A fantastic plot and beautiful writing that is haunting and melancholic.

We follow our five-star stranger as his once faultless boundaries with clients begin to blur and he finds himself emotionally attached to his pretend daughter. While it is a quiet and reflective novel, there are a few surprises along the way that amped up the thrills and tension. I really enjoyed the read and recommend it to fans of contemporary and literary fiction.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Five-Star Stranger
By Kat Tang

Publishing Date: August 26, 2024

Publisher Synopsis:
“Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? Your husband?

In an age where online ratings are all-powerful, Five-Star Stranger follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app--a place where users can hire a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or an extra mourner for a funeral. Referred to only as Stranger, the narrator navigates New York City under the guise of characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients.

But, when a nosy patron threatens to upend his long-term role as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his attachment to his pretend daughter, her mother, and his own fraught past. Now, he must confront the boundaries he has drawn and explore the legacy of abandonment that shaped his life.”

My Rating: 4/5 ⭐️s
The concept of this book was so interesting and unlike any other I just had to read it. The character development was a big part of this read and I was invested in their growth. This would be great book club option!

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for providing the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

The description had me hooked. Fortunately I felt the story met me expectations. Amazing character development. This would be a fantastic book club book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner, for providing an Advanced Reader Copy for an honest review. Here is the review that I published as a part of a 2024 Roundup for Michigan Quarterly Review:

The premise of this novel is unexpected, brilliant, and moving. In a gig economy world not far from our own, strangers are rented to act as a sibling, a spouse, or a friend, then reviewed and rated. The novel follows a five-starred rated man-for-hire, as he navigates real emotional bonds and how they are entangled with his own history and abandonment, when his role as a long-term stand-in father is threatened. I love Tang’s command of the sentences, her characters, and beautiful voice, to be out in the world soon.