Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

15 reviews

qgg's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The FMC develops prosopagnosia, otherwise known as face blindness. This is the main driver for the story. Her growth as a character is interesting to read, though she still acts quite childish during parts of the story. That was hard to read. Brain injury books, even surgical in nature, can be hard to read with my history. 

That said, I’m placing this in disability representation even if most (but not all) of the disability is temporary. It really is the theme of the book. I also am putting this under women’s lit rather than romance. It reads as more of the discovery of self, of the artist and of her place within her family and community with the addition of this childish fantasy of a guy and this other guy in the building who might be a jerk and who might be nice. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

kdailyreads's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Grief, Death of parent, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit

amandaboyer's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

maggies's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This just squeaked into 5 star territory by the end...

The bad:

• It took me a loooong time to warm up to Sadie and 90% of her problems were self-inflicted
• What in the world was Parker's purpose? Just villainous for villainy's sake, weird
• Sue is kind of the worst best friend

The good:

• The men! Such good love interests
• The premise! So clever, unusual and interesting. I learned so much about prosopagnosia and the various experiences of it
• The growth! Sadie made me so proud by the end

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kaydeedickins's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.75

The Author’s Note is so so beautiful, an ode to love stories. 😍

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Bullying, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this story❤️ The characters are lovable except for Parker (she's so mean and a bully.) Sadie's journey having temporary face blindness was both funny and heartbreaking. She was ridiculous to the point of being delulu😂 The twist that Joe and Oliver were the same person was satisfying for me because they were meant for each other. I hate the misunderstanding trope, and this had a lot, but I had fun reading this novel. The Kim family were so nice to Sadie and I love it. Thank you, Katherine, ✨ P. S. I also read The Bodyguard and enjoyed that as well.🔥

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

3.25

 Finished reading: September 5th 2023

"We’re all just doing the best we can. We’re all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost."

I'm not sure what went wrong here to be honest. I tend to enjoy her work, and I fully expected to love Hello Stranger after reading the blurb. I've read books with a face blindness element before, and it's a topic that has always intrigued me. I fully expected this book to become a new favorite, but somehow I ended up having mixed thoughts instead... This probably mainly has to do with the main character Sadie; there was something about her that simply didn't work for me. She was just too immature and negative, and I was never able to warm up to her completely... In fact, I liked most of the other characters a lot more! There were also too many cliches incorporated if you ask me. The whole evil stepmother and evil stepsister was just taking things a step too far; especially Parker didn't add anything substantial to the story other than annoying the hell out of me. I also saw the big 'twist' coming from a mile away, which was a bit of a disappointment as I kept hoping I was wrong. That said, I can't deny that it was still a very readable story though... And I did fly though it despite those issues. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Bullying, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Fatphobia

vj_thompson's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved everything about this book; from the first page to the author’s note. PLEASE read the author’s note. It made me fall more in love with Katherine Center’s books 💕

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Bullying, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Fatphobia

Minor: Suicide attempt and Alcoholism

tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

 

My heart was captured and melted into a puddle of emotions while reading this story. I absolutely adored all the characters and the occurrences that happened earlier in the novel that were brought together at the end, which made it all make sense in a superb way. The support from and feelings between Sadie and her love interest delivered all the feels; not to mention the hero delivered on the swoons! Sadie was such a darling protagonist with her silliness and quirks, but also her strength was admirable as she worked through her medical condition. 

The narration was spectacular and matched the level of Center’s caliber of writing by captivating me with their voice.

This was such a dazzling novel that I will cherish for a very long time. Please do your heart a favour and pick this book up!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copy. Thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Toxic relationship

emmas_bookshelf's review

medium-paced

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

2.5

So there’s a scene in this book where a man is making a bunch of overtly fat-phobic and body shaming comments that appear to be about a woman he had a one-night stand with. Later, he claims he was talking about a dog. Whatever is true, it’s gross and so unnecessary. Why is this even in the book?

Anyway, the book is fine, but by no means great, and this makes it a miss for me. Also recommend you check CWs! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Fatphobia