Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - The Centre

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

143 reviews

jamiee_f's review against another edition

I loved the premise, I liked our main character, and I was so excited to understand the mystery of The Centre! Anisa was sassy and online and very millenial which I appreciated. She's even kind of an unlikeable main character, which I usually enjoy. There was good commentary on success, friendships, relationships, finding yourself, being an immigrant/child of immigrants, cultural appropriation, who has a right to write which stories, class consciousness, and I liked most of that but it was a LOT to tackle all at once. Then it just.....absolutely dragged in the last half/third.

I couldn't motivate myself to finish

after it seemed like we were slowly driving towards magic cannibalism without a real explanation, and it seemed like all our characters were on board with it. I guessed it would be some sort of cannibalism pretty early on, but by the end it felt like the metaphor of cannibalizing people's souls for cannibalizing culture got SO heavy handed but also didn't go far enough.

I looked up the ending after I met the men who created the center by paying slaves to participate and submit their bodies/souls to the process, because the book was moving too slowly, and it was no longer fun how unlikable all these characters were. I was more interested in understanding the how and why of the process, that's what I was hoping for, but it didn't feel fleshed out enough (no pun intended). I also didn't like the reveal at the end that our main character decided to dedicate her own soul to the Centre. Like...why? It was unsatisfying to me.

I wanted to like it, I wish the ending third did it for me, because the premise was so call and the first two thirds I enjoyed! I would try another work from this author.

Content Warnings

lennybiird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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

5.0

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ripxw's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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frogggirl2's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-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

This is a multi-faceted, intriguing look at colonialism, racism, appropriation, and feminism. The young, female, Pakistanian, Muslim, English immigrant POV is an interesting one and lends a lot of depth and intersectionality to the discussions of all these topics. I wanted a little more concrete ending, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this book.

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kjurewicz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was a disappointment. It reminded me of Nine Perfect Strangers (but not as good). First of all, the main character was completely unlikable. Anisa was annoying and pretentious while also making a lot of dumb, nonsensical decisions, especially in her relationship with Adam and when it came to finding out the truth about The Centre and its founders. The book moved at a glacial pace to get to the big reveal about The Centre’s true process. That was definitely the best part of the book, as well as the memory that was induced by Naima’s tea near the end and Anisa’s tension-filled exploration of the staff areas. However, there were not enough tense/exciting moments; in fact, there were a lot of missed opportunities for tension, suspense, and symbolism (I thought the plants would be a lot more significant!) And the ending was vague and unsatisfying (although there was a clever attempt to break the fourth wall). And the whole situation with Arjun - ugh, just why?

Overall, this book had a lot of potential to be an awesome modern day Gothic novel, but missed the mark in a lot of ways.

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dianadelacruisin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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dat_ash_though's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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mindyb33's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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sarahsss's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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seventhswan's review against another edition

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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.

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