Angelica and the Bear Prince

 Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen, 224 pages.

Angelica was a girl who threw herself into everything with all she had. But after she burned out hard last year, she's no longer who she even is without being everything to everyone. In an attempt to learn to focus on one thing at a time, and to start easing back into activities, she gets an internship at a beloved local theater, one that she's been in love with since she was a kid. But she has an ulterior motive. When Angelica was at her lowest she started messaging with the theater's mascot, Peri the Bear, on social media. Peri knows her better than anyone else, and she wants a chance to meet him in person to thank him, and maybe learn something about the person under the mask.

The wholesome comic is a loose retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which is a Norwegian fairy tale I wasn't familiar with. Le Nguyen's soft, dreamy style makes the whole book feel like a warm hug, and is a perfect fit for the wintery fairy tale. However, there was still a lot of grappling with heavy topics. Grief and feelings of inadequacy are both rooted deeply into the themes of this book, and expressed very honestly. While I didn't find this comic quite as mind-blowing as The Magic Fish, Trung Le Nguyen's first book, it was still a great read, perfect for a snowy evening.