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A review by amreynrt
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Well that was a page turner for sure! I loved the way the book starts, the very first line is quite funny.
I was really into the story and found it interesting to dive more into the topic of translation. But all in all, I feel like I loved the book all the way until the trip to India. After that, I didn't really like the decisions made by Anisa, nor the Inception-type writing Siddiqi chose. Are we, really, a Learner as well? This felt a little forced, especially since we could not feel like Learners without the whole Centre experience. I felt like the intent was for the readers to feel "oh, wow, I'm one too", but it just didn't happen for me.
The story itself is interesting and you definitely want to find out how they achieve fluency in such a short time period. I liked that the main character was flawed and that they let her know, even though she doesn't feel any remorse at all.
In the end, I think I did not understand who Anisa is as a person. I didn't really understand the ending either.
I was really into the story and found it interesting to dive more into the topic of translation. But all in all, I feel like I loved the book all the way until the trip to India. After that, I didn't really like the decisions made by Anisa, nor the Inception-type writing Siddiqi chose. Are we, really, a Learner as well? This felt a little forced, especially since we could not feel like Learners without the whole Centre experience. I felt like the intent was for the readers to feel "oh, wow, I'm one too", but it just didn't happen for me.
The story itself is interesting and you definitely want to find out how they achieve fluency in such a short time period. I liked that the main character was flawed and that they let her know, even though she doesn't feel any remorse at all.
In the end, I think I did not understand who Anisa is as a person. I didn't really understand the ending either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault