I’m so happy that I got to read the e-arc. I loved the art style very much and the story was really sweet. Some part of me wishes that we could’ve gotten a little more of the romance but I’m also the first who complains when everything always centers around romance. The book has a lot of emotional value as is.

The artwork in this is stunning thus the two stars. The contrast between the bright shiny illustrations and ever so slowly sad and darkening feelings of the protagonist is an interest contrast.

I know it say it often but this is one of those stories that needed a good editor. The story wanted to be too many things at once, and the multiple plot points were sometimes hard to follow--maybe it's on purpose to make us feel like our protagonist? She is feeling overwhelmed and spreading herself very thin.

I liked the meta nature of the students doing a production of East of the Sun and West of the Moon and that that is sort of used as the framing device of the story but wish they would have leaned deeper into it as a framing device.

Angelica and the Bear Prince will be published October 7, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's Books | Random House Graphic, and Trung Le Nguyen for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Years ago, I remember reading and falling in love with The Magic Fish. That feeling left me excited to dive into Angelica and the Bear Prince. There are a number of beautiful things about this and something missing.

Nguyen's art style is beautiful. There is this softness to it that is aided by the soft colors chosen. Small details, like the stars in Angelica's eyes, helped bring life to the story. The facial expressions were perfection! Not only did they expertly expression the emotions, but really helped get across personality of the characters. Some of the expressions really left me chuckling as it felt easy to associate a certain tone with the words too.

How this tackles grief and talks about it is beautiful. It explores how differently grief can affect people, and the surprising ways that it can show up when one isn't expecting it. Burnout and trying to recover from that was also done well. That struggle of figuring out what to add back into life without leading down the same path was good. At the same time though, there is a part of me that feels like there was not enough time to handle these topics (among others).

Like The Magic Fish, Angelica and the Bear Prince weaves in a fairytale; this time it didn't blend as well. It left some disconnect and could be almost jarring at times in the switch from the fairytale to the story.

As previously mentioned, there wasn't enough time to dive into all the topics that were brought up. While there was some beauty in how burnout, grief and loneliness were discussed, it could have been much deeper. The focus did seem to be more focused on those topics which did leave a feeling that the characters weren't fully given the space to be explored and really grow—Gable, especially, suffers from this.

Despite some of my hang-ups about this, there is still a comforting softness to this graphic novel. With the topics and the healing that does happen, and the way diverse characters are accepted without a second thought, Angelica and the Bear Prince is still a worthy read.

Angelica, a teen girl who is recovering from burnout, joins a local theater as an intern helping out with a production. She's already been communicating on social media with the Bear Prince of the show, who's real identity she doesn't know. In those messages, though, she's been vulnerable and is keen to find out who is under the mask. This is a young adult romance graphic novel that's lighthearted while also exploring bigger issues like burnout, mental health, racism, and relationships/community.

Personally, I didn't enjoy the back-and-forth exhibiting the parallels between Angelica's real-life story and the play. I would've rathered Angelica and Gable's story to play out on it's own with the play taking place only in the background. The book was good, but I'm not sure that I'll be adding it to my YA collection at the library, because nothing really stood out about it.

Wow. What a book! So emotional, a little sad, but hopeful all the same. I love the focus on grief in this story and the focus on it's ok to not be perfect and a little rough around the edges. Trung Le Nguyen does what he does best in this book, mixes fairy tales with real life and wraps it with a bow with their beautiful illustrations. If you are looking for a season to read this in, winter is your best bet, however, you can read it any time you want. Highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review

I really liked this. I liked the characters and thought that they were all very well fleshed out. I loved the art style and the color palette. It was very cute!

Sweet and adorable describes this book and nearly every character in it. I am a big fan of books that don't manufacture drama through people's unexamined bad behavior, and this one hits that mark. Each every-day problem, mom/child relationships, romantic foibles, and even grief is addressed realistically but also with empathy and kindness. While the story walks a fine line, right up agains too painfully sweet, in the end I enjoyed it.

The way I instantly downloaded this book. I absolutely love how much heart Trung Le Nguyen's graphic novels have. This book is about grief, but also how we deal with it. After the death of her grandmother, Angelica deals with her grief by staying busy. That is, until she burns out.

I loved how we explored different ways to deal and process grief. It's all packaged in this beautiful story of friendship, whimsy, and first love. It was beautiful, the art was beautiful, I wanted to hug everyone, all the stars.

TW: grief, infidelity, racism, micro-aggressions; mentions death of a grandparent, death of a husband

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Random House Graphic in exchange for an honest review.

'Angelica and the Bear Prince' is one of the sweetest graphic novels I have ever read. All of the illustrations are lovely and endearing. I found so much to relate to in Angelica's experience of burn out- you can handle it all until all of a sudden it's too much and you can't manage any of it. I adored the relationships in this story- the friendships, the relationship between Angelica's parents, Gable and his grandma, Angelica's sweet older neighbors. I also really appreciated the representation of queer people in this novel, their identities were clear and they flowed naturally in the story; sometimes it's heartening to see queer people existing happily without resistance or explanations. The story of the Bear Prince being shown in snippets throughout the story as Angelica experienced similar crises or joys, added a lovely element to the overall story. This is such a delightful, meaningful book, and it feels like hugging a new friend.

this was so ridiculously cute!!!

an extremely varied cast of characters, detailed and stylized art that made you want to stick around each page and an amazing story of healing and growing up.

i need 10 more of these like, instantly. i fell in love with the art style from the cover when i first saw it, then i actually got into the book and i was absolutely FLOORED.

the humor throughout the book felt light and flowed well with the serious points of the comic, of grief and coming of age.
i cannot recommend this ENOUGH!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc!

Meant to be a light comics about a girl finding connection, but ended up being a power story about grief. It is loose retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon which I really enjoyed. The art was super cute. So much of this book was so relatable, when the kids were talking about being overwhelmed I wasn't expecting to be holding back tears by page 14. The counselor said something that will stick with me for a long time, "You can't say yes to every opportunity" I know I am not the target audience, but this comic just hits. "Can't solve all your mental health problems with attitude and memes" I have never been so called out by a comic.

5 stars

A gorgeously illustrated graphic novel that is as sweet and comforting as its title and cover might convey. If you dislike books with miscommunication tropes, this is the story for you; characters communicate about their feelings a lot here, perhaps moreso than is realistic? Regardless, this is a sweet fable that young teen readers will love—and major bonus points for casual queer representation!

Dedication: To Flora and Ronan - upon this book's publication date, neither of you will be quite old enough to be its target reader. However, Flora once mentioned how nice it would be to have a book dedication, so I'm obliging.
First sentence: Angelica?
Last sentence: And the prince and the girl lived out the rest of their days in happiness.

I will begin this review calmly and rationally.

I WILL ALWAYS READ ANYTHING BY TRUNG LE NGUYEN BECAUSE I LOVE EVERYTHING HE WRITE AND EVEN THOUGH THIS IS JUST HIS SECOND BOOK, I WILL ALWAYS BE CHOMPING AT THE BIT FOR MORE THINGS FROM THIS AUTHOR BECAUSE MAYBE I JUST NEED A GOOD HEARTWARMING CRY OK?!?

Mm, yes, very calm, very rational.

Trung Le Nguyen writes beautiful, compelling characters who have a very realistic dash of queer mixed into their personalities. I love that Nguyen remembers that his characters are still fully-formed people EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE TRANS. SO many YA books I read just revolve around trans angst, gender grappling, tears and anxiety. Which yes, those books definitely have their place in the world and I am happy for them.
But for a YA graphic novel to have a TRANS PRINCE as one of the lead characters and BE LIKEABLE and CHARMING outside of their angst is SO REFRESHING.

Outside of the Queer themes, Angelica and the Bear Prince is about a state managment intern who is fighting grief and recovering from burnout.

ME TOO BABE.

As a young professional non-equity stage manager, I GET YOU BABE. This book hit VERY close to home, because Angelica, like me, fills up her life with THINGS TO DO to avoid grief, the emptiness. How will we cope with these feelings? No feelings, must have things to do. Yes, yes, cannot feel feelings if busy. The moment that hit me the hardest was from Jelly's school counselor: "But as time goes on, youmight outgrow some of your old coping strategies. And those old strategies calcify into habits that are difficult to break. Instead of helping, they cause new problems....So ask yourself, honestly- why do you like to be busy? What happens without constant activity in your life?"

This book was made for me: theatrical elements, stage managers getting chewed out unfairly, queer people, winter without being inherantly Christmas themed, snow, a PLUS SIZE MAIN CHARACTER WHO IS CAST AS A LEAD ROLE..... I am a huge fan of this book and reccomend it to everyone in the universe.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK!

Very few people have both writing and artistic talent like Trung Le Nguyen, and his sophomore graphic novel is nothing short of perfect. The illustrations and color palette were wonderful, and each character was fully fleshed out, dealing with grief in their own way, whether it’s loss of a loved one it death of a relationship. I thought it was intriguing how the story of the bear prince was weaved into the main storyline, which also handled friendship, mental health and the issues of burn out really well. A relatable yet magical tale worth reading.

Special thanks to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest, independent review.

It was an amazing book! Such a cute story! I loved Angelica! And Christine was so sweet! I hate Christine’s boyfriend chip. Also Gabe was so sweet.

Another great tale entwined with fairy tale lore and realistic teen drama. I loved every part of this story, and only wished it was longer. I cannot wait for more by this author!

There is so much about this book to love: the beautiful illustrations, the depiction of grief, the normalization of queerness, the sweet relationships between the characters. I truly believe that there is something in this story that anyone who picks this up will connect to.

ARC was given by NetGalley & Quill & Random House Children's Books | Random House Graphic


Content/Trigger Warnings: Grief, loss of loved ones, loneliness, isolation, discussions of burn out, on page cheating


This was such a wholesome, emotional, and beautiful graphic novel to read! While I loved the retelling aspects of this story, what I really loved the most was the discussions of burn out, the way grief manifests differently for people and seeing that shown throughout this book, and the friendship dynamics and working through the really tough moments. This is my first time reading anything by this author, but I think I can say I've found a new favorite author and I want to read everything by them. The artwork was absolutely stunning, the various topics discussed throughout this story, the romance, just everything filled my heart with so much love and appreciation. If you're looking for a wholesome graphic novel with wonderful messages bundled with love and care, definitely pick this graphic novel up!


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.

I've been dying to read The Magic Fish since I've heard about it, but as a mood reader, I never felt like it was the right time for it. That's why I'm so glad and thankful I got to read this story. I get now why people think the world of Trung Le Nguyen. Their words and illustrations are both so excellent and emotional.

Angelica and the Bear Prince is a wonderful story (although I reckon wonderful just doesn't cut it as a single word. I think it needs all those adjectives that describe something beautiful) about the way grief differs for everyone, self-discovery and learning to be more open in regard to one's feelings.

This was so sweet and so cute but also still real and emotional. The author's note at the end felt so poignant to me because I could completely see the lighthearted idea and the real emotions and life experiences that snuck into it. Those things that the author described in his process is also what the reader feels as they read this story.

The characters in this book were lovely. I really appreciated that the was representation for race, sexual orientation (and for older folks too which you don't often see), AND body type rep and all of those things were just part of the characters and not even commented on as though we're all just human beings and none of that stuff matters. I would love if we lived in a world like that and it's so nice to see it representes in stories.

I loved the artwork and improved the winter setting. Both the frosty vibes and the cozy vibes really added to the story. Like a background metaphor for pain and happiness and beauty existing in both. But as a background metaphor, it kinda just sent that in vibes instead of being too heavy handed.

I'm not sure what else to say other than despite being an obviously talented artist, Nguyen is also clearly a master storyteller. I've read his debut already and loved it but I for sure will be keeping my eyes on any future works he releases.

I recommend this book for anyone looking for a very uplifting book that covers the topic of grief (without getting in deeply in the weeds about the set up of that part). And people who live a dash of cute romance and the unknowingly pen pals trope.