Title: The Lonely Teddy Bear
Author: Chelsea Radojcic
Pages: 96
Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery
Release Date: 04 December 2015

From Goodreads: "Jink has spent the majority of his days sitting in his chair by the window in his Victorian home, peering out in solitude. After years of waiting for the return of Janie, he grows ever restless. The memories of her are bittersweet and painful, like honey and jagged glass. Jink can think of nothing else. One day while gazing out his window in his large empty house, it occurs to him that this window has become his own glass cage. Quickly growing resentful of this realization he decides that he has had enough. He packs his belongings into his suitcase and takes off across the country to fill the void of emptiness that has been there since the absence of her. Journal in hand, he is determined to the fill the pages."

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

The Lonely Teddy Bear is a short but very well written story about a teddy bear named Jink who sets out on a search for happiness after being left behind by his human, Janie. I was immediately attracted to this title by both it's cover as well as the...well...title. Personally, I have a teddy bear that I love very much, and the thought of a teddy bear being lonely made me so sad! But I was sold once I saw that it was under the thriller/mystery genre. I had my suspicions about why it was a thriller/mystery, but found myself going, "Nah, there's no twist," several times throughout the book.

I promise you, there is most definitely a twist.

I won't go into any detail about it, but it was a twist that took me by surprise! This whole book is a wonderful story about a teddy bear that goes looking to fill the void left by his human friend, Janie. He brings along his suitcase, hat, jacket, and journal, and makes his way outside of his comfort zone to fill the pages of his journal. Along the way, he meets an interesting group of people and makes a small impact on each of their lives in his own way. Jink tells of how he spends time fishing with Sam, riding along the road with Amber, working as a barista with Jillian, and eating nice home cooked meals on a farm with Mr. and Mrs. Larson. He is a wonderful narrator, and I loved reading from his perspective.

Throughout the book, I found myself wondering if Jink was really a teddy bear or something more. Because, let's be real, a walking, talking, teddy bear isn't something you see every day. But Jink is so much more than just a teddy bear, which you find out as you progress through the story. He was interesting to follow, and as I read the story, I found myself noticing small quirks about him that made me question if he was really as good and polite as I was initially told at the start of the story. The progression of Jink from start to finish is fun to read, and once you get to the twist, you can put the pieces together of the things that happened throughout the story and really understand what has happened in the past 45-ish pages (I read the e-book version which was 49 pages, just for reference!).

I really enjoyed the writing of Chelsea Radojcic. It was descriptive without going overboard, and was just enough to get you immersed in the story. All of the places that Jink visited were so well written that I could easily picture them in my head, which is always a plus. She really allowed me to connect to Jink and made me instantly attached to the polite teddy bear from the very first page. Each character that Jink encountered was written perfectly, with each having a distinctive personality that was so different from any of the others that Jink met along his journey. Of course, Jink was my favorite character, but I liked that I was able to get a feel for the more minor characters as well!

While this book was short, it was a really fun read. I flew through it in just a few short hours and by the time I was over, I was really satisfied with the ending. From start to finish, The Lonely Teddy Bear had me absolutely hooked! If you're looking for a quick thriller to read, pick up The Lonely Teddy Bear and prepare yourself for an ending that you won't see coming!