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Five-star Stranger
Five-star Stranger: A Novel | Kat Tang
6 posts | 7 read | 4 to read
"Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? Your husband? In Kat Tang's exciting and resonant debut, a "Rental Stranger"-a companion hired under various guises-walks the line between personal and professional in surprising new ways. Five-Star Stranger follows a man who is a top-rated performer on the "Rental Stranger" app, where users can hire a pretend fianc, Referred to only as Stranger, the narrator navigates New York City under the guise of the characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients. 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 a pretend fianc, 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. 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. Five-Star Stranger is a strikingly vivid novel about the commodification of relationships in a gig economy, isolation in a hyperconnected world, and the risk of asking for what we want from those who cannot give. This is the story of a man who finds out who he is by being anyone but himself"--
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review
LiteraryinPA
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Mehso-so

I still have acute vertigo, like yesterday, so all I can do is sit in bed with my head stationary. (I have a PT appointment later and I really hope that helps). I just read this in one sitting, and I‘m not sure if my lukewarm feeling is on the book‘s merits or the circumstances. The main character is a cypher, so I didn‘t connect to him. But I don‘t think you‘re supposed to. At 227 pages there wasn‘t a lot of room for character development.🤷🏻‍♀️

willaful How uncomfortable! I hope you feel better soon. 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
marleed I can‘t imagine vertigo. I‘m so sorry for you! 🥲 2mo
59 likes3 comments
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Lesliereadsalot
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Pickpick

There‘s an app for everything and our narrator is on Rent-A-Stranger with a five-star rating. His days are filled with gigs but he‘s only truly happy when he‘s hired once a week by a single mother with a little girl. He‘s very attached to this child but how long can he keep up being “dad” to her? And who is he really?

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LeafingThroughLife
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Pickpick

Stranger is a damaged character seeking redemption for himself by making the clients who rent his time happy. When a client threatens to upend his carefully constructed set of rental identities, he is forced onto a collision course with…himself. Well-written but a bit soulless, this is a book that has something to say about relationships and the risk and value of love. This is not the fluffy book the cover would lead you to expect. Soft pick.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3mo
LiteraryinPA I think soulless is a great way to describe it! 2mo
20 likes3 comments
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LiteraryinPA
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I have never added an extra book to my #botm box, but I was really excited about the choices and decided to go for it! The tagged book was my main pick, and then I added the latest thriller by Pekkanen (I always love her books alone and in her writing pair). Also, lately I‘ve seen such rave reviews for All the Colors of the Dark that I had to see what the fuss was about! So excited for all 3!!

Thanks for the rec @marleed @NikkiKey94 @Breanne1 !

NikkiKey94 I hope you enjoy All The Colors of the Dark! You‘ll have to let me know what you think! 3mo
Breanne1 I hope you enjoy reading All the Colors as much as I did, enjoy! 3mo
48 likes2 comments
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Kristy_K
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Pickpick

How many of us would rent a stranger 2 fill a void (a parent, a friend, a partner) that would make us appear 2 the world as whole or complete?

Stranger believes he is meeting this need while staying unattached until his carefully plotted out world begins 2 crumble when 1 renter threatens to expose him to another (a child). He must reconcile his past w/ this present & come to terms with the reality of why he chose to take on the role of Stranger.

LiteraryinPA Wow, what an intriguing premise! 3mo
Kristy_K @LiteraryinLawrence It was very unique, but I really enjoyed it! 3mo
56 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Sara_Planz
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Pickpick

This is a well plotted social commentary filled with insight, emotion and quite a few "a-ha" moments for myself as I was reading it. It really got me thinking about how relationships play out in this modern age. Do we put more effort into our online relationships, or should we be focusing most on our face to face interactions? This would be an excellent read for a book club discussion to really dive into these topics.

43 likes2 stack adds