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A review by paradise_library
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
3.0
As someone who wishes she spoke more languages, the concept of this book really piqued my interest – becoming fluent in a language in just a matter of days would be incredible.
Anisa seems to share this dream, desperate to be a translator of great works of fiction… I could relate to her a lot as she wanted more from her life.
I felt that the time spent with Adam is merely to create a way for Anisa to get to The Centre. Their relationship isn’t particularly interesting and these chapters dragged down the book somewhat; I also question how Adam could afford so many visits when it’s £20k per language! I was just as keen as Anisa to get to the crux of the story.
And what a story it is.
Even if it’s fairly obvious what the twist is, it’s a wonderful concept, the time at the Centre is well done and some of the relationships are endearing. Naima is an excellent character, especially her attitude towards life. Anisa does not deserve her as a friend and is extremely unlikeable; she’s a privileged, whiny person who is self-centred and quite rude. Her shock at discovering the Centre’s secret is undermined by the fact that she just drifts home without much concern.
I do feel that the Centre itself plays a relatively small role in the book as a whole, with too much time devoted to Adam and a lot of other time to Anisa’s visit to India (massive conflict of interest here too). I did enjoy the time in India, but it did not add a lot to the story and I would have liked more about etymology and language, as well as the psychology about this and the people whose stories she discovers.
It’s a good book - and I read it in one sitting - but it does have a lot of flaws and doesn’t live up to expectations. However, I for one would still enrol at The Centre. Make of that what you will…
Anisa seems to share this dream, desperate to be a translator of great works of fiction… I could relate to her a lot as she wanted more from her life.
I felt that the time spent with Adam is merely to create a way for Anisa to get to The Centre. Their relationship isn’t particularly interesting and these chapters dragged down the book somewhat; I also question how Adam could afford so many visits when it’s £20k per language! I was just as keen as Anisa to get to the crux of the story.
And what a story it is.
Even if it’s fairly obvious what the twist is, it’s a wonderful concept, the time at the Centre is well done and some of the relationships are endearing. Naima is an excellent character, especially her attitude towards life. Anisa does not deserve her as a friend and is extremely unlikeable; she’s a privileged, whiny person who is self-centred and quite rude. Her shock at discovering the Centre’s secret is undermined by the fact that she just drifts home without much concern.
I do feel that the Centre itself plays a relatively small role in the book as a whole, with too much time devoted to Adam and a lot of other time to Anisa’s visit to India (massive conflict of interest here too). I did enjoy the time in India, but it did not add a lot to the story and I would have liked more about etymology and language, as well as the psychology about this and the people whose stories she discovers.
It’s a good book - and I read it in one sitting - but it does have a lot of flaws and doesn’t live up to expectations. However, I for one would still enrol at The Centre. Make of that what you will…