Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Centre

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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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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caitgiam's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? No

3.5

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karina19_'s review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

"Invite only" the part where she is driven out to the centre, the taxi cab driver really shared how difficult it is to be a minority in a country that constantly looks down on the color of your skin. I cried during those parts, they were so relatable.

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brittneon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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? No

3.5

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rcd229's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I love languages and lanuage learning so the idea of The Centre intrigued me, and the reveal closer to the end was kinda interesting a la the type of dark mystery I was looking for when I picked up this book. But I felt like the main character sort of had a net zero development arc, seeming to grow and then almost immediately rescinding that growth by making excuses as to why it was okay to just fall back to complacency, and some of the other characters had almost no change at all (or a sort of sad minor downward trajectory).

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lizzym126's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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btaylorb's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this, it's incredibly dark and has a leisurely, lush tone that contrasts well with the sense of high tension every time the main character goes to The Center. As always in a good horror novel, this story uses those glimpses at the monster behind the curtain to shed light on things that are truly horrific: racism (particularly through the supremacy of the Western canon and Western European language), classism, and sexism. Meanwhile the body horror, when it's revealed is more subdued. There's also a really good red herring early on that I would occasionally remember throughout the story and then gradually forget about. I loved how flawed and earnest the main character is: She is by turns introspective and aware of her privilege as she delves into why she's so unhappy, but also often blind and uncaring toward other characters.

I thought the use of different languages throughout, in particular Urdu, the MC's first language, was really well executed. I listened to the audio version where the Urdu dialogue is read by the narrator, but as far as I can tell they're not always translated for the listener. Apparently, these sections are also not delineated by italics in the physical or ebook editions. I think this is such a clever way to create a sense of intimacy with the characters and reinforce some of what the book is exploring around language and communication. I don't feel at all like I lost anything by not understanding those few sections. In the final section of the audiobook, the author gives an interview where she talks about the idea that if you don't understand something, it might just not be meant for you, and that's okay - and this is sometimes a central point of the story.

Also noteworthy: There's one passage toward the end where a racial slur gets bleeped in the narration of the audio. I'm going to glance at the physical copy at my library, because I'm curious if it's similarly censored in some way in the text. I would love to know if this was an authorial choice or an editorial one for the audio edition; I'm hopeful it's the former because, given the premise, I think that's an interesting and powerful detail.

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