The teddies―clever Buddy, brave Sunny, sweet Sugar, and wise Reginald―have managed to find a child. Life with Darling is far better than any they’ve known. But something’s not right―the promised bliss of Forever Sleep hasn’t come. And they are kept a secret from Darling’s mother, hidden underneath the child’s bed in the dusty darkness.
Then the inevitable happens: Mama discovers the teddies. And like all adults they’ve met thus far, she responds with fear and anger. The teddies must watch as one of their friends is destroyed. The remaining trio barely escape, thrust back into a world that does not want them.
Disillusioned and lost, the teddies embark on a journey back to the factory where they were created. En route, they find a civilization of discarded teddy bears. The comfort of a town of teddies has its allure…but the need for answers weighs heavy. And there’s something definitely off about these new teddies. Will our heroes accept their strange rules? Or must they dig deep for one more grand adventure to finally learn why they were thrown away?
One of the things that I’m really, really trying (or trying to try!) to push myself to do is work my way through my favorite author’s backlist books.
Because why wouldn’t I?
Well, there’s a lot of reasons, actually. I am not immune to getting swept up in the excitement of all the Shiny New Releases. And I’m lucky to get to work with a bunch of different publishers & that represents a sizable portion of what I’m reading in a year.
And so sometimes backlist books just…stay on the backlist. But yeah, I really want to push myself to change that a bit, so here’s hoping.
Of course I was always going to read THEY STOLE OUR HEARTS! Daniel Kraus has quickly become one of my very favorite authors, and he’s got a solid amount of backplist titles I’m planning on reading in the near future. But THEY THREW US AWAY was one of my favorite reads of 2024, and a book that meant so much to me during a rough time. So I was extremely excited to get back into THE TEDDIES SAGA & book two did not disappoint!
The story picks up not long after the events of THEY THREW US AWAY, with the Teddies at long last having found a child, Darling, to belong to. But…things aren’t quite living up to their expectations. Sure, it beats the horrors of the Trash Lands and fighting for their lives every day, but still.
Buddy, Sunny, Sugar, and Reginald have to stay hidden in a box under the bed, away from Darling’s mother’s disapproving eyes. And the promised Forever Sleep brought on by the hug of a child has not happened for any of the Teddies.
Something truly horrifying happens & before you know it, the Teddies are back out in the big dangerous world, trying once again to find the factory where they were made & unravel the mystery of why grown-ups all seem to hate Furrington Teddies.
Unfortunately their quest delivers them straight into the midst of…a cult? Kinda? Yeah, a Teddie cult would be the best way to describe things here. It’s very unexpected & confusing for them all, especially Buddy. Buddy continues to struggle in the leadership role, especially now with these new challenges & ideologies in front of him. But he is full of untapped bravery & love for his friends, and it’s these two qualities that make him the best leader of the group.
These books are so wildly vivid to me…there’s such a tactile aspect to everything happening here. It really feels like I could be driving down a potholed street in a city, in the middle of a rainstorm, & see a group of teddy bears sneak behind a dumpster to hide, just out of the corner of my eye.
I’ve just loved everything about this trilogy so far & I can’t wait to see how things wrap up in THEY SET THE FIRE! These books are weird & dark & disturbing, but also filled with hope & love & acts of great bravery. This has been such a fun adventure so far & THEY STOLE OUR HEARTS really cements Daniel Kraus as one of my all-time favorite authors!
Grimdark Dad 