HELLO STRANGER
Katherine Center
St Martins Press
July 11, 2023
336 pages
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This starts as a fluffy chick lit book but it quickly gathers substance. Sadie is “face blind” as a result of a series of unfortunate events. The technical term is prosopagnosia. But Sadie is a portrait artist and has just been selected as a finalist in a painted portrait competition. It is very difficult to portray a face on canvas if you can’t see it.
Most of the story is about Sadie coping with her new disability. There are lots of humerous mishaps along the the way. I can empathize with her frustration. I really like Sadie as a main character, though at times I wanted to give her a little shake.
This is a light hearted story about a serious and real condition. It was actually quite entertaining but, as I was reading it, I kept thinking that a more serious approach about coping with face blindness would have been interesting too.
But, writing with humour is the author’s style. I knew that when I chose this book. I appreciate the research Ms. Center put into the subject. I know it takes a lot of time to learn about a medical condition and then put it together cohesively into an entertaining tale.
I did enjoy the story. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments. And, there was drama. The little knowledge I have now about face blindness will spur me to look for books with a little depth on the subject.
Best of all, the ending was a wonderful surprise.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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