2 Stars - DNF

I really wanted to like this book but I found the main character more annoying than endearing. I’m sure the plot would suck most people in, but for some reason I couldn’t get lost in it like other books. Not for me, I guess.

Katherine Center is an absolute favorite of mine, and this book definitely cemented that status. Hello Stranger's Sadie is a struggling artist who finally may have her big break: she has just been notified that she is a finalist in an portrait artist contest. After a fainting incident and emergency surgery, she wakes up to discover she has face blindness. How Sadie navigates her career, her relationships , and her "new normal" had me devouring this book. There is a twist at the end of this book - and one most readers will likely see coming - but that doesn't make this book any less of a joy to read.
If you haven't ready any of Katherine Center's books, I cannot recommend her work enough. There is a reason she is called "the queen of comfort reads" and I am here for all of it.
Thank you to Katherine Center, NetGalley, and St. Martin's for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hello, Stranger follows Sadie, who is having a rough time of it. She lost her mother, she's living in a teeny apartment, her family is awful, etc. But things can still get worse - as she has a seizure, is almost hit by a car, and then finds out that she needs brain surgery. Yep, this is a rom-com. So, she has the surgery and has a side effect in recovery of face blindness, which is hopefully temporary, but comes at the most inconvenient time possible, as she's a finalist in a portrait painting contest. Portraits kinda need for you to see faces. So, she's struggling. Along the way, she meets and develops an infatuation with her dog's vet. Then, she develops a friendship with the guy in her building that she previously thought was a big grump. All while dodging her evil stepsister and trying to paint a portrait.

This book was a light-hearted and fun romp until right around 70% or so, when I knew that the end was going to be a twist that I predicted but assumed couldn't exist because that would have been too predictable and dumb. But guess what... that as the exact twist. I was disappointed. It's more than just being predictable, the twist is virtually impossible in terms of miscommunication. At best, the major twist could have been a first act mishap. This book had a great deal of potential, but certainly fell flat for me.

The premise of this was soooo promising but the execution did not work for me. Not a fan of this title

What a cute romance novel! I love Katherine Center's books and thorough enjoyed this one too. The story was unique and the characters were great. 5 stars!

A great premise which led to a grey story. Heart warming, twisty and romantic all wrapped up into this lovely book. So enjoyable!

I really enjoyed it though I didn't love it or relate to any of the characters, in fact the whole book was very different from what i normally like to read. The story dragged me along and kept me hooked for the entire ride. I recommend <3 Katherine has such a way with writing romance and self discovery all in one. I really liked Sadie's character and the romance was super cute. It was predictable for sure except for those mmc but that didn't lessen my enjoyment at all of it. I did have very mixed feeling through the whole book but still recommend.

I loved this book! The story caught me in the first chapter and I just didn't want to stop reading. I highly recommend this book and author!

First of all Katherine Center has empicable writing. Her books are always different and i find myself getting lost in the story, Definitely recommend this book asi thought it was complete different from anything i'd ever read before.

Katherine Center never disappoints me when I pick up one of her books. They are the perfect mix of humor and romance while also being a little serious. Hello Stranger might be my favorite one of hers yet!

Katherine Center comes through again with a sweet and delightful story that I finished in one sitting! I loved this story and these characters and as always I loved Katherine's wit.

3.5 rounded up. I found the MC annoying and couldn’t find myself cheering for them. Predictable ending

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.

This book has been on my TBR for so long! I finally cracked it open, and I’m so glad I did!
The characters were written so well. The plot was very unique. I’ve never read a book like this before. Although I guessed the twist pretty early on, it was such a fun, lighthearted read. I especially loved Peanut the dog and all the hilarious and sweet moments. I wanted to smack her evil stepsister though! All in all, a great read! Definitely pick this one up if you’re looking for a light romance. ♥️

I don't think I've ever read a Katherine Center book that I've disliked and Hello Stranger was no exception. From the start, the reader is immersed in Sadie's life and rooting for her to initially fulfill her dream of winning a national portrait contest, and ultimately for her to come to terms with her sudden face blindness. We feel for Sadie throughout, laugh with her and just genuinely want her to overcome any challenges in her way. There's a vibrant cast of characters, two swoony love interests, and such a great commentary on family that we are born into and the one we find. I loved it from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC

My reading took a backseat to other things in life in the months leading up to pub date for this book and I was not able to read and review. I still haven’t fully caught up on my backlist, but I hope to get to this book in the future and I look forward to reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher and my sincere apologies. Life is like that sometimes.

This was such a fun read. I loved Katherine Center's previous book, and this one was no exception. This one had some great representation in it of real life struggles as well as medical issues and I enjoyed reading about Sadie navigating those issues. The romance in this one was interesting, but I like how Katherine tied it together in the end.

Hello Stranger is a great read. It's engaging and delightful. It also makes you think a lot about appearances and judging others.

3.5⭐️
This was my first book by this author so I didn’t know what to expect.
I really liked the general storyline about the face blindness and the whole backstory about Sadie’s mother but the rest of the story was meh for me.
I felt like the romance was lacking and Sadie’s constant feeling of wanting to hide everything made some of the romance just go away.
At times I forgot how old these characters were because Sadie’s step sister was so annoying and acted like a child to the point that any scene with her in it was cringy.
I wouldn’t mind reading another book by Katherine.

Thank you #netgalley for the e-arc

WAHHHHH, let me start by saying that I loved The Bodyguard and Things We Save in a Fire by Katherine Center, but this one let me know down so hard.

Hind sight is 20/20, but I probably should have DNF’d this one.

It honestly felt ALLL over the place and wasn’t for me, but I will still be reading all of her books because I have hope that they will be more like The Bodyguard or TWSIAF.