Reviews with content warning for Classism - The Centre

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

51 reviews

seventhswan's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I borrowed this book from the library knowing absolutely nothing about it, and I was pleasantly surprised! I often find it difficult to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy speculative fiction, but the horror/sci-fi element of The Centre was simple and internally consistent enough for me to almost believe it could happen in real life. I understand how that could turn some readers off - it's not a concept that felt super new or out-there, nor was it the be-all-end-all of the story - but for me it added to the horror and got me thinking more than I expected once I finished reading.

It took a little while for the plot to properly get going, but once it did I was captivated. Few of the characters are people I'd like to spend time with but they felt very real, and I found myself caring what happened to them despite this. I also found myself sympathising with characters' actions more than I would have liked and asking myself questions I hadn't considered before.

I could buy the

dubiously-consensual-cannibalism,

but I couldn't buy that the main characters were 35. They all behaved like they were in their mid 20s at most. This and a few other strange details took me out of the story in places. But overall I really enjoyed The Centre, and I'd love to read more work from this author.

Content Warnings

melliedm's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A dark, messy look at legacy, language, colonialism, and patriarchy, and what it means to consume and be consumed.

A part of me wanted to stay in this narrative for another 200 pages, but it truly does end in a powerful place, leaving us with the questions of what Anisa has observed vs what she has learned.

Content Warnings

hazel_oat's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

1.0

Content Warnings

thehannahclaire's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

stellahadz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This book had an interesting premise, but I think either the execution didn't deliver as much as I expected or I'm not clever enough to understand the point of certain plot elements. It seems like translation is supposed to be a metaphor, I'm just not sure what for, and that's always frustrating for me as a reader. Still, I found the theme of translation and the commentary on language and privilege really interesting. I liked Anisa and Naima's friendship, as well as Anisa's musings on her family and other relationships. The plot felt like it was missing something, especially towards the end, and the reveal of the Centre's secrets felt extremely rushed and glossed over. I also found

the scene in Arjun's office

unnecessary. However, the actual ending of the book was kind of perfect in a chilling way.

This is definitely the kind of book you have to dive deep into, so it might be fun for a book club or reading group. At times it feels like there are just a few too many topics and themes being stuffed into a relatively short book, but Siddiqi's prose is excellent. I'd love to read more of her work.

Content Warnings

beanith's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

To be clear, I don’t think I’d recommend this book to anyone. At least not lightly or casually. But I am giving it at least 4 stars (going back and forth between a 4 and 4.25). The themes, content, and characters of The Centre all require a willingness from the reader to just listen, even if they hate what they’re hearing.

Cannibalism. I knew it was coming - I spoiled it for myself when adding the book to my TBR, and again when I looked up the Jacques Derrida quote Shiba likes. But even knowing that there would be cannibalism didn’t desensitize me to the reveal - it was gross, made worse by how the founders of The Centre carry themselves with an air of enlightenment, sophistication, wisdom, elitism, etc.

I read Tender is the Flesh a couple of years ago and honestly, I don’t want to read another cannibalism book. I know as a theme and metaphor the girls are loving it (hello Ethel Caine, Bones and All, and Hannibal TV show) but I am not one of those girls.

Luckily, I think the cannibalism here is not a metaphor for an all consuming love (or whatever the girls are saying on Twitter). I think the characters delude themselves about their actions being justified or even morally superior because they obtained (dubious) consent. They convince themselves that they can live on forever this way. I think this is more or less an exercise in the extremes privelleged people go to not interact with the real problems of today (poverty, inequality, inaccessibility) in order to create a flimsy vision of the future. A future that seems to only benefit them and their circle.

Let’s talk characters

Anisa: if you need a main character to be likable

or redeemable

then do not pick up this book. She starts off pretty neutral, maybe a little lost in a general quarter life crisis way. But as the book goes on her anxieties, insecurities, preoccupations and judgements take center stage.

She is unwilling to confront her own class and wealth privilege despite being hyper critical of the world around her. She’s manipulative (especially to Adam, and later, heartbreakingly, to Naima) and she cares more about how people see her vs how she treats them. She seems more motivated by curiosity than goodness.

She’s interesting to read from but not exactly easy to empathize with (not that you always need to empathize with a character, anyway).

Naima: The realest one, ride or die, if Naima has 0 fans then I am dead. She is full of life and genuine emotion and reflection. Not academically fetishized enlightenment.

Adam:

Adam enters and leaves the narrative without much fanfare, but I was surprised to find myself rooting for him when he was fighting with Anisa. It’s easy to make fun of Adam , especially when Anisa picks him apart for most of their relationship. But he is the one to throw the first flag and tell her that she is selfish.

Shiba: Cool, mysterious, thoughtful. She seems representational of what Anisa feels like she lacks. But also, she has a life outside of Anisa.

Still fucked up. I’m sorry, joining your dad’s cannibalism cult is not the power move you think it is.

I think this book is messy and imperfect but I think that it gives a lot to ponder by the end. Not black and white moral ponderings (the things that are morally wrong in this book are self evident to me), but thoughts on class, race, gender, language, respect, dignity, consent and privilege.

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

3.75

I was underwhelmed by this book based on my expectations. In general I found a lot to like about it, but felt that it was neither comic nor a true horror novel, as this book was described. It felt much more like a literary fiction novel with a sprinkle of horror elements. There wasn’t much suspense throughout the story even though the truth was hinted at being mysterious the whole time. I wasn’t even phased when the truth came out. I didn’t like particularly like the main character and found that she became more hypocritical throughout the book, like she was trying so hard to appear woke but then failed to see her own classist/racist/etc. shortcomings. The narrative felt very intimate, but because my dislike increased throughout the book for the main character, that intimacy was not my favorite. I found the discussions on language/linguistics interesting, and also the basic premise of The Centre. I also like how the narrative showed that the main character was actually recording for The Centre. The novels she translated also sounded super interesting! The ending was anticlimactic though, and her decision in the end didn’t really fit with her character up until that point in the story. I think I was hoping for more suspense and horror throughout this book, and even the big reveal was lacking. If you love literary fiction and want to tread lightly into horror, this is for you.

Content Warnings

bookishbrenbren's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I think I enjoyed this book but it's not the type of book I prefer so I guess I'm stuck in between enjoying what I got and wishing I'd gotten more of what I wanted 🤔 if that makes sense.

The writing has no subtlety or subterfuge (and what is there is more like a tongue in cheek between her and the reader). There is this element of metafiction to it - the narrator constantly breaks the fourth wall to address the reader directly and you exist as a second level consumer of the story, always questioning what's real and what isn't. Which, idk, sometimes I thought it was brilliant but most times it was just too casual for me and kept calling attention away from the story, back to this idea of the book as metafiction, like 'don't forget!' - more like the princess bride movie than If An Egyptian.
The author also brought up lots of great little aside ideas but a lot of the times she throws a line out and then dismisses it as boring or banal or cliche or whatever and that started to irritate me. We get it, you're not writing about immigrants or race or class, you're just writing about immigrants and race and class. Allllso the main character is kind of unlikeable 😂 but her friendship with Naima was the sparkling star of the story (can you tell I like character-driven novels?) they support and disappoint each other like humans and I froth for that. But again with the meta, their conversation about there HAS to be a Desi wedding scene for "those guys" nudge nudge wink wink... it was cute ngl but did it add? Did it add?
Now that I've complained, lol, the plot is excellent, the pacing is excellent, the suspense is suspensing and the ending is a lovely little cherry on top. The author's humor is also sprinkled as a nice little bonus throughout the book.

CW one of the characters is mentioned as being from Israel and having learned "mind hacking" in the IOF. Um ok, who was he mind hacking on occupied land...

Content Warnings

lavaly_1's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

spess's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? It's complicated

2.75

Content Warnings

More...