Reviews

My Boyfriend Is a Bear by Pamela Ribon

fangslibris's review

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3.0

3.5-3.75? I mean, how do you review a book like this??

He really is a literal bear.

Cute art, some fun visual gags and stuff. Not much to it other than that.

jess_mango's review

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4.0

Sweet story about a woman in a relationship with a bear. This isn't smutty at all ( I promise).

norabelle's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

dembury's review

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3.0

This book was weird enough that I did a full review of it on my blog; you can read it here! :D
https://wordpress.com/post/thedeborahembury.wordpress.com/3847

tbdaniel_111's review

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2.0

*taps Harkness test of intelligence*

yea im not really sure what the purpose of that was, although i guess im not sure what i was expecting either. it was less monsterfucker and more "men are so trash im into actual bears now"

ending was cute i guess. i liked the watercolor style they introduced towards the end.

alicebme's review

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5.0

Laugh out loud funny and then sad

the_introvert_dragon's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

ellytheskelly's review

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It had its moments. It was at its best when the bear felt like he was serving a metaphor instead of just being a strange, literal tale of a human woman being in a relationship with a bear.

However, the overall impression it gave me was.... bizarre and uncomfortable. Wouldn't recommend reading it unironically.

mehsi's review

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5.0

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

OMG, I just HAD to have this one when I spotted it during my vacation (yes, even during my vacation I had to check NG to see if there were any new fun books). A girl who, after countless of bad romances, falls in love with a bear. Yes, a bear!

Now, I have to say I wasn't as weirded out as many probably will be. I thank manga for that. :P I have seen people date aliens, cats/dogs/cat people, so a bear? Nothing special. Though I have to say that there were parts that had me go ehhhhhhhhhh. Knowing that these two have sex. The other parts? Eh, I didn't mind those, in fact Bear and Nora are just the cutest couple!

Plus, I can totally understand that Nora may just not go for a normal guy. She has truly terribly luck with men, and I know the feeling. I am happily in a relationship now, but before this lovely guy I also had my share of not so good relationships (either they weren't good to start with or they ended not that well), and I even had a time when I thought I wouldn't ever be happy with someone.

And the Bear was just the best. Even though he couldn't speak, he was highly intelligent, he seemed to understand English (though couldn't speak it), he eventually even got a job (which is totally amazing if you think about it). I can totally understand that Nora fully falls for the guy. He is there when she needs it, he comforts her when she has a shitty day, he is a great cuddler. He can fix things around the house. He and the cat are compatible too and they help out each other.
The only thing Bear can do better is not breaking everything left and right. But I am sure that he is trying his best to throw his hugeness not around like crazy.

I loved how Nora kept protecting and trying to argue against anyone who was trying to get her and Bear to break up. And there were a lot of people who were against her dating Bear. Not only one of her friends (the other was totally OK with Bear, even to the point I was worried that she would take Bear from Nora), but also the parents (though then again I am sure they acted this way with all her boyfriends), people at work, people on the street. But Nora wasn't deterred and she kept loving Bear more and more with each day.

The hibernation parts just broke my heart. It didn't help I had some sad Nightcore-ish music up, so I was on the border of crying. Poor Nora, but also poor Bear. He can't help his instincts, but I am sure he wishes he could just stay with Nora for all the time and not just half of the year.
I also wanted Bear to be awake and just swing Ben around a few times. Really, dude, she broke up with you. Don't TOUCH her, don't tell her you are not giving her up, don't come uninvited to her home. Just no. Ewww.
The ending to the hibernation, and the ending to the book, I was just crying. It was perfection. I am so happy for both Bear and Nora. I hope they will be together for a long time to come, and hopefully they can work with the hibernation.

The art was absolutely fabulous. The style was just perfect for this story. A perfect blend of seriousness/love/comedy.

All in all, a book I would highly recommend. It is a cute romance between a girl and her sweet Bear. You will be rooting for the two of them.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

mogojojo1013's review

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1.0

Upon picking up this book, I thought it was just going to be a silly and fun book, not to be taken too seriously. I thought I was going to laugh, and it was going to be a fun, easy read. I certainly was not expecting that I would come away just feeling unsettled and uncomfortable. Some of the book certainly was just silly and fun, but the author takes the idea of a bear boyfriend too far at a lot of moments. While the actual bear might be symbolic of something else, I don't feel this was a great way to symbolize this. It toes the line of bestiality and just makes me uncomfortable. In addition to that, it deals with some very heavy and emotional topics, which is fine in and of itself, but in a book that I expected from the cover and title to be frivolous and fun, it was rather jarring and just plain upsetting.