Bear, Otter, and the Kid

By: TJ Klune

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

Three years ago, Bear McKenna’s mother took off for parts unknown with her new boyfriend, leaving Bear to raise his six-year-old brother Tyson, aka the Kid. Somehow they’ve muddled through, but since he’s totally devoted to the Kid, Bear isn’t actually doing much living. With a few exceptions, he’s retreated from the world, and he’s mostly okay with that - until Otter comes home.

Otter is Bear’s best friend’s older brother, and as they’ve done for their whole lives, Bear and Otter crash and collide in ways neither expect. This time, though, there’s nowhere to run from the depth of emotion between them. Bear still believes his place is as the Kid’s guardian, but he can’t help thinking there could be something more for him in the world ... something or someone.

©2011 TJ Klune (P)2012 TJ Klune

Nothing But the Best!

I vaguely remember this title previously being given five-star reviews on some known review sites, but admit that such ratings never swayed me before. Truthfully, I bought this book entirely on merit of Sean Crisden being the narrator. He did not disappoint me! Neither did the novel itself. Admittedly, I'm a huge gay-for-you fan and as Sean Crisden is one of my top ten favorite audiobook narrators, I knew I would not regret this purchase.
Even at its angsty-est moments, this novel is a cut above the rest. Personally I found that the storyline reminded me quite a bit of the movie Shelter (2007) and as the previous reviewer mentions, there is an overdone ocean imagery that could have been reigned in. I'm also not the biggest fan of the main characters (incl. the supporting cast!) bursting into tears at any given emotional moment. But all this is forgiveable in light of a well-written, well-narrated story. And it is indeed a well-written novel! I never got bored, never had a moment when I was tempted to skip forward. The pace and the story arc was excellently done, balancing angst with humor very well. To his credit, Sean Crisden does what he does at his best, giving personality to the characters and diving into every scene with such enthusiasm and fearless animation that it was difficult to turn the audio off, and I never really wanted the book to end. With over 12 delicious hours to enjoy, I say forget listening to the sample. Just go ahead and buy this one!

Honey, I shrunk the Kid?....... Eh?

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would have to say that Bear is my favorite and least favorite character at the same time.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sean Crisden?

As I am writing this after listening to both audio books I would have to say Charlie David.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Listen, no. I did want to read it all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

The narrator turned the Kid and Anna into frigging Rick Moranis! Oh ick! I did see a lot of reviewers saying they really like this guy's narrating and I wouldn't discount him altogether, but I am hoping this Rick Moranis voice is not a common occurrence. I am so glad I read the book before listening to the audio. I liked the narrator of the second audio book MUCH better.

Perfect

If you want a book where everyone bans together to make the perfect family for a child and this small family faces struggles of then and now then this is perfect. The things this author has this little boy saying made me blush, laugh, and cry. I loved every minute of it. The narrator really made thus story with the way he kept every character's voice different. Oh and there are some interesting ways the Sean describes the sex scenes till all I could say was "Wow!" A must listen to book!

Great first step on an amazing journey

I loved this book and it makes a great introduction to a wonderful series.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting good gay fiction.

Gorgeous, emotional story!!

This was my first m/m romance, and I absolutely loved it! It was emotional, heartfelt, amusing, rich with a heartbreaking story and beautifully entwined characters.
But the thing that really made this special, was the narrator's voice. He perfectly matched Bear, the main character, and all the side characters perfectly.
I highly recommend this!

Good beginning and a disappointing ending

The beginning and the set up is good. The story has a good premises. However at the end, the conflict is too forced. People action doesn't match their characters. The characters reaction is not logical. It feels that the story needs a climax to end thus there is a fabricated end.

- 4.5 stars -

This would be my second or third time listening to this audio book. I honestly really enjoy listening to this story as it's made me laugh, cry, and go through a bunch of other emotions. During this second or third time listening to it, I also read along with the ebook and was able to see slight word changes or corrections that TJ Klune recently made in the past couple months, such as changing the words "retarded" to "stupid".

*Spoilers*




- Storyline -
Honestly, I really enjoyed all the characters. I can understand why people might be annoyed with Bear about how he dealt with things, but I felt I could understand his character rather well. They had mentioned in the story about Kid having trust and abandonment issues, along with trying to help him by taking him to a doctor and was unsuccessful in finding outside help for him. But I am a bit surprised that none of the characters thought to do that with Bear as well when he clearly had the same or very similar issues. I honestly felt bad for Bear with what he had to deal with. His mother was not parental material and I cannot believe how she was able to act so selfishly. It was clear from the flashbacks that Julie never actually cared about her children in the slightest, except for using Bear to get extra money, basically parent Kid even before she left when Bear was just a kid himself, and used Bear for any other selfish reason that she wanted. So Bear pretty much grew up in an unloving household, besides Kid who pretty much loves him unconditionally throughout this book. I honestly think Creed, Anna, Otter, and a few other characters really helped Bear out throughout his life to ensure that he experienced things that he probably wouldn't have experienced otherwise and to also ensure that both home and the Kid was happy. I think Julie messed up both the Kid and Bear pretty badly, but I am glad they both have their friends and Otter to shower them with love. I don't think their issues will ever completely be fixed as they are ingrained into who they are. I didn't really understand the whole illusion thing that was going on with Otter and Julie, unless it was a physiological thing where you think about something so much, they started actually seeing them. I'm not sure if that is actually a thing, but I think that is what was happening. Also I don't know if the different voices in Bear's head should be concerning or not.
I am so glad that despite everything, Otter had an extremely large patience level with handling Bear. I found it understandable how Bear was afraid of change and to admitting to himself what he really wanted. I don't think he handled things in the best way, but fear and love makes you do irrational things.
I wasn't bothered at all about how a lot of the information was repeated, as I felt it kind of impacted the characters reaction and the storyline.

- Narration -
I thought Sean Crisden did an amazing job with narrating. I loved how he voiced all the characters. I did have a few minor issues with the sound seeming to go really low at certain points to where it was slightly hard to understand what was being said and with at least two sentences being left out, but I wasn't too bothered by it. Especially since I read the book while listening to it. I do kind of wish Sean Crisden had narrated book two, like he did with the rest of the seriss, but it can't be helped.


Overall, it was a really good book and I would definitely recommend this to other people to listen and read it.

Don't judge a book by its title

Would you consider the audio edition of Bear, Otter, and the Kid to be better than the print version?

The print version was better only because I liked the sound of Kid's voice in my head better than the narrator's attempt.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like Bear the most because of the voices in his head that he argues with. I can relate.

What about Sean Crisden’s performance did you like?

I didn't really care for Ty or Otters voices. I liked Creed and Bear. He portrays emotion really well

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The fight for him is all he's ever known...

Any additional comments?

I Would like to hear the next book.

sweet story

some of the writing was repetitive, could've used a bit more editing. there was a somewhat overdone ocean metaphor. that said, now that the book is over i miss the characters! i really enjoyed getting to know them. solid romance novel, with a touch more complexity in plot and characters than some others in the genre.

4.25 Stars 🌟

Well, T.J. Klune does it again. I honestly have no idea why I'm even surprised anymore. I will admit that the reason that I haven't read this book earlier is that the cover (it is TRULY awful) and the title were not something that struck me as a "must read".

Silly me.

When will I learn that if Mr. Klune is the author, it is going to be awesome? This is not his best book, but it is still a very moving story that creates an amazing group of characters that you immediately fall in love with while becoming completely invested in their journey.

This is the story of two brothers, one who was 17 years old, almost 18 and the other who was 6 years old when their mother up and left with a note saying that she had to leave with her "new" boyfriend and that she knew the older brother "Bear" would be able to take care of his younger brother "Ty". Oh, and she left an envelope with $137.50 in it while at the same time emptying Bear's savings account of the over $3000 that he had saved for college (not to mention that he had received a full scholarship to college that he had to decline in order to take care of his brother).

And so it begins......

I really can't explain the way that any book by Mr. Klune can make you feel. He somehow has a way of bringing his characters to life in a way that is so very unique. You are able to experience so very much and it isn't always fun. In fact, most of the time I'm really annoyed with how much it sucks...going through their journey and FEELING it with them. But honestly, can you think of a better complement for an author? I can't. The weirdest thing is how consistent Mr. Klune is. Whether he is writing about a boy and his brother, or a hornless gay unicorn (you have to look at the series that he has written to get this) - regardless, you always walk away feeling SOMETHING. Sometimes it is heartbreaking, and other times the feeling is of immense joy. Honestly, even I don't understand it.

This book is about the incredibly strong bond between a young genius boy and his brother (who really has a ton of neurotic tendencies) and the circle of family that they have created for themselves. It is wonderful....and at times...heartbreaking...see, I can't explain it.

So...another win, but now I have to go because I have now realized that there are 4 books in this series and I have got another book to start.