Five Star Stranger

March 27, 2025 /

Five Star Stranger ~ Kat Tang

The unnamed protagonist of Five Star Stranger works as a rent-a-person, via an app where he can be rented by the hour to pose as a date to a wedding, a mourner at a funeral, a wingman, a brother, etc. The Stranger, as I will refer to him here, (makes me think of Camus, and from there to The Cure) lives in a cramped apartment in New York, and goes from gig to gig, some with regulars whom he sees often, some with clients who only need him for an hour or two. His goals? To make people happy, to help them when they need him, to stay emotionally distant, and to receive a 5 star rating. If he gets more than 2 lower ratings, he will be dropped from the platform.

The most problematic of these relationships is with his client Mari, and her young daughter, Lily. The Stranger poses as Lily’s father, the story being that he is a long haul truck driver, and is only in New York once a week. He picks her up from school on Thursdays and stays until she is safely tucked in bed and her mom is home, and then he’s off again until next week. This has worked well for years, but Mari is coming to some realizations, and it’s not long before Lily is going to be too old to fall for the deception.

This was a quick read, 230 pages. I really liked it a lot. I liked the writing, I liked the characters (well, most of them), and I found it really interesting and moving. It wasn’t ‘fun’ read, not a romp nor a rom-com, but really good. I read a physical copy that Ted gave me for Christmas or my Birthday (they’re close, so I get my gifts confused…) Highly recommended.

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