Makes Me See Pooh Bear in a Whole Different Light

TITLE: Teddy Bears Never Die

AUTHOR: Yeeun Cho, Sung Ryu (Translator)

PUBLISHER: Run For It

PUBLISHING DATE: May 26, 2026

PAGES: 304   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Yamu, pop. 200,000 - A coastal town that has seen better days. A massive redevelopment plan is in place, including that for a luxury apartment complex dubbed Sea View Park. One day, a delivery of rice cakes is made to the building supposedly from one of the new neighbours. The rice cakes are laced with cyanide, however, resulting in a lethal mass poisoning. 

Hwa-young's mother, who works as a live-in housekeeper at Sea View Park, is one of the victims. Hwa-young, turned out on the streets, lives in a flophouse for runaways at the mercy of landlord Young-jin, who regularly extorts money from her. Hwa-young refuses to believe that her mother, who never touched rice cakes in her life, died from eating them, and suspects foul play. Swearing to find the true culprit and avenge her mother's death, Hwa-young is determined to save 20 million won in order to place a hit on the suspect, and does whatever work she can find. 

One day, Hwa-young is bullied into playing bait for one of Young-jin's scams. Left in a motel room alone with the mark, she is alarmed when he begins to unpack one lethal weapon after another. She signals Young-jin for help, but when no one comes she realizes that she has been tricked, and that Young-jin has sold her to the would-be murderer. Just when the man is about to attack Hwa-young, he collapses in pain, bleeding. Hwa-young is about to escape when a teddy bear speaks to her. It's a grubby Happy Smile Bear doll. 

And thus begins the extraordinary journey as a Happy Smile Bear, possessed by the spirits of a murdered young boy, and Hwa-young, an orphaned young girl, join forces enact vengeance and bring the true culprit to justice.

MY THOUGHTS: When I saw a book about a killer teddy bear, of course I knew I was going to read it.  I ended up finding what I would consider a hidden gem as I haven't heard a lot about it and a book that left me recalling all the nights I spent sleeping with my best friend Pooh growing up. 

Hwa-young is a young girl who is barely scraping by.  She is currently living in a flophouse room run by a supposed crime lord and certified scum, Young-jin.  Hwa-young's mother died in an incident where several individuals in the apartment building ate poisoned rice cakes and since then, her sole purpose has been to figure out exactly what happened and get revenge.  One night, she finds a grubby Happy Smile Bear in an alley, takes him home and cleans him up. Shortly afterwards, strapped for cash, Hya-young agrees to do a job for Young-jin and almost ends up killed.  However, this is where Happy Smile Bear comes in.  He ends up saving Hwa-young because he is actually a stuffed bear possessed by the soul of an old school classmate.  Together, they work together to avenge the death of Hwa-young's mother, mend a broken friendship, and find a way for the soul to reclaim his old body.

I really enjoyed Hwa-young, and Happy Smile Bear's story.  This book had a tad of whimsicalness but don't let that fool you.  I do not really pay attention to trigger warnings, but this book also contains a lot of blood, gore, child abuse, trafficking and death. There was a lot of action and overall, the book flew pretty quickly, although I did encounter a problem or two.  Mainly, the book is told in chapters with chapter titles which seemed to be their own individual tale which combines together to form the whole story.  AS a format, it didn't confuse me too much once I caught on but was a bit jarring at first.  

I am so glad I read this book and I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves bizarre reads and of course, teddy bears!

MY RATING: 4 PAWS (dog paws, teddy bear paws - you choose!)