Reviews with content warning for Classism - The Centre

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

44 reviews

lttlfl's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jamiee_f's review

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I loved the premise, I liked our main character, and I was so excited to understand the mystery of The Centre! Anisa was sassy and online and very millenial which I appreciated. She's even kind of an unlikeable main character, which I usually enjoy. There was good commentary on success, friendships, relationships, finding yourself, being an immigrant/child of immigrants, cultural appropriation, who has a right to write which stories, class consciousness, and I liked most of that but it was a LOT to tackle all at once. Then it just.....absolutely dragged in the last half/third.

I couldn't motivate myself to finish

after it seemed like we were slowly driving towards magic cannibalism without a real explanation, and it seemed like all our characters were on board with it. I guessed it would be some sort of cannibalism pretty early on, but by the end it felt like the metaphor of cannibalizing people's souls for cannibalizing culture got SO heavy handed but also didn't go far enough.

I looked up the ending after I met the men who created the center by paying slaves to participate and submit their bodies/souls to the process, because the book was moving too slowly, and it was no longer fun how unlikable all these characters were. I was more interested in understanding the how and why of the process, that's what I was hoping for, but it didn't feel fleshed out enough (no pun intended). I also didn't like the reveal at the end that our main character decided to dedicate her own soul to the Centre. Like...why? It was unsatisfying to me.

I wanted to like it, I wish the ending third did it for me, because the premise was so call and the first two thirds I enjoyed! I would try another work from this author.

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kay_chan's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

My only thoughts at the end of this book is that I just wish it was more. Either darker to make it eerie, or more psychological to make it interesting.

Disappointed that it just kind of fell flat and I had to keep going back each time I picked up the book to get reoriented. Themes were incredible!

LGBTQ FMC
Pakistani FMC
Women in STEAM

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seventhswan's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I borrowed this book from the library knowing absolutely nothing about it, and I was pleasantly surprised! I often find it difficult to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy speculative fiction, but the horror/sci-fi element of The Centre was simple and internally consistent enough for me to almost believe it could happen in real life. I understand how that could turn some readers off - it's not a concept that felt super new or out-there, nor was it the be-all-end-all of the story - but for me it added to the horror and got me thinking more than I expected once I finished reading.

It took a little while for the plot to properly get going, but once it did I was captivated. Few of the characters are people I'd like to spend time with but they felt very real, and I found myself caring what happened to them despite this. I also found myself sympathising with characters' actions more than I would have liked and asking myself questions I hadn't considered before.

I could buy the

dubiously-consensual-cannibalism,

but I couldn't buy that the main characters were 35. They all behaved like they were in their mid 20s at most. This and a few other strange details took me out of the story in places. But overall I really enjoyed The Centre, and I'd love to read more work from this author.

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melliedm's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A dark, messy look at legacy, language, colonialism, and patriarchy, and what it means to consume and be consumed.

A part of me wanted to stay in this narrative for another 200 pages, but it truly does end in a powerful place, leaving us with the questions of what Anisa has observed vs what she has learned.

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hazel_oat's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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thehannahclaire's review

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dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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stellahadz's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book had an interesting premise, but I think either the execution didn't deliver as much as I expected or I'm not clever enough to understand the point of certain plot elements. It seems like translation is supposed to be a metaphor, I'm just not sure what for, and that's always frustrating for me as a reader. Still, I found the theme of translation and the commentary on language and privilege really interesting. I liked Anisa and Naima's friendship, as well as Anisa's musings on her family and other relationships. The plot felt like it was missing something, especially towards the end, and the reveal of the Centre's secrets felt extremely rushed and glossed over. I also found

the scene in Arjun's office

unnecessary. However, the actual ending of the book was kind of perfect in a chilling way.

This is definitely the kind of book you have to dive deep into, so it might be fun for a book club or reading group. At times it feels like there are just a few too many topics and themes being stuffed into a relatively short book, but Siddiqi's prose is excellent. I'd love to read more of her work.

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beanie_bob's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

To be clear, I don’t think I’d recommend this book to anyone. At least not lightly or casually. But I am giving it at least 4 stars (going back and forth between a 4 and 4.25). The themes, content, and characters of The Centre all require a willingness from the reader to just listen, even if they hate what they’re hearing.

Cannibalism. I knew it was coming - I spoiled it for myself when adding the book to my TBR, and again when I looked up the Jacques Derrida quote Shiba likes. But even knowing that there would be cannibalism didn’t desensitize me to the reveal - it was gross, made worse by how the founders of The Centre carry themselves with an air of enlightenment, sophistication, wisdom, elitism, etc.

I read Tender is the Flesh a couple of years ago and honestly, I don’t want to read another cannibalism book. I know as a theme and metaphor the girls are loving it (hello Ethel Caine, Bones and All, and Hannibal TV show) but I am not one of those girls.

Luckily, I think the cannibalism here is not a metaphor for an all consuming love (or whatever the girls are saying on Twitter). I think the characters delude themselves about their actions being justified or even morally superior because they obtained (dubious) consent. They convince themselves that they can live on forever this way. I think this is more or less an exercise in the extremes privelleged people go to not interact with the real problems of today (poverty, inequality, inaccessibility) in order to create a flimsy vision of the future. A future that seems to only benefit them and their circle.

Let’s talk characters

Anisa: if you need a main character to be likable

or redeemable

then do not pick up this book. She starts off pretty neutral, maybe a little lost in a general quarter life crisis way. But as the book goes on her anxieties, insecurities, preoccupations and judgements take center stage.

She is unwilling to confront her own class and wealth privilege despite being hyper critical of the world around her. She’s manipulative (especially to Adam, and later, heartbreakingly, to Naima) and she cares more about how people see her vs how she treats them. She seems more motivated by curiosity than goodness.

She’s interesting to read from but not exactly easy to empathize with (not that you always need to empathize with a character, anyway).

Naima: The realest one, ride or die, if Naima has 0 fans then I am dead. She is full of life and genuine emotion and reflection. Not academically fetishized enlightenment.

Adam:

Adam enters and leaves the narrative without much fanfare, but I was surprised to find myself rooting for him when he was fighting with Anisa. It’s easy to make fun of Adam , especially when Anisa picks him apart for most of their relationship. But he is the one to throw the first flag and tell her that she is selfish.

Shiba: Cool, mysterious, thoughtful. She seems representational of what Anisa feels like she lacks. But also, she has a life outside of Anisa.

Still fucked up. I’m sorry, joining your dad’s cannibalism cult is not the power move you think it is.

I think this book is messy and imperfect but I think that it gives a lot to ponder by the end. Not black and white moral ponderings (the things that are morally wrong in this book are self evident to me), but thoughts on class, race, gender, language, respect, dignity, consent and privilege.

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emilywemily6's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I was underwhelmed by this book based on my expectations. In general I found a lot to like about it, but felt that it was neither comic nor a true horror novel, as this book was described. It felt much more like a literary fiction novel with a sprinkle of horror elements. There wasn’t much suspense throughout the story even though the truth was hinted at being mysterious the whole time. I wasn’t even phased when the truth came out. I didn’t like particularly like the main character and found that she became more hypocritical throughout the book, like she was trying so hard to appear woke but then failed to see her own classist/racist/etc. shortcomings. The narrative felt very intimate, but because my dislike increased throughout the book for the main character, that intimacy was not my favorite. I found the discussions on language/linguistics interesting, and also the basic premise of The Centre. I also like how the narrative showed that the main character was actually recording for The Centre. The novels she translated also sounded super interesting! The ending was anticlimactic though, and her decision in the end didn’t really fit with her character up until that point in the story. I think I was hoping for more suspense and horror throughout this book, and even the big reveal was lacking. If you love literary fiction and want to tread lightly into horror, this is for you.

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