Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

18 reviews

gretchreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent

jla's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It was pretty obvious what was going to happen with the good samaritan, Joe, and the vet. It's so frustrating reading a book where everything could be cleared up with the truth, and you're just waiting for everything to blow up. Parker was crazy pathologic, and Sadie really went through it in the book. There were a lot of really funny parts in this book. I loved every interaction Joe and Sadie had.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Medical trauma

whateves99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Well…. This book was AMAZING I learned A lot about face blindness and it kept my attention
and was HILARIOUS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing and Sexual content

qgg's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The FMC develops prosopagnosia, otherwise known as face blindness. This is the main driver for the story. Her growth as a character is interesting to read, though she still acts quite childish during parts of the story. That was hard to read. Brain injury books, even surgical in nature, can be hard to read with my history. 

That said, I’m placing this in disability representation even if most (but not all) of the disability is temporary. It really is the theme of the book. I also am putting this under women’s lit rather than romance. It reads as more of the discovery of self, of the artist and of her place within her family and community with the addition of this childish fantasy of a guy and this other guy in the building who might be a jerk and who might be nice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

kdailyreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

amandaboyer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

maggies's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This just squeaked into 5 star territory by the end...

The bad:

• It took me a loooong time to warm up to Sadie and 90% of her problems were self-inflicted
• What in the world was Parker's purpose? Just villainous for villainy's sake, weird
• Sue is kind of the worst best friend

The good:

• The men! Such good love interests
• The premise! So clever, unusual and interesting. I learned so much about prosopagnosia and the various experiences of it
• The growth! Sadie made me so proud by the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kaydeedickins's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

3.25

 Finished reading: September 5th 2023

"We’re all just doing the best we can. We’re all struggling with our struggles. Nobody has the answers. And everybody, deep down, is a little bit lost."

I'm not sure what went wrong here to be honest. I tend to enjoy her work, and I fully expected to love Hello Stranger after reading the blurb. I've read books with a face blindness element before, and it's a topic that has always intrigued me. I fully expected this book to become a new favorite, but somehow I ended up having mixed thoughts instead... This probably mainly has to do with the main character Sadie; there was something about her that simply didn't work for me. She was just too immature and negative, and I was never able to warm up to her completely... In fact, I liked most of the other characters a lot more! There were also too many cliches incorporated if you ask me. The whole evil stepmother and evil stepsister was just taking things a step too far; especially Parker didn't add anything substantial to the story other than annoying the hell out of me. I also saw the big 'twist' coming from a mile away, which was a bit of a disappointment as I kept hoping I was wrong. That said, I can't deny that it was still a very readable story though... And I did fly though it despite those issues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail