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Ahhhh, I loved this so much more than I thought I would. This story is such a slow burn, but I really connected with the protagonist and the writing style and the concept is fascinating!!! The Centre is this mysteriously place where you can pay a price to learn a new language within 10 days, but it’s very private and hush hush and invite only. I love weird stories like this with a unique concept. The writing was so freaking good, there were so many great quotes about language and translation and why it matters so much. This book was also packed full of great social commentary like this:

“gratitude and admiration when a white person speaks a non-white language, and only contempt and indignation for non-white people who don’t speak English�

I loved the discussion about female friendships and how friendships can be just as important as romantic relationships even though they are never celebrated in the same way. This quote about friendships: “the slow burning love of female friendship keeps the world turning� just really meant a lot to me.

I was really moved by so many thought provoking quotes like this:

“There can be something quite devastating in feeling a comfort you can barely remember. It can make you grieve, if I’m honest, for something that you’d always felt a vague sense of loss over but never know for certain you were missing.�

This book was exactly the kind of weird I like in my horror books, it had great atmosphere. I think if you enjoyed Catherine House or Natural Beauty, I would put those in the same category as this book! 🖤