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squishysnail 's review for:
Bear, Otter, and the Kid
by TJ Klune
This is a story that runs the whole gamut of emotions from humour, joy, pain, betrayal and despair. While I greatly enjoyed reading this book, the first-person POV's tendency to meander back and forth from present day to flashbacks made me lose attention more than once.
I'm rather torn about reviewing this because it's a wonderful story and for the most part, the characters are engaging with amusing and touching moments throughout the book.
Each character in Bear's "extended family" is lovingly portrayed. There's a warmth that shines through in each of them (Otter, Anna, Creed, Mrs. Paquin). Despite Bear's tendency to self destruct on a number of occasions, he can depend on them to pull him back from the edge. It's such a joy to read about them.
However, there are elements in the book that drag me out of the story and question the realism.
The thorn in my side for this book is the unbelievable precociousness of Ty, the 9-year-old child prodigy (so it seems). I was able to buy this character's precociousness up until the midway point of the book. That's when he started to lose credibility.
No matter how intelligent a child is or how many news programs he likes to watch, the kind of relationship advice and observations that the Kid doled out in the book would be more apt from one who has been through the ups and downs of life and truly lived. It is just not possible in one so young.
A 9-year-old lacks the maturity, experience and understanding that comes hand in hand with the kind of wisdom and emotional depth shown. No matter how smart he is! Do I think children can make unexpectedly wise comments? Sure. Most kids are good at picking up on things. However, they DO NOT express those thoughts in wise old woman speak, no matter if they watch MSNBC or the History channel.
If this were an over-the-top book or a whacky story, I could accept this character as a quirk of the story, but nothing in this book indicates that this story is anything but a straightforward humorous romance. I'm wondering if I missed something about this because it really bugged me.
Despite that major niggle, I did like the way the story developed and it was a touching one even if it does have a tendency to ramble. Overall, it is a sweet story about love and family.
I'm rather torn about reviewing this because it's a wonderful story and for the most part, the characters are engaging with amusing and touching moments throughout the book.
Each character in Bear's "extended family" is lovingly portrayed. There's a warmth that shines through in each of them (Otter, Anna, Creed, Mrs. Paquin). Despite Bear's tendency to self destruct on a number of occasions, he can depend on them to pull him back from the edge. It's such a joy to read about them.
However, there are elements in the book that drag me out of the story and question the realism.
The thorn in my side for this book is the unbelievable precociousness of Ty, the 9-year-old child prodigy (so it seems). I was able to buy this character's precociousness up until the midway point of the book. That's when he started to lose credibility.
No matter how intelligent a child is or how many news programs he likes to watch, the kind of relationship advice and observations that the Kid doled out in the book would be more apt from one who has been through the ups and downs of life and truly lived. It is just not possible in one so young.
A 9-year-old lacks the maturity, experience and understanding that comes hand in hand with the kind of wisdom and emotional depth shown. No matter how smart he is! Do I think children can make unexpectedly wise comments? Sure. Most kids are good at picking up on things. However, they DO NOT express those thoughts in wise old woman speak, no matter if they watch MSNBC or the History channel.
If this were an over-the-top book or a whacky story, I could accept this character as a quirk of the story, but nothing in this book indicates that this story is anything but a straightforward humorous romance. I'm wondering if I missed something about this because it really bugged me.
Despite that major niggle, I did like the way the story developed and it was a touching one even if it does have a tendency to ramble. Overall, it is a sweet story about love and family.