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emilywemily6's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Classism, Cursing, Alcohol, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime
Minor: Medical content, Pedophilia, and Drug use
wildcitrus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism, Grief, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
jessy4550's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Classism, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol and Vomit
escapismforlife's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thanks to Zando Projects for accepting me to read the eARC for The Centre, it was a ride and unexpected one for me to but I enjoyed this ominous and modern story. This book had me conscious and reflective of how varied or similiar the lifestyle of protagnist Anisa's, is. It's often tied down by her selfish mentality and vaules that come from living in this case London and the unfamiliarity of her ethnicity there.The relationships she has are not stable in a country that is not completely hers and she therefore makes a lot of her proximity to anyone more distanced.
Anisa wants more when in comes to her job that she does translating Bollywood movies,which like almost everything has become a thing to improve upon or move on from. That is of course until she is a told about the highly exclusive language school The Centre which she is told about from this guy Adam. Its a place you can go to learn to speak fluently in ten days and is meant to be kept a seceret by those who know about it. Anyways while they have a complicated date relationship to each other she goes after receiving her invite. And along the way discovers a whole lot and builds relationship with the very top person and manger Shiba . Its very obscure about what's happening until the very end and did so along the formation of them growing closer.
I definitely had no clue how this mystery or thriller ended. It was so dark but made the most sense to why everything around The Centre was so private.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Misogyny, Death, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Gore, Murder, and Racial slurs
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