This review focuses on the trilogy as a whole, not subsequent entries.
I will admit to some skepticism when I read the original premise - the main character is a stuffed bear.
But, in a fit of whimsy, I thought I’d give it a shot.
This was, as it turns out, a wonderful decision.
Threadbare follows the journey of the eponymous bear’s quest to try and find and save the daughter of his creator and his best friend - Cecelia Gearheart.
For the first book, I would rate it a definite A, for seeing Threadbare grow from barely sentient into a reserved but noble cave bear was an absolute pleasure. His rivalry and subsequent friendship with the house cat is incredibly endearing, and the LitRPG system of skills and professions is well done, and Threadbares ignorance of the system has consequences - no stumbling by accident into exploits or broken systems here.
The series slows a bit in the last book, where the focus shifts too far away from our adorable teddy bear of destruction, focusing on giving more screen time and development to a larger cast of secondary characters. There is some very interesting golemisation that goes on and I wish was explored further, but instead, the camera zooms out to try and give time to the wider political issues that encapsulate the country as a whole. However I never properly invested in those issues and wished that the perspective would just switch back to Threadbare and whatever insane thing he was going to try next in his ignorance of how the world works.
This was a very fun read, with an opening that worked to wonderfully draw me in almost immediately.
Please give this book a read.
