Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - The Centre

Darkly funny and disturbing. A horror novel about a mysterious school that guarantees new language fluency in 10 days AND it features a translator main character? This was a premise tailor-made for me.

Like R.F. Kuang’s Babel (which I loved), it explores how language can be used as an imperialist tool and plays with the idea of translation as an appropriative, even violent act. Funnier in tone, though, and Manazir Siddiqi brings her own fresh voice.

The book started out strong. I loved seeing the world through Anisa’s eyes and was engrossed in the first half—then it fell apart for me. I had trouble with the pacing and plot decisions, especially in the final third and felt completely dissatisfied with the ending. I was reading in audio and when the acknowledgements came on I was convinced they were a meta part of the story because I couldn’t believe it could end so abruptly. Generally I don’t mind an open ending, but this one just felt unfinished—like it could have really used a stronger editing hand.

Anyway, disappointed as I was by the end of my reading experience, this was such a promising debut. I liked the first part so much that I’m excited to read whatever the author writes next.

Content Warnings

exhaustrovert's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mcluster1's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This was such an interesting read. It is in a similar vein as bable, but modern and feminist sci-fi take. This was almost a 5 star for me, but I felt like the ending was a little unsatisfying.

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urnee's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

2.0

Content Warnings

aed2655's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This had a great idea behind it that was poorly executed. The social commentary was over-the-top and the thriller side of it didn't have much of a payoff. The descriptions of foreign language translation were interesting though.

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m_artyna's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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daepyonimst's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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questionablereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-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? No

2.75

This was a unique slow burn horror story, that almost read like a memoir and didn’t have a real “scare” to it. You meet Anisa, a linguist who discovered a well kept secret about a place where you can learn languages, but it comes with a sinister price. I enjoyed the mentions of Pakistan culture, generational differences within the culture, commentary on the importance of female friendships, and if you’re hungry, the descriptions of food in this book with make you hungrier. But I did not enjoy the slow progression of everything.

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