered with increasing detail and nuance ... an observational satire about the language games that enable that process. To this end, Brown is one of our most intelligent voices writing today, able to block out the short-term chatter around both identity and language in order to excavate much more uncomfortable truth. - Guardian Book of the Day

Universality is a satire recalling Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood eco-warriors, Bella Mackie's ridicule of the rich and the derision of the media found in Megan Nolan's Ordinary Human Failings . Universality is very funny. Brown is an astute political observer, easily dismembering cancel culture and our media circus ... Brown is a daring writer, and with her witty, often savage prose, she sees through every one of us. - New Statesman

A breathtaking talent - Natasha Brown is probably my favourite young British novelist. Universality is a precise dissection of class, wealth and power, written with a spareness that elevates and electrifies her prose. It's both intelligent and very entertaining. I didn't think Brown could better her debut, As