Review by Kei Nakagawa -- The Bronze Bear Continues

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keiyoshi
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Review by Kei Nakagawa -- The Bronze Bear Continues

Post by keiyoshi »

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bronze Bear Continues" by Jerry A. Greenberg.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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The Bronze Bear Continues is a historical fiction by Jerry A. Greenberg which follows the story of the Warrenton family and their bronze bear talisman. The talisman houses a bear spirit named Bear which came into the possession of Fred Warrenton in 1917 through an elderly French woman who was looking for a worthy owner for her husband’s lucky charm. From then on, Bear has always come to the aid of Fred to offer him protection as he continue serving his country during World War I.

After the war, he lived a simple civilian life and was able to start a family.

Years after, Lawrence, Fred’s only son, decided to join the army and serve the country like his father did. To ensure Larry’s safety during his service, Fred entrusted Bear to Larry and instructed him to keep Bear close at all times. With his competence and Bear’s help, Larry was able to survive his service and see an end to the second world war.

However, years later, the Vietnam War began and Randolph, Larry’s son and an aspiring journalist, had to join the army even against his will. Because of this, Larry decided to let him keep Bear during one-year service to Vietnam. Luckily, Randy was able to secure a position as a journalist for the military newspaper. However, this did not stop him from being exposed to danger and from needing Bear’s assistance.

While in its first installation, Bronze Bear: A Tale Survival, narrates how Bear came into Fred’s possession, Bronze Bear Continues is mainly a coming of age story of a young boy as he realizes abilities while pursuing his passion – journalism. In my opinion, this makes the sequel a lot more interesting than the first book.

What I liked most about the book is how light it is for a historical fiction. The writing is concise and simple. It did not use any high-sounding words and has no notable profanity. It also will not matter whether the reader has or has not read the first installation as it offers a detailed summary of the first book. The story is also paced well enough to be able to finish reading it easily.

While it contains descriptions of gore, it is kept at minimum that the book can still be considered child-friendly. Overall, the book looked clean and contained no erotic scenes. A few errors are present but this did not ruin the story and imagery for me.

While the aforementioned statements compliment the author’s writing style, I would say that it is also what I disliked most about the book. As a book filed under historical fiction, I expected the book to be heavy and really dive deeper into details. However, I found the narration very straightforward to the point that everything seemed predictable. The lengthy and detailed summary of the first book also made me not consider reading the first book first. The characters seemed be very monotonous that the dialogue does not match my mind’s impression of the characters. They all do, however, resemble the same person, which only reminds me that this is a fiction written by one person.

I would give Greenberg’s Bronze Bear Continues a two out of four stars because of its light nature that others may love, but is not what I am looking for in historical fictions. It is interesting enough for me to finish the book, but not really good enough for me to completely recommend it.

If you are looking for a light and easy read with happy endings, this is the book for you.

******
The Bronze Bear Continues
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rahilshajahan
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Post by rahilshajahan »

You are right. I felt as if the author didn't portray his research on the wars with this book. Most of the gruesome and important details of the wars are missing. Awesome review, by the way!
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Olabode Joshua
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Post by Olabode Joshua »

I agree with you. The book was missing some things and it was predictable in some places. Congratulations! You did a good job.
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keiyoshi
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Post by keiyoshi »

rahilshajahan wrote: 29 Jul 2020, 06:07 You are right. I felt as if the author didn't portray his research on the wars with this book. Most of the gruesome and important details of the wars are missing. Awesome review, by the way!
Thank you for checking this out!
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keiyoshi
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Post by keiyoshi »

Olabode Joshua wrote: 29 Jul 2020, 11:01 I agree with you. The book was missing some things and it was predictable in some places. Congratulations! You did a good job.
Thank you for the kind words!
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LuciusM
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Post by LuciusM »

I like your review. Good that a reader doesn't have to read the first book.
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keiyoshi
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Post by keiyoshi »

LuciusM wrote: 31 Jul 2020, 04:40 I like your review. Good that a reader doesn't have to read the first book.
Thanks Lucius! If this book is in your roster upon signing up, why don't you give it a read and write a review about it? I would be glad to know what you think!
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