There was much to like about this book. It’s odd. The subject matter is unique. It’s completely character driven. The nameless main character is interesting and complex. And boy did this book get dark at times.

Things I did not like: The plot line with Lily was outrageous and I’m still mad on her behalf.

I’m hopeful for the main character’s future, but I would really like to know what’s next for him. The ending just didn’t do it for me.

Three stars for a solid novel that was way more dark and layered than the cover would lead you to believe.

I thoroughly enjoyed this deeply psychological novel exploring modern love, loneliness and community. After the death of his mother, an unnamed protagonist decides to try an unnusual career - a Rental Stranger who can be hired for different positions, anything from a missing father, a grieving widow, and a drunken brother. By introducing the concept of the Other as kin, Tang asks to consider the isolation and loss of social bonds in today's harried world. I wish there was more time to think through the ending - I was confused by the sudden trip to LA and sex scene.

Gosh, I feel terrible giving a book two stars, but I really disliked this one. First off, I thought the colorful and whimsical nature of the book title and cover art (along with the premise of the story) were quite misleading. This was just depressing. I struggled with the fact that the Stranger remains anonymous even to the reader and with his primary paid gig of fake father. I’m always interested in a story like The Wedding Date where the fake (rental) boyfriend actually falls in love with the woman who hired him and they live happily ever after. This books is distinctly not that. Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for my ARC.

Honestly, I just didn’t get it. It’s a cool idea. A rent-a-man business to provide whatever services are needed from wedding or funeral date to, well, more than date. But here he has been hired to play dad to a 10-year-old girl, where he is trying to balance keeping his five star escort career with doing what is best by and for Lily. I just never got it, but it’s a VERY short read, so that helped.

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Stranger is an unnamed character available for rent. He transforms himself into anyone his clients request - a date, a best man, a brother, even a father. He seems to value his five star rating above everything else.

While that’s certainly an interesting premise on its own, it’s the underlying story that really captured my attention. His loneliness, issues of abandonment and responsibility, the darker part of the story is of course what drew me in the most.

This book started off more entertaining than it finished. It was an interesting premise and character driven but the main character was incredibly unlikeable and this made the read less enjoyable for me

I really enjoy a good character-driven story and that’s exactly what Tang delivers in this debut book!

First off, you had me at the idea of being able to rent a stranger for whatever role you can imagine in an app. Absolutely wild, but totally believable in this day and age. I do really wish we would have learned more about the app itself, but ultimately I think it would have taken away from the story. Because who doesn’t want to meet and get inside the mind of one of these strangers? Tang gives readers a great bird’s eye view into the top-rated man on the app.

What drives him?
Why did he pick this profession?
How does he do it?

Prepare yourself not to totally get all the full answers, but just enough to keep you coming back for more each time you set the book down.

I’m a little on the fence and still processing my feelings on the ending. Did I want something else for this stranger? I might not be sure about that, but I am sure that I’m going to keep Tang’s future releases on my radar!

This was an interesting read and I really enjoyed it. By the end of the book I was really rooting for the stranger to be able to get to have the relationship that he and his pseudo daughter deserved. Very thought provoking and I would highly recommend it.

a good, fresh, thoughtful read. the unnamed "stranger" is both so foreign and so familiar to me- the author was so good at putting you in his head and creating a world where renting a stranger is normal. the ending was a little unsatisfactory to me, but I got what the author was trying to do.

I wanted more. I think there are the bones of some really great stories in Five-Star Stranger and I feel like the author just didn’t quite get there. Our unnamed narrator works through a Rental Stranger app - willing to show up and fill in for the gaps in someone’s life. He has ruled for himself about not getting emotionally involved. The ending felt abrupt. Overall - this was a sad story with a lot of potential. Thank you to the publisher for the free book to review.

Thanks to Scribner for an advanced copy of Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang which came out on August 6th.

Five-Star Stranger is a little more character driven than I usually go for but the synopsis of this book had me intrigued. Told through the voice of a "rental stranger" who is the top rated guy you can hire to be your best man or an extra mourner at a funeral or whatever else you need. This was an interesting book and much deeper than I thought. It really looks at relationships and loneliness and community.

It was a quick book to read and I enjoyed listening to it on audiobook. The narrator Julian Cihi had me engrossed in the story. Thanks to Simon Audio for the audiobook copy.

In an age where online reviews are more influential than ever before, FIVE-STAR STRANGER follows a top-rated rental stranger who meticulously crafts various personas for different jobs. He can be an extra mourner at a funeral, a best man, an alcoholic brother, or even a father who’s always on the road for work. After many successful years, this carefully guarded stranger begins to struggle with separating his work and personal life.

I was drawn in by the unique premise of this one and it did not disappoint. It’s a quiet, tense, character-driven story with incredibly thought-provoking content. It had me contemplating if the protagonist’s career of monetizing friendship was ethically acceptable, especially when children are involved. It also explores the epidemic of loneliness in a constantly connected world. This was an impressive debut and would be a great book club pick.

**Thank you to Scribner for this free digital review copy.**

I can't remember where I heard about this book or why I requested it on NetGalley because it doesn't sound like the kind of story I would like... and I was right. While the concept of a rental service for a stranger to stand in for you as say, your date to a distant cousin's wedding, sounds like it could make a good story, the central relationship of this story being a fake father to an almost 10 year old was so obviously ethically not okay that I could not enjoy anything else about this book except for how quick of a read it was (finished in one day and probably would have been one sitting if my Kindle battery hadn't run out).

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

a very interesting story about a man who works for a rental stranger app and is hired to fill in as different roles for strangers. one particular job he's been on for years is a stand-in father to a young girl who is now asking questions about her family and his role in her life.

there isn't much that goes on. this is definitely more focused on character than plot. while i was interested in the premise because i think it's such an interesting concept, the execution didn't really hit the mark for me. a lot of introspection goes into the past of the main character, the relationship he had with his own mother and how that affects the relationships he's building now. i thought there would be more to the story and i also thought there would be a more satisfying conclusion. a good debut but i wanted more!

Five-star stranger is a creative novel about identify and commodification of relationships. In this version of nyc, people can hire others to pretend to be whatever they need them to be-a wingmen, best friend, co-worker., etc. and then they get rated by their costumers. A man has been hired to pretend to be the father to a girl by her mother.a bond develops with him and the family, but a bad review customer threatens to expose his identify to his daughter. With this threat, the man begins to question everything he thought he knew about his job, relationships, his identity, and his past.

A heart-warming novel with depth that will reel the reader into this not-so-distant world. The man and his relationship with Lilly, his “daughter” are the heart of the novel
And you will find yourself rooting for him.

Thank you to the publisher for providing the arc via bethel in exchange for an honest review.

A thought-provoking story about a man living in New York City who is a Stranger for Hire. If you need a date for a wedding, you want to bring home a new boyfriend to a holiday meal, someone to go with you to the opera, or if you need someone to pretend that they are the father of your child, you can hire a Five-Star Stranger through a phone app. The narrator is the Stranger that is a very busy man who is so popular that he is hired for various jobs. But the job that he has been hired consistently for is to pretend that he is Lily’s Dad. Lily is a little girl with a working mother that sees her pretend dad once a week, being told he is a truck driver. As the story progresses, you realize that the narrator has become completely attached to Lily and considers Lily his daughter. As Lily grows older and has more questions about family, the story begins to get sticky.

This book makes you wonder if this app exists in our world today. The entire book made me root for Stranger and Lily to become the family that they both deserve. You also hear from the narrator how and why he took this sad, depressing job.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner Publicity for the Advanced Reader Copy. #NetGalley #FiveStarStranger

I wanted to like this one, and maybe at another time it would have worked, but after getting 40% into it I just didn't care. The premise was fun, and a part of me wanted to see where it all went, but not enough to keep going. I'm very curious to see what others think, and if readers with taste similar to mine love it, I might give it another try but for now, I've put it back on the shelf.

I was not a fan of the authors writing style it was reading a journal of someone's day. DNF.


*************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley.************

This book was surprising and fresh. I loved the perspective of our unnamed main character who rents himself out as a friend, family member, or co-conspirator to anyone in need. Although he starts the novel confident in his roles, throughout the story his confidence comes into question over whether a client can just be a client. I loved the humanity this book brings forth from the characters involved. We have all been in a position where we needed a person in our lives to respond a certain way for us or simply show up. This book pulls in that vulnerability and flips it on its head with how we make connections with the most unlikely of people, and it is our connections that with others that makes life worth participating in fully.

The main character, whose name is never disclosed, is hired to play the character the client needs, never
getting personally involved. The line becomes blurred due to his attachment to the daughter of a long term client.
Having pretended to be the girl's father for a number of years, it becomes more difficult to separate his feelings
for the child. A bittersweet read.
#FiveStarStranger #Scribner #NetGalley