Tomasino reviewed Threadbare by Andrew Seiple (Threadbare, Book 1)
Review of 'Threadbare' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
As I've stated before, the genre of litRPG is not my favorite, but there have been a few exceptions. I'm going to have to put Threadbare's series on that list. The twist-factor of having the main character be an animated teddy bear was enough to get me over the hump of the length leveling up notifications and other distracting tropes. The story even hinted that this RPG aspect is a relatively recent occurrence in the world, and possibly plot related. Tricks are nice, but ultimately what sets a story apart is the storytelling itself. Here I think Andrew Seiple did a very fine job. He "humanized" some non-human characters in creative ways and gave us fascinating points-of-view while subjecting these same characters to trials which would test their inner strengths. Whether that character was a teddy bear, an orc shaman, or a 20lb house cat, Seiple's prose did it justice. …
As I've stated before, the genre of litRPG is not my favorite, but there have been a few exceptions. I'm going to have to put Threadbare's series on that list. The twist-factor of having the main character be an animated teddy bear was enough to get me over the hump of the length leveling up notifications and other distracting tropes. The story even hinted that this RPG aspect is a relatively recent occurrence in the world, and possibly plot related. Tricks are nice, but ultimately what sets a story apart is the storytelling itself. Here I think Andrew Seiple did a very fine job. He "humanized" some non-human characters in creative ways and gave us fascinating points-of-view while subjecting these same characters to trials which would test their inner strengths. Whether that character was a teddy bear, an orc shaman, or a 20lb house cat, Seiple's prose did it justice.
I will pick up the next in the series and I hope to see more of our precocious teddy in action.