I made it about 30% through the book. The poor main character suffers an endless stream of misfortune. She's:

- in dire financial straits
- estranged from her family
- had a medical emergency, brain surgery, and complications that threaten her career
- terrified as her dog becomes very sick

Despite it all, she's crushing on a cute vet, a tiny bright spot in her day-to-day. He asks her out and instead of, you know, saying yes, she spins an internal monologue talking herself out of it. I just couldn't follow her down that hole.

Have I done this myself? Yes. Do I want to read about her continuing to be miserable? No, no, no.

It's not for me.

originally posted at https://groddle.com/blog/2023/oct/16/

Sadie Montgomery is a struggling portrait artist who lives in the "extra space" of a store owned by her best friend's parents' store. Susan has been her best friend since college and appreciates the assistance as she lost the financial support of her father, Richard Montgomery, a respected cardiothoracic surgeon, when she refused to go to medical school. He discouraged her from pursuing art as an occupation like her mother who died prematurely from a brain tumor. Her relationship with her father became further strained after he married a woman named Lucinda whose daughter, Parker, coincidentally, bullied Sadie through high school. The last person Sadie wanted to seek help from would be her father until a terrible accident occurs just before the deadline of the North American Portrait Society competition where she is a finalist with a substantial financial award.

Unfortunately, Sadie has a seizure while crossing the street where Joe saves her from being struck by a car. Sadie wakes up in the hospital unable to see faces. She is extremely confused as to what happened to her. Testing revealed she had a rare brain cavernoma tumor resulting in "temporary" facial blindness. She is panicked given that her financial well-being is solely dependent on her ability to see faces and is desperate to finish her project for the portrait competition. With the help of friends and eventually her father she discovers a way to "see" so that she might be able to return to her art. It wouldn't be a romantic comedy without the confusion of Sadie's attraction to her dog Peanuts' vet. Her obsession has her bringing the dog to the doctor more often than needed until she is persuaded to meet up with the man who saved her in the street after her accident. She feels incredibly vulnerable mistaking people as she cannot clearly see anyone's face, including Parker who finds this an opportune time to embarrass and humiliate her. Sadie finds a way to humor herself through all these missteps and discovers that sometimes you can "see" better without your vision.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this novel. My opinions are voluntary and unbiased. ( )

Oh man, facial blindness would be SO frustrating. I really liked how the author weaved it into the plot and character progression, though. ( )

3.75⭐️ rounded up ( )

Book Review: Hello Stranger
Stars: 4 of 5
Author: Katherine Center @katherinecenter
Publisher: St. Martin‘ s Press @stmartinspress
Thank you NetGalley @netgalley for the audio Arc of this book.

This is the story of Sadie, an artist, who has an accident and ends up with facial blindness. Sadie is a portrait artist and just before her accident she finds out she is one of ten finalist for a competition but how can she paint in a contest if she can see faces.

Sadie's life has not been easy. Her mother died when she was a teenager. Her father a prominent cardiac surgeon remarries a not so nice woman with a bratty daughter. She also has difficulty living up to her father's expectations.

Things start to go Sadie's way when she meets two men. She starts to get know them and all is progressing well except how do you tell some one you can't see their face.

Sadie encounters many frustrations and struggles as she learns what may be her new normal. She also must learn to trust others which she has always found difficult. Who knows maybe this face blindness is what Sadie needed to turner life around.

The author does a fabulous job of describing the many aspects of living with such a cognitive disorder that only affects 2.5% of the world's population.

I love this tale. It is a very heartwarming and humerus story if struggle and love, The ending was perfect. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors and this now is well worth the read.

#hellostranger #hellostrangerbook #faceblindness #prosopagnosia #prosopagnosìa #bookstagram #bookish #instabooks #ilovebooks #readinglist #bookblog #readmore #reads #currentread #readingaddict #avidreader #readallthebooks #booksta #booksandbooks #readaholic #booksarelife #reader #bookscoffeebrews ( )