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A review by thebookbin
Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall, I'm giving it a reckless **4 stars,** because of how it made me feel. This gif sums it up perfectly.
https://tenor.com/bqKdP.gif
The bad: This is one of Klune's first books and you can really tell. The writing is not beautiful at all. The narrator addresses the audience quite frequently in the beginning and it reads like something I'd write in high school. The tense switching. The tense switching. This book would have mightily been helped by a professional editor. As the book moves on, the writing gets better.
The female characters are lacking. I don't think the book passes the Bechdel test. Bear's ex-girlfriend Anna is a prominent character but most of her arc revolves around her breakup, and her relationships with men. The nice old neighbor-lady Mrs. Paquinn is also there but that's it. The story revolves around Bear, and his custody of his younger brother Ty, and his romantic revelations to his best friend's older brother.
This is a story about a man who discovers he is gay, and moves through a lot of internalized homophobia. It was hard to read at times. The author is clearly from a slightly older generation, and his use of slurs reflects this. It made me uncomfortable at times. Sometimes you just want to read about happy gays, but barring that, can't we at least not have to struggle with the fact we're gay???
Those seem like glaring problems, right??? So how in the hell does this book get 4 stars?!
All I can say is that TJ Klune knows his way around emotions. We follow Bear's journey as his mother runs away, stealing his money 3 days before he graduates high school, upending his college plans, and leaving him solely in charge of his 5 year-old brother. We flash back to that time, and we see how the Kid (as Ty is affectionately referred to in this novel), has been dealing with the trauma of being abandoned. How the adults left in his life have to step up. And man he gets it.
This book is actually ridiculous. I can't believe I liked it. The main character's name is Bear, (despite being legally named Derrick and also being a twink) and his gay awakening's nickname is Otter. Otter. It's absurd and cheesey and I loved it so much. This book has also almost no plot. It's all emotional angst. Bear has been raising Ty, and the book opens when Otter comes back into their lives. We move through the past and present to see how and why Bear ended up with Ty and why Otter left and why he's back now. Their relationship is sweet and earnest, and Otter having to go back in the closet for his relationship to Bear is dealt with in a tactful way, even if it frustrated me.
I don't have anything to say for myself, other than maybe I need to diversify my reading and read some lighter things, if this book hit me so hard. I don't read romances often. But I'm sticking by my 4 star rating, even though it wouldn't hold up to any other of my 4 star reading because this book made me feel things. I was opening it and closing it. I threw it across the room. I stopped reading to call my best friend.
What is this book about?? I have no goddamn idea. It compels me though.
https://tenor.com/bqKdP.gif
The bad: This is one of Klune's first books and you can really tell. The writing is not beautiful at all. The narrator addresses the audience quite frequently in the beginning and it reads like something I'd write in high school. The tense switching. The tense switching. This book would have mightily been helped by a professional editor. As the book moves on, the writing gets better.
The female characters are lacking. I don't think the book passes the Bechdel test. Bear's ex-girlfriend Anna is a prominent character but most of her arc revolves around her breakup, and her relationships with men. The nice old neighbor-lady Mrs. Paquinn is also there but that's it. The story revolves around Bear, and his custody of his younger brother Ty, and his romantic revelations to his best friend's older brother.
This is a story about a man who discovers he is gay, and moves through a lot of internalized homophobia. It was hard to read at times. The author is clearly from a slightly older generation, and his use of slurs reflects this. It made me uncomfortable at times. Sometimes you just want to read about happy gays, but barring that, can't we at least not have to struggle with the fact we're gay???
Those seem like glaring problems, right??? So how in the hell does this book get 4 stars?!
All I can say is that TJ Klune knows his way around emotions. We follow Bear's journey as his mother runs away, stealing his money 3 days before he graduates high school, upending his college plans, and leaving him solely in charge of his 5 year-old brother. We flash back to that time, and we see how the Kid (as Ty is affectionately referred to in this novel), has been dealing with the trauma of being abandoned. How the adults left in his life have to step up. And man he gets it.
This book is actually ridiculous. I can't believe I liked it. The main character's name is Bear, (despite being legally named Derrick and also being a twink) and his gay awakening's nickname is Otter. Otter. It's absurd and cheesey and I loved it so much. This book has also almost no plot. It's all emotional angst. Bear has been raising Ty, and the book opens when Otter comes back into their lives. We move through the past and present to see how and why Bear ended up with Ty and why Otter left and why he's back now. Their relationship is sweet and earnest, and Otter having to go back in the closet for his relationship to Bear is dealt with in a tactful way, even if it frustrated me.
I don't have anything to say for myself, other than maybe I need to diversify my reading and read some lighter things, if this book hit me so hard. I don't read romances often. But I'm sticking by my 4 star rating, even though it wouldn't hold up to any other of my 4 star reading because this book made me feel things. I was opening it and closing it. I threw it across the room. I stopped reading to call my best friend.
What is this book about?? I have no goddamn idea. It compels me though.