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chicken_steadicam's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
Flew through this, absolutely loved it. Thought the writing was very competent while still maintaining a sort of millennial vibe which I found interesting and novel. Don't really want to say much about the actual plot because it's pretty rewarding going into the story with no background on what's going on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault
simonefk's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I read this for my book club and I know it's not something I would have picked up myself. It's dystopian with comparisons made to Black Mirror.
The story itself is interesting. Our protagonist, Anisa is told about an exclusive language learning course at 'The Centre' where you can become fluent in any language in ten days. I loved the first half of this book and I do wish we spent more time at The Centre, the second half is Anisa trying to figure out how the centre works, how it is possible to become fluent in a language in ten days.
I liked Anisa's voice, yes she is flawed but I like that. Her views and situations around feminism, race, culture, religion and class were insightful. Her relationships, again flawed, her expectations of friendship, perhaps too much but I like the perspective of a woman who is messy and human.
4 stars out of 5 because the story kind of loses it's way towards the end, I feel like it was unfinished and messy. It does get really quite strange and almost as though the author ran out if steam but regardless I'm still glad I read The Centre and would recommend it.
The story itself is interesting. Our protagonist, Anisa is told about an exclusive language learning course at 'The Centre' where you can become fluent in any language in ten days. I loved the first half of this book and I do wish we spent more time at The Centre, the second half is Anisa trying to figure out how the centre works, how it is possible to become fluent in a language in ten days.
I liked Anisa's voice, yes she is flawed but I like that. Her views and situations around feminism, race, culture, religion and class were insightful. Her relationships, again flawed, her expectations of friendship, perhaps too much but I like the perspective of a woman who is messy and human.
4 stars out of 5 because the story kind of loses it's way towards the end, I feel like it was unfinished and messy. It does get really quite strange and almost as though the author ran out if steam but regardless I'm still glad I read The Centre and would recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Islamophobia
scribblinginthemargins's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Just so unnecessarily weird. Very slow going and lacking in plot then after the big reveal the main character doesn't seem to act consistently with her values at all leaving the whole thing feeling unresolved and ruptured.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment
suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
Yippee out of my reading slump :D I would say the pros of this book are that the story itself was really interesting and it was honestly fast to visualize and get through. I would say this comes off less as a sci-fi and more as a thriller in my opinion (similar to Get Out the movie), but with a lot of diversity and some really smart moments. This was a blind purchase for me, and I think that is the best way to go into this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Xenophobia and Classism
cassielaj's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
At 20-30%, I kept reading because I thought it might eventually go somewhere.
At 50%, I thought we were finally getting to something decent.
By 75%, I was finishing this out of spite.
This book is all kinds of confused about the story it’s telling. The majority of it is just the story of a woman unhappy with her life and striving for more. There’s a whisper of a “thriller,” until it smacks you across the face at about 85% and then ends so abruptly and with such an obvious cop-out that I feel nothing but annoyed that I spent the day reading this. And frustrated that it really could’ve done something. Take out everything about her weird ex (who is set up to be way more important than he is) and her best friend’s business and relationship (which is probably the best-developed content but totally irrelevant) and you have a 20-page short horror story with a decent premise, a wild twist, and an obvious ending. I’m annoyed that this book tried to do so many things (cultural critique, class & colonization discussion, womanhood, etc.) that could’ve been good but did them so poorly.
At 50%, I thought we were finally getting to something decent.
By 75%, I was finishing this out of spite.
This book is all kinds of confused about the story it’s telling. The majority of it is just the story of a woman unhappy with her life and striving for more. There’s a whisper of a “thriller,” until it smacks you across the face at about 85% and then ends so abruptly and with such an obvious cop-out that I feel nothing but annoyed that I spent the day reading this. And frustrated that it really could’ve done something. Take out everything about her weird ex (who is set up to be way more important than he is) and her best friend’s business and relationship (which is probably the best-developed content but totally irrelevant) and you have a 20-page short horror story with a decent premise, a wild twist, and an obvious ending. I’m annoyed that this book tried to do so many things (cultural critique, class & colonization discussion, womanhood, etc.) that could’ve been good but did them so poorly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
dexkit10's review
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism and Classism
Moderate: Death and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
anditsreal's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
Absolutely loved it. Only disappointment was the misrepresentation of Tantra as a sexual practice (that's the Western appropriation of it, traditional Tantra has absolutely nothing to do with sex).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
chris_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.0
The end felt a little abrupt. Characters could be frustrating but were ultimately compelling. The prose and themes are where this book really shines though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Alcohol
parissummerreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, and Cannibalism
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
angelkisses's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
overall a pretty enjoyable book with an engaging thriller plot and commentary on the intersections/interactions between colonialism, patriarchy and classism (material exploitation more generally, as it impacts and is impacted by superstructure). something weird about mentioning David's time in the IDF (specifically to do with mind hacking?) and not go further into it... considering this story is so clearly about The Centres exploitative origins and nature (cannibalism as a metaphor for colonialism) its weird that there wasnt any pushback from the narrative around Israel as a ethnostate apartheid settler colony especially when the narrative explicitly deals with things like Parition and British imperialism.
I think it's a bit confused but ultimately very readable!
I think it's a bit confused but ultimately very readable!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault