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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Grief, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I absolutely loved this book! The writing style was incredible; I read the whole book in one sitting because I could not stop once I started. The only drawback for me was the ending
Spoiler
—I wanted to see all the introspection and indecisiveness of the narrator culminate into a more thrilling, resolute end—but I also understand the ambiguity serves a purpose for the overall narrative. There were also some aspects of the class commentary that I wish had come more into play... again, acknowledging that much of the overlooking/ignorance/passivity surrounding this comes from the main character purposefully being written this way, but there was still opportunity to explore more through Naima and other characters rather than having them, in the end, simply enable the MC (or perhaps the metanarrative could have been taken a step further and allowed us to spot holes in the narrative Anisa is telling us? Or is that already implied, perhaps just not clearly enough? I do like how this book has made me think about its own looping story!)
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Centre is an interesting premise; a secret organisation that grants customers almost immediate fluency in a language of their choosing by some mysterious process.
This book explores racism, classicism, colonialism and the politics of language and translation, examining the themes through a multicultural lens that leaves no country guiltless.
The two main female characters are likeable, flawed and relatable, exploring the effects of partriarchy and the degree to which women are complicit in their own subjugation.
The writing is brisk, carrying your along to what you feel must surely be a Philip K. Dick type horrific reveal, how are they learning so fast?,only to disappoint the reader. For an author who seems so attuned to the differences in acceptable behaviour across cutlures, she seems to have mistaken something as mildly polarising as organ donation as universally horrific. After the reveal the story suddenly lags.
Overall an intriguing read that explores old themes in a new and balanced way, but lets the reader down at the end.
This book explores racism, classicism, colonialism and the politics of language and translation, examining the themes through a multicultural lens that leaves no country guiltless.
The two main female characters are likeable, flawed and relatable, exploring the effects of partriarchy and the degree to which women are complicit in their own subjugation.
The writing is brisk, carrying your along to what you feel must surely be a Philip K. Dick type horrific reveal, how are they learning so fast?,
Overall an intriguing read that explores old themes in a new and balanced way, but lets the reader down at the end.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Really interesting premise but kind of falls flat in the second half when the secrets are revealed but then nothing actually gets done with them.
The language and colonial stuff was really interesting, and I would have loved to read a book that went in that direction, but it didn't go anywhere in the story, so I'm left to take what I can from it.
As far as characters go, Naima's ending was disappointing, we lost Adam when Anisa didn't bother reconciling with him -- not that there was anything to reconcile the way she'd treated him, and the way the book treated him. Anisa herself was a bizarrely unlikable character, it truly felt like there was nothing about her that made her a main character other than chance and doing whatever she felt right in the moment. There's a lot of times she decides to do one thing and then gets talked out of it almost on the next page. There's nothing to root for with her because she goes with the flow of the story, whether that's Shiba directing her, Adam speaking his mind, Naima advising her or even Arjun putting his two cents in. The few things she does are just to benefit herself in the moment; she has no regard for others, consequences or even the future. In this sense I suppose her ending makes sense, all she did for the story was narrate it rather than live it.
The ending was interesting, disappointing in the sense that you wanted better for the characters but I suppose that's a part of life; sometimes people make choices for themselves that you find are poor but there's nothing you can do about it because it's not your life.
The story concept itself is very interesting but unfortunately the execution fell flat quite early on.
The language and colonial stuff was really interesting, and I would have loved to read a book that went in that direction, but it didn't go anywhere in the story, so I'm left to take what I can from it.
The ending was interesting, disappointing in the sense that you wanted better for the characters but I suppose that's a part of life; sometimes people make choices for themselves that you find are poor but there's nothing you can do about it because it's not your life.
The story concept itself is very interesting but unfortunately the execution fell flat quite early on.
This was a strange one, unsettling yet fascinating and it left me desperate to find out the secret behind the Centre but I was not prepared at all and did not see the reveal happening. The writing did feel slightly convoluted with a lot of tough and dark themes trying to be introduced but in a slightly rushed way, because it is a very quick read making it miss the mark a bit with the ending. It also seemed to end very abruptly, however generally I did enjoy this it was a shocking and unique, easy read good for anyone who wants to read a new thriller.
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated