My Boyfriend is a Bear by Pamela Ribon, Cat Farris Published by Oni Press on April 17th 2018
Genres: Graphic Novels, Magic Realism
Goodreads
The delightful story of Nora who, after a succession of terrible boyfriends, finds a much happier relationship with a 500-pound American black bear.
Bear meets girl.
Nora has bad luck with men. When she meets an (actual) bear on a hike in the Los Angeles hills, he turns out to be the best romantic partner she’s ever had! He’s considerate, he’s sweet, he takes care of her. But he’s a bear, and winning over her friends and family is difficult. Not to mention he has to hibernate all winter. Can true love conquer all?
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This does not influence my thoughts on this book or review.
I wasn’t really sold on the premise of a novel about graphic novel about dating but with blurbs from Rainbow Rowell and Jojo Moyes, I thought I should give this quirky premise a try. But unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed by My Boyfriend is a Bear.
Nora has always had terrible dating experiences but when she meets a bear, things change. The graphic novel revolves around Nora who attempts to make her relationship with Bear work. It is described as a metaphor for modern dating by the blurbs and jacket copy.
I thought the art style was really cute and definitely aesthetically pleasing but I do agree with other reviewers who say that they were waiting for a metaphor about dating. My Boyfriend is a Bear was literally just about a young woman who falls in love with a bear (???). I was really waiting for something deeper to happen. Of course, there’s a suspension of disbelief that has to be accepted, which I decided to do going into the book, but I felt like there was no real reason behind the novel since the execution was too literal in its premise. Readers will literally see scenes of Nora and her boyfriend who is an actual bear. I think this would’ve made more sense if there was some sort of “lesson” that the main character learns about modern dating but there was no lesson, unless the lesson is that we should all date actual animals which…… is not what I expected to say the least.
Overall, My Boyfriend is a Bear has cute illustrations and a quirky premise but if you’re expecting to see a metaphor about human dating, prepare to be disappointed.
