Hello Stranger - Katherine Center - ★★.¾

AUTHOR: Katherine Center

GENRE: Romcom

PUBLICATION DATE: July 11, 2023

RATING: 2.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary romance-drama featuring a FMC with an unusual medical issue. Good characters though a tad too peppy and/or self-centred at times. Interesting use of the medical diagnosis. Most of the book was great as per the genre, with a good balance of rom and com. But the final quarter had too farfetched a situation. Still, not a bad option, especially considering the kind of plots we usually get in this genre.

Plot Preview:

Twenty-year-old Sadie is poised for the big change in her lacklustre career as a portrait artist: she has placed in the top ten finalists in one of the biggest portrait competitions. Unfortunately, life brings to her another big change, a catastrophic one. Just a few weeks before the finals, she has to undergo an emergency medical procedure and subsequently, gets diagnosed with a “possibly-temporary-but-we-can’t-say-for-sure” condition commonly known as face blindness. The rest of her eyesight is fine, but every face she sees is a jumbled mess of features. Now Sadie has to cope with this devastating change in her facial-recognition abilities, thereby jeopardising her career as a portrait artist. After the lack of support from her family and some other personal issues, Sadie ends up feeling attracted to two men. Imagine falling in love at first sight when you literally have impaired sight! Is she really in love (lust?) with two guys, or is her post-surgery brain playing further tricks of perception on her, or is her mind just reacting to all the stress?

The story comes to us in Sadie’s first-person perspective.

I am no longer an enthusiastic romance reader, but some books just appeal to my heart by having something different in their blurb. In this case, it was the diagnosis of face blindness that caught my eye. For the most part, the book went fairly well. But there’s a slight twist towards the end, which wasn’t convincing to me.

Bookish Yays:

😶 The use of prosopagnosia aka face blindness in the plot. Quite a novelty (at least for me; I’ve never read it in a book before.)

😶 A balanced plot, where rom and com share space with personal drama and humour. Even with the flaws, the book offers light entertainment.

😶 Funny interactions and many banter-style conversations.

😶 Spice-free romance. Nothing more than kisses; all further scenes are closed-door. Of the two potential love interests, there’s insta love/lust in one case, but it can be medically excused, I guess.

😶 The author’s note, talking not just about face blindness and a list of resources where we can learn more, but also about why romance and romcom as a genre are as important as other genres. A bit aggressive in tone, but probably for the right reasons. Even though I am not a prolific romance reader anymore, I do agree with her, especially when she complains about reviewers dismissing romances by calling them “predictable.” (Funnily, the only other book I have read by this author also has a vehement parting note justifying the value of romcoms. I’m curious to see if every book of hers contains this.)

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🎭 Some of the secondary characters such as the Kims and the delectable Dr. Nicole are amazing. Can’t forget Peanut the dog! Sadie’s family makes up the negative character list. I love that there was no redemption arc for one negative character – they are bad, and that’s that. However, there are no layers to the characters. Most of them, whether likeable or not, sound monotonous throughout.

Bookish Nays:

😷 Sadie has limited positive attributes, one of which is her love for her pet dog Peanut. She is whiny and judgemental and constantly feels sorry for herself, never looking at anything that is going well. Even before the accident, she doesn’t recognise most of her neighbours and even forgets who helped her on two occasions. Post the diagnosis, it gets even worse as she refuses to accept assistance or to tell anyone about her condition, that too for all the wrong reasons. She also insists on calling a person by an incorrect name because “it suits them better”. I did feel a little sorry for her, but not as much as I should have. She made for an annoying FMC, especially in a romcom.

😷 The MMCs are allotted enough book-boyfriend attributes, but they still feel a bit flat. I don’t know if this is partly because Sadie rambles so much that we don’t see many key details about the two men beyond their attractiveness. (Yup, even with the face blindness, Sadie finds enough body parts and character traits to gush about! 🤦🏻‍♀️)

😷 Too many inner monologues, often sounding defensive and/or belligerent.

😷 Too much miscommunication, thanks to Sadie’s adamancy about keeping her face blindness a secret.

😷 Overly convenient. All characters are connected to each other in some way or the other, either through a common location or through their past. Such a small world?

😷 The big reveal at the end, which, I think, will be the deciding factor in your enjoyment of this novel. You will either love it or you won't. I admit, it did catch me by surprise, but despite the lengthy explanation in the final chapter trying to convince us of the whats and hows and whys, the reveal leaves certain plot gaps and inconsistencies.

😷 On that note, the lengthy explanation in the final chapter trying to convince us of the whats and hows and whys. I can’t stand infodumps even in genres such as mysteries where they are ubiquitous. No way will I enjoy an infodump in a romcom! Infodumps are lazy and boring – period. A clever book doesn’t need an infodump to make readers understand what happened.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 10 hours 39 mins, is narrated by Patti Murin. She truly rocks the performance! Even with so many characters and conversations, Murin ensures that each character’s individuality is maintained. The best was the snarky voice she used for Parker. You could actually feel the menace in her tone. If you want to try this book, I’d definitely recommend the audio version. The author’s note is narrated by the author herself.

Overall, this is a pretty good book, with many of the shortcomings being standard features of the genre than a problem of the book itself. However, the problematic lead character, that final reveal and the extended infodump dampened my overall enjoyment level. I would have expected some plot points to be medically implausible, but the flaws are more behavioural than medical.

This is only my second book by this acclaimed romance writer. The first book I read, ‘The Rom-Commers’ had also offered a similar experience, with an outstanding first half and a slightly disappointing second half. That said, I wouldn’t mind reading more of her works because even when she gets me to roll my eyes, she makes sure that I am invested in the plot while doing so.

Recommended to fans of the genre and the author. To be read with all disbelief suspended and all logic kept aside, which I struggle to do.

2.75 stars. (If the end were stronger, this would have earned at least 3.75 stars.)

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing the DRC of “Hello Stranger” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.