Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

25 reviews

chris_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

The end felt a little abrupt. Characters could be frustrating but were ultimately compelling. The prose and themes are where this book really shines though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

parissummerreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, and Cannibalism

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

q_bert13's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

An interesting story filled with a cast of complex characters. I enjoyed Manazir Siddiqi’s writing style, and how she would include memories & events from the past to fuel the ‘present’ in the story. 

SLIGHT SPOILERS! 

However, towards the end I did not enjoy the dynamic between the MC and her (possible lover)’s father. I know it’s to emphasize the MC’s flaws and create a sense of fear/discomfort between them, but still… super creepy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Death, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

joduewekeperez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault

melaniereads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

I enjoyed the writing of this book immensely. The language used was so beautiful.
The premise was intriguing, but felt too little explored. The ending also felt a bit rushed and fell flat in my opinion. 

Overall this book touches on a plethora of very important topics not every author is willing to explore and I'm very interested to see, what else the obviousl  very talented author  can come up with! Reading this was a blast, despite a few issues I had with the story itself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

queersubtext's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racial slurs

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

melliedm's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Cultural appropriation

hazel_oat's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

thehannahclaire's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Cannibalism

Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Islamophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism