Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

12 reviews

chris_reads's review

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

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

kjurewicz's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Cannibalism

thehannahclaire's review

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

samanthaleereads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gore

wildcitrus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Cannibalism

lizzym126's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, and Cultural appropriation

btaylorb's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexism

Moderate: Body horror, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and Classism

Minor: Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Islamophobia

jessy4550's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Grief, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol

melanieripple's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

Minor: Gore and Racial slurs