Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

25 reviews

kristysproule's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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manaledi's review

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emotional 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

3.25

This was a fascinating premise that was an easy read where everything gets tied up neatly.
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amandaboyer's review

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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

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milesandmiles's review

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3.0

I liked so much about this book, Center writes her characters' emotions so you get swept up in them and the love interest ends up being sweet. But there are 3 themes that she really, really needs to give up in her books:

1) Workplace romances - Do not hit on your clients, service providers or coworkers. Seriously, it's in almost every one of her books. These dynamics are so much more likely to be problematic it really shouldn't be a consistent plot point. 

2) Toxic family behaviors hide how much they love you! - I lost track of how many times our main character said no to her family and they just ignored her. But we're expected to believe that if you have enough empathy for them they're not so bad after all and maybe even know best! And having empathy for the people who consistently were awful to you is like the most admirable character trait. 

3) Horrible, horrible things happen to our main characters but no one ever holds space for them or really listens - In this case, the bff keeps forgetting the the medical disaster that requires hospitalization, surgery, likely loss of career and a possible permanent disability. The family is worse. It's like Center believes that unless it's from the good graces of a man who will marry you, women need to be an island with their bad feelings and never truly grieve or they'll be sad sacks forever. That you need badgering and continuous tough love or false cheer to make progress. 
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tiffanyfreads's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

This was a cute little story. Things were predictable and I guessed what happened but it was still a fun read. I do prefer the bodyguard over this but it is still worth checking out if you want a rom com. 
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kaydeedickins's review against another edition

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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. 😍
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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

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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.🔥
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wildflowerleahg's review against another edition

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4.0

Gosh darn it, she's done it again! 
I'm slowly falling in love with Katherine Center's work. I absolutely love a book that has me question what I would do if my world suddenly changed just a Sadie's.

This book was a little predicable (as someone that reads a crap ton of novels) yet it was utterly charming. Personally, I found the parental unit to be frustrating and really took me out of the story. Overall, this story was so deeply sweet. Highly recommend!
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dianaschmidty's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I really liked The Bodyguard and was really excited to read another Katherine Center book. That is why I am so genuinely confused by this book. 

Disclaimer: Nothing in this review is too spoilery, but I do toe the line because I couldn’t fully express my feelings without that.

I can sum up this book in one sentence: There once was this really dumb girl named Sadie. When Destiny Sidwell called her “delulu,” she was so right! Forget her facial blindness, the girl was objectively dumb, even at the beginning. She seemed to go through the story making the worst decisions possible. Why choose a career you actually like when you can be a starving artist who doesn’t really like art that much? Why tell someone about your newly acquired disability when you could simply not, even though it would make your life so much easier? The only person who gave her stupidity a run for her money was her best friend, who upon hearing that she couldn’t recognize anyone’s face to the point of being fooled by her “evil stepsister” (more on that later), decided that she should throw an impromptu surprise party without even checking to see if Sadie was home.

Another thing about Sadie herself: she’s so incredibly annoying. Like yeah, she’s objectively had a rough life, but that doesn’t give her an excuse to judge people based on nothing but appearance (which she does multiple times) and to ignore people she deems lower than herself. Also, WHAT’S WITH HER DOG FOOD?!? Who in their right mind thinks that it’s okay to feed their dog food that’s even considered unhealthy for humans just because her dog is “a foodie”?!?! Also, WHY IS HER VET SO CHILL ABOUT IT?!? Yeah, he says it’s a bad idea, but he doesn’t actually say that she needs to stop,

Now onto the “evil” stepsister and stepmother. While I completely agree with Parker is evil, she is unrealistically evil. Seriously no one noticed that she was awful?!? Like, no teacher pointed out that the thing that Parker pinned on Sadie sounded more like something Parker would do?!? Also, WHAT 15 YEAR OLD DOES ALL OF THAT STUFF JUST TO GET SADIE KICKED OUT?!? And why did even Sadie’s dad side with Parker?!? Even when that was “resolved,” I still felt very unresolved about the whole thing.

Now onto the actual point of the book: the romance. I thought that the main romance itself was the best (and only good part) of the novel. The tension was good and the few kissing scenes we got were really cute and sweet. But honestly? Every guy in this book deserves better than Sadie.

Finally: the plot twist. I saw it coming from a mile away. I figured it out at the 40% point and I actually now, upon reflection, think that I probably should have figured it out sooner. It annoyed me that it even happened in the first place! If this book would have taken place over a couple of days, okay, maybe I could see it, but six weeks?!? I’m hard of hearing and I bet even I’d know what was going on if I had facial blindness too…

Overall, I’m extremely disappointed, but I also haven’t had the opportunity to rant about a book to this extent in a long time, so that’s fun, I guess? Honestly, my favorite part of the book ended up being the author’s note at the end. If only that had been like the entire novel. I will read more Katherine Center books in the future because this book was well-written, I appreciated the acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia representation, and I truly enjoyed The Bodyguard, but this book was not it.

One last thing: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HATE MISCOMMUNICATION, GETTING SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT, OR PEOPLE BEING DENSE FOR NO GOOD REASON.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Katherine Center for providing me access to this book. I’m sorry…
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