This was a DNF for me. This issue wasn't so much with the book as it was my mood.

Those that know me, know of my great love for teddy bears so when an opportunity arises to read a book about a Teddy, I will jump at it. Here in lies my problem. My heart broke for Buddy the bear when he awoke and didn't know where he was. It turned out that he was in a garbage dump. He knew it wasn't the store where he had been waiting to be chosen by child. All he wanted was to get back to the store and when he found other bears in the same predicament they banded together and set out to find the store. Each of the bears has a definite personality and Buddy ends up as the leader, make decisions as to what to do and where to go. The adventures for a teddy bear were at times horrifying but even then the little band of bears stuck together and sought their destination stoically. Hopefully, in future books Buddy and his friends will find what they are searching for - the love of a child. ( )

What begins with the innocence of a child quickly hurtles into the tumultuous world of adulthood. Our bears, at once pure and pristine, find their lives turned upside down as they awake in a garbage dump. They join together as a family and step out into the unknown world in search of what they believe is every Teddy’s dream: the love of a child and the release of Forever Sleep.

I was wholly unprepared for how deep this book went. It’s depth, emotion, and layered characters brought up memories for me of reading Watership Down, which I was happy and tickled to see was an inspiration to the author as well. This truly is only the beginning of something magical to come. ( )

(4.5/5 stars. I was provided an ARC by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I have lots of fond memories of reading middle-grade horror books as a kid. There’s just something so fun about those stories. These authors get to play around with scary ideas but can’t go too far with them. It’s like sitting around a campfire and hearing a scary story - it’s not necessarily scary, but it’s kind of creepy and it stays with you for a while after you’ve read it. The best children’s horror books are like that - Coraline, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, etc. It’s with this context that I approached They Threw Us Away. I am a fan of Daniel Kraus’s work; he’s written some of my favorite books over the last few years and I was very excited to see what he’d do with a story aimed at a younger audience. In some ways, he did exactly what I expected him to do, delivering a story that mixes scarier elements with more adventure-filled ones. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the book and I think it’s gonna be a big hit with its target audience.

While I compared They Threw Us Away with books like Coraline and the Goosebumps series, I think it’s important to state outright that it’s not a horror novel - at least, not really. That’s not to say, though, that it’s not creepy. From page one, there’s a darkness that lingers at the edge of the story and that darkness never departs - instead, only getting more and more prevalent. The novel opens in a junkyard with Buddy, Sonny, Horace, Sugar, and Reginald each awakening inside of their respective boxes and learning they've been thrown away for some mysterious reason. And almost immediately, they are in danger. At first, from the vultures and other birds of prey in the junkyard and, later, from the dangers of the world and whoever is responsible for their predicament. The scares are not as overt as they are in Kraus' adult work but they're there. From the instant terror of teddies running for their lives from vultures, to the more existential horror the teddies face as they make their way through the world and figure out their situation, to some fairly startling visual descriptions, there's a lot for terror-seeking youth to take pleasure in.

But it's not all darkness and terror; the bulk of the novel reads as more of an adventure book in the vein of Toy Story. Most of the narrative is spent following the teddies as they try to survive and find their way to the children they hope will love them - thereby achieving a kind of peace known as the Forever Sleep. It's a pretty solid idea for a story and one that had me instantly hooked - especially with the intriguing character work Kraus delivers. The novel is primarily told from Buddy's point of view – except for three chapters that hint at Kraus' grander backstory for the teddy bears of his Teddies Saga. And, as a result, Buddy gets the bulk of the character development. His arc is nothing that hasn't been seen in tons of other novels, one in which he must learn how to be a better friend and leader, but that doesn't make it any less effective. Buddy is a great surrogate character for the audience; at the start of the story, he is nearly as lost as the audience is, meaning we got to learn what's going on alongside him. It's a tried-and-true formula for a reason and it's one that works well here.

This is true for everything about the novel, though. It all works very well. While Buddy is the most developed of the teddies, the other four are still well-defined. As is the world of the novel, which feels both mysterious and lived in. It's an enticing setting for a trilogy of novels and it feels like Kraus is just getting started with this world and the characters that live in it. That's not to say They Threw Us Away doesn't tell a whole story, though. Its main narrative certainly reaches a conclusion but that conclusion includes many unanswered questions and one heck of a cliffhanger that sets the sequel up to move even deeper into the mysteries of this world. Someone, or something, is behind all that's happened to the teddies and I have a feeling the identity of who, or what, that is will be an exciting one to learn.

At the end of the day, I loved They Threw Us Away. It’s an exciting adventure that’s dripping with intrigue, mystery, and lovable characters. There’s a darkness at the edge of the story that will prove appealing for older viewers, but there’s something that will appeal to all ages about these teddy bears seeking the love they feel has been denied to them. It’s reminiscent of Toy Story, Goosebumps, and Lord of the Flies, and it’s a really fun read. I don’t think it’s too dark or scary for younger readers; I read much scarier fare in middle school. But, I suppose, if you’re not careful, the cover art and some of Rovina Cai's (gorgeous) illustrations might lead you to think this is a book for very young kids. It’s not; it’s definitely a book aimed at the upper-elementary-to-middle-school crowd. But it’s a book that should please that crowd immensely. However, that’s not to say that older readers won’t find plenty to enjoy here. It’s a book for all ages and many of those older readers will find themselves returned to their childhoods as they think of their own teddy bears while reading of Buddy and his friends’ exploits. It’s a great novel and well worth a read. ( )

DNF at 49%

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

I was really intrigued by the concept for They Threw Us Away, and thought it would be an interesting book to read with my son, but I was WRONG. This book is morbid. It's not just creepy and disturbing, but seriously screwed up. I honestly don't think anyone should read this to their child, or let their child read it on their own. Maybe once they're older... MAYBE. If an author wants to address mental health in a book, I support that 100%. Unfortunately, it felt like the author was going for shock value instead of representing a character's mental illness in a way that children would understand.

If you've read this book, you know I'm talking about Sugar. Her box was damaged somehow which resulted in her head being dented on one side. The damage wasn't just physical, but also mental. She very clearly struggled during conversations, and the other bears had to prevent her from getting hurt, and occasionally stop her from hurting herself (which she does in a VERY disturbing way). My husband and I try to be honest with our kids about everything (even when we have to simplify it for their ages), but there was no good way for me to explain to my son why she ripped her fucking eyes out. Sugar's self-harm may have been the worst part of this book, but there were a lot of other scenarios that required lengthy explanations on my part. It simply wasn't worth the effort, so we moved on to something else.

The story also wasn't believable. The bears could smell and see, but they couldn't feel when they were being devoured by ants? Why were they sentient? What were the rules? Where were the explanations? There were too many questions and not enough answers. You would really have to suspend your disbelief to get through most of this book, and just ignore all of the inconsistencies and contradictions. I wish the author had developed the story more, so the bears being alive made sense. Side note: the concept of "forever sleep" was disturbing, and I have no idea why the bears wanted it to happen. (★★☆☆☆)

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