A review by sidekicksam
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

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

3.0

The Centre follows the story of Anisa, a Pakistani woman in England in her mid-30s, who works as a translator. She learns about the existence of The Centre, a place where you can learn a new language fluently within days. But all isn’t as it seems.. 
 
After letting it simmer for a while, and reading some of the reviews on the book, I am left with a weird aftertaste. I breezed through the book, feeling it was easy to read, twisty and compelling. But there were also some odd choices - I already felt weirded about the inclusion of an Israeli character (who was also ex-IDF) in these times, but there are other insensitivities in the book, and some of the story-choices just don’t feel like good choices in hindsight. The MC’s unlikeability is fine, but she’s too passive to be believable.
I would expect her to have more of a reaction to the fact that people were dying for others to learn the language. I also think cannibalism is becoming too easy a plot-point in a lot of the contemporary fiction books, but alas.
 
 
Mixed feelings. 
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