The narrative style is quite nice and the first chapters in the book are easy to read but, as the story went on, I really found that it didn't flow because there was too much social criticism (patriarchy, colonialism, relationship between Pakistan and India etc) intertwined in the plot. I felt the author desperately tried to insert every sensitive topic she cares about in her fiction book, whereas in my opinion these important topics cannot really be delved into through fiction, it feels unnatural and it shines through in this book: entire paragraphs seem to be from a non fiction book or essay about modern society and what plagues it.
The story itself is weird but interesting and I didn't see the plot twist coming until it had been almost revealed. I particularly appreciated the ending: subtle and creative.

I genuinely do not even know how to write this review, because I have lots of thoughts but it’s not easy to get them into words. A few people I follow on Bookstagram have been talking about this one extensively (shout out especially to @jordanian.reads!) and I can absolutely see why; this was smart, complex, layered, and sometimes delightfully meta. I loved the extremely strong queer vibes, the nuanced and sympathetic (if sometimes frustrating and unlikeable!) narrator, the fascinating premise, and the clear but subtle literary horror aspect to the book. (While I was able to figure out The Central Mystery decently far in advance of its textual revelation, I thought it was very well crafted on the author’s part; I read a lot of mysteries, and it's always the hallmark of a good one when there are sufficient-but-subtle clues dropped in advance; this certainly qualifies.) The pacing and passage of time within the narrative sometimes felt odd or jarring, but it was a relatively minor concern.

Overall, definitely recommended, and I will be reading the author's next book with interest. Thanks so much to Zando Projects/Gillian Flynn Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

Oh no, this book was so weird! But in a bad way! I had high hopes for a creepy October read with this one, but it fell short despite it's incredible cover. Reading the book was not an enjoyable experience. The debut author, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, writes at a somewhat amateur level which took me out of the story plenty of times. It is also not as thrilling as advertised. "The Centre," the mysterious place the main character goes to fluently learn a language in 10 days, is actually a small part of the story. Yes, it has an interesting and strange twist at the end that helps to solve why they are able to learn languages to quickly, but the twist is somewhat laughable and the author can't quite sell it.

It is a shame because I haven't read a lot of literary fiction with a strong Pakistani point of view. I liked reading about the background of her family and her experience of being a bilingual Pakistani woman living in London. But along with that, we also have some truly strange mixing of Islamic and western religion that made me side-eye a bit, confusing plot lines and character reactions that aren't resolved or make total sense, and a thesis statement that falls pretty flat. I'm honestly just not sure how this book got published and certainly wouldn't recommend it.

I really struggled with this as the translation didn't seem to connect to the English language. Really hard to get through for me.

The Centre was a wonderfully written and thoroughly entertaining book. Loved the twist!! I liked the approach about translation and how to relate to others through language.

This book has a lot going for it. It is written in the first person and Anisa, the main character, has one of the strongest voices I’ve read. I can’t recall being taken out of the story or not feeling like a close friend was confiding a big, secret story in me. I really like the author’s writing style and the characters feel well developed to me. The essence of the book, the story of The Centre, was such a compelling, unique, engrossing read that I feel could have been supported by better material. The first half of the book felt like a strong beginning to an exciting adventure I couldn’t wait to go on and I loved the reveal at the end.

Despite the immense enjoyment I felt reading the first 75% of the book and how much I liked the reveal, there were huge issues for me. There are many things mentioned in what I assume to be Urdu with no explanation and I have no idea what they are. If you don’t have knowledge of the language or culture you will miss out on parts of the book. So I felt left out of several of the small details that gives this book its unique character. This, along with the parts of Anisa and her friends making fun of white people, makes it seem like the author doesn’t want white people to read this book. Cool.

I can’t quote from this book because I’m reviewing an advanced copy, but there are many conflicting thoughts or conversations that made Anisa (and the writing) unreliable. Not unusual for first person, but it made the story a little less clear to me. In one part Anisa and her friend talk about her boyfriend being too woke, or an insincere kind of woke, and the way they talk about it makes me think the author is being tongue-in-cheek about this particular political topic, but then there are pro-woke conversations in other parts. And the reveal is very controversial, but there’s a part where Anisa is trying to justify it to herself and it seems very convincing, which makes her even more unreliable to me. Also, Anisa and Naima, her best friend, talk a lot of talk about being strong, modern feminists throughout the book only for both of them to completely fall off that wagon by the end of the book. I don’t even consider myself a feminist and their actions repel me.

In short, I loved the overarching story about The Centre but the political, social, and personal-to-Anisa parts ruined an otherwise interesting and unique idea.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a thoughtful, enjoyable read, and I certainly was in suspense about WHAT the actual cause of the language acquisition would be. But I think it was a tad too meandering with a little bit of a perplexing resolution. But I still enjoyed the ride and would read more by this author.

This is such an interesting premise. As a literary translator myself, I was all in. I had to work to keep my interest in some places, but that might well be a personal issue and nothing to do with the storytelling. I did enjoy the twists and turns (which I won't give away), and I wish I'd had time to write a longer, more considered review of the book. It earns its place in a growing sub-genre of fiction about translators alongside other well-known works.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the premise, but it didn’t grab me in the way I hoped. It took me awhile to finish it.

3.5 I'm rounding up just for the great creepy vibe.

This one was shocking. I downloaded it for the fascinating cover and definitely stuck around for good narrated audiobook! I didn't love the MC. She's a bit prickly. I did understand her frustration at her lack of career movement and financial situation. I liked her boyfriend and, pretty quickly, they are off to meet her parents. I loved the languages and the added competition between the two.

The secret society of these amazing linguists was also captivating. The story had me on edge, as the creep factor moved up but also my fascination. I had a few guesses as to what was going on but I was still pretty shocked by the twist. It was such an engrossing story, especially listening to it (which I highly recommend! It had a GREAT narrator!) This was a great intro to fall read and got me in the spooky vibe of the season. I really liked it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This book tried to tackle a lot. There were parts of the story where I felt like the author could have gone deeper, but instead we were slightly rushed by a main character who sort of lets everything "happen to her".

There were unexpected twists in this story that kept me at the edge of my seat, but the pacing just felt slightly off to me.

A translator learns about a highly secretive program where you can attain fluency in any new language in just two weeks. But something is strange about The Centre and as Anisa grows closer to the manager, she discovers it's far more sinister than she ever could've imagined. A slow paced thriller that doesn't give up its secrets until the end but kept me invested nonetheless.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This was a very interesting read, and was nothing like I expected it to be. It was ambitious and tackled many important themes: classism, racism, colonialism, and sexism — however it sped through everything so fast I feel like there wasn’t enough focus to elaborate on each topic. I believe this book is for people who adore languages, who are total linguistic nerds. This isn’t a book for everyone, however I really enjoyed it and the dark mystery aspect it had to it! While it was predictable and the plot questionable at times, I liked it.

Siddiqi provides a build up of intrigue, commentary on class and colonization, while at the same time setting for a twist that ultimately has me questioning if it can really be called a twist in the first place. The foreshadowing tended to be too 'spot on.' And all the characters were rather unlikable. I also don't think the argument against the institute that the MC makes near the end actually holds up in reality. If that was the argument she was going to make, it should've been better justified.

3 stars for effort.

This was an ambitious novel in that it tackled so many major social issues - racism, classism, colonialism, sexism - and I'm not sure it was able to give each of them as much attention as they individually deserve. It was an interesting concept and a new way to view these issues, but I don't know that it would appeal to readers who don't geek out over language and words. It is definitely more literary fiction than thriller, but entertaining nonetheless.

I really enjoyed this unique book! The premise was incredible and I appreciated the social commentary. It was a bit predictable, but I still really enjoyed it. I took off one star for the predictability, but overall it was an enjoyable, suspenseful read.

I thought the second half of the book was more compelling than the first half, but I enjoyed the pacing as well.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!

I am not sure how I feel about this. I don’t hate it. But I definitely need to sit and stare at a wall for awhile. This was definitely a book that makes you think.

A darkly comic, speculative debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.

The Centre was a very clever, interesting book. The idea of being to learn a language, fluently, in just two weeks is an amazing idea. However, at what lengths would you go to achieve this. I have to be honest I was not a fan of Anisa, the FMC. I don't think she knows what she wants from anything in life. Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable book with a nice sinister twist.

Thank you @netgalley and @zandoprojects for letting ing me read and review this book.

Publication Date: 07/11/23

Thank you NetGalley and Zando Projects, Gillian Flynn Books for accepting my request to read and review The Centre.

I have said many times but never wrote hee·bie-jee·bies. I Googled to get the spelling. The bottomline is The Centre gave me the hee·bie-jee·bies. Profanity while not throughout the book was there; in addition around 80-85 % I wondered if I was being setup for a disappointing ending. Turns out, there are about 20-30 pages of dialogue that took away from the momentum that was built from page one. For those two reasons, I'm comfortable with a solid four star rating.

I do recommend the book to anyone who wants to experience a dark, not gory mystery. I was surprised with two major points in the story. Visualize the two weights on a barbell, and they represent how far I was from the author with my suspicions on both points.

Briefly, The Centre is an elite language school. The key is not forgetting they guarantee in ten days you will be fluent in the language of your choice. The story is not bogged down with scientific details nor are there red herrings. This is smart, creepy, and just eww.

I found it to be well-written and my only disappointment was the F--- swearing. The practices in a Pakistani family (according to the book) of taking your plate to the sink is insulting yet foul language is not. There is a scene in the story where the cultural practice is discussed in a how dare you insult my mother fashion, simultaneously dropping F---.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and found Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi's storytelling fun (in a twisted sick fashion.). Finally, I'm embracing this moment (rarely am able to say) I loved the ending.

Anisa has been craving for meaningful translation work. Literature instead of the Bollywood movies she subtitles to make a living. When she meets Adam, who seems to be doing exceptionally well as a translator, she's intrigued. The two start a relationship and Anisa finds out that Adam is fluent in way more languages than seems humanly possible. He claims this is due to a prestigious and exclusive language learning school called the Centre. Anisa becomes obsessed with the idea of it and soon finds it's not what she expected at all.
Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for books about literature, but I really loved this one. I loved Anisa as a main character and narrator, I really enjoyed the tone Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi gave to Anisa and how she built the story. The language was beautiful, the plot so well constructed, the mechanisms so well thought through. I couldn't put this book down!