2.5 stars

Warnings: death of family member, animal death

Wow. I’m really struggling with this one. I was drawn into the setting in the San Juan Islands and the sisters day to day life. I wanted to learn more and see where everything was leading. The sister’s relationship felt off for me, but I assumed there would be some character arc/s. Was I wrong, or what? Um…I actually have no words. I’m rendered speechless, and am left a little mad I put up with Sam for a whole book. Really any of the characters. If you like depressing lit fic with unlikeable characters give this a try.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form my opinions from.

Ow.

Somehow beautiful and dreadful, this contains both wonder and terror. The end is unbelievably painful, but the way our lead Sam rationalizes it and copes with it in her mind is beautiful.

Sam and Elena are trapped by circumstance on San Juan Island - poor, in debt, and caring for their dying mother. They work minimum wage jobs where they aren't really seen. Sam is working toward the dream they had as children to leave the island after their mother passes (this is meant kindly, the attitude toward their mother's inevitable loss is soft), and Elena is trying to keep it all together, pulling everything so tightly inside herself that no one knows her at all. Sam thinks she does, but the reader is an outsider who might see things differently.

Enter the bear. It terrifies Sam and enraptures Elena. It rips the bandages off the wounds they've been ignoring and culminates in nothing but pain.

This is not a book that will make you feel good when you finish, though it might make you rethink your relationships and goals, and encourage having some conversations with people in your life. Probably therapy if you can afford it.

Also, given recent internet conversations and the ending of this book: I'D STILL CHOOSE THE BEAR.

Sam and Elena are sisters living in the San Juan Islands with their terminally ill mother. They are struggling financially as they each try to balance dead-end jobs with caring for their mom. When a bear ends up on their island after swimming across a channel, it changes their relationship and their futures. This was a strange book for me because although it was realistic (I think?), there was very much a fairy tale feel to it. I applaud Phillips for being able to write a story that way, but it left me unsettled. It's a fairly short book and will probably be a great one to discuss in book clubs.

I don’t know how to feel about this book. It will definitely haunt me. I am terrified of bears and felt that connection to Sam through the whole book.

Two sisters, taking care of their ill mother, and having different reactions. I found this deep look into sisterhood and grief rather fascinating. Added to it the level of understanding that we all went through with the pandemic and it’s definitely not a book I’ve ever read before.

For the first time in a long while, I don’t have a comp genre, a comp title, or even an explanation of who should read this one. It’s not “thrilling” in a way that’s fast moving, but more like you’re on a long ferry ride inside the mind of a girl going through crap and unable to emotionally connect to anyone.

That’s about it. I appreciate the publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much. A modern retelling of the fairy tale "Snow White and Rose Red", Bear tells the story of two sisters whose lives are changed when a bear visits them. Sam and Elena have grown up their whole lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest and dream together about moving away. It is a poignant tale about adult children taking care of their parents, about sisterhood, and about changing hopes and dreams as you get older. I was moved by the close relationship with the sisters and the descriptive narrative that Phillips creates. It was a beautifully written, sad novel that I would definitely recommend.

Thank you, Random House Publishing and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of Bear.

This novel engrossed me. It was beautifully written, and while the characters weren't always likable, they were real. The flaws and failures and successes and relationships were true to life. The story of two sisters and their dying mother showed the intricacies of a family dynamic coming together and falling apart in the aftermath of tragedy and trying to pick up the pieces to move on with their lives. Very well done, Julia Phillips.

Two sisters, Sam and Elena, live on an island off the Washington coast with their dying mother. They both work hard to help pay the everyday bills and medical bills that seem to be stacking up while navigating daily chores and medical appointments. Sam works on a ferry, and one day she sees a bear swimming from the mainland to the island. While rare, it does happen occasionally. What doesn't usually happen is the bear finding its way to Sam's house. While Sam is terrified, Elena is intrigued. The novel, told primarily from Sam's point of view through a third-person narrative, follows the actions and feelings of both sisters in a tumultuous time in their lives. This was beautifully written and a novel I'm sure I'll come back to time and time again.

This story was quite intriguing. I loved the inclusion of self discovery and family difficulties. Sam and Elena were sisters who were different in almost every way, except when it pertained to their childhood. And the fact that they developed such different views of the world was wild.

Sam was very idealistic and childlike. She held on to the fantasies of their youth, though it was definitely a coping mechanism for her. She didn’t believe in love or even let herself entertain the idea that it could exist for her. She was very much a pessimist. Elena on the other hand was the optimist and extrovert. She was a firm believer in love and was able to mature cognitively.

The whole bear metaphor was mirrored beautifully with the course of life and changes. I loved the different characters and how they represented different aspects of life. Whether that be the way of keeping you focused or the freedom you crave. There were definitely times where the emotions ran rampant. I just kinda felt a disconnect with the characters, so I felt as though I wasn’t as sad and affected emotionally as I should have been.

Overall I thought this was a very thought provoking read and I appreciated the metaphors and imagery. It was able to hold my attention fairly well. It is definitely not a simple read and that’s perfectly fine. You’ll explore family, love, grief, trauma, financial instability, and self discovery. I definitely recommend picking this up giving it a shot.

"Bear" is a tense, heart-wrenching, almost myth-like family drama. The characters and setting sucked me in from the beginning. I read the last third or so of the book in one sitting because I just needed to find out what happened -- and the ending was such a shock! Definitely worth a read.

This book is absolutely devastating. The Arthur sisters live on San Juan Island off Seattle's coast, in a modest home falling into disrepair, as their mother lies dying of a rare lung disease in the back bedroom. Michelle had worked as a manicurist before the toxic fumes disabled her eleven years ago, now her elder daughter Elena (29) waitresses at the local golf club, and younger daughter Sam (28) works the concession stand on a ferry boat; all catering to the wealthy while struggling paycheck to paycheck. Mounting medical bills, a mortgage, Covid, constant stress and a complete lack of social life, all take a toll on everyone's mental state and then, a bear shows up, literally on their doorstep.

This bear is an anomaly, its being on the island and then its returning to their home multiple times a freak occurrence that is exciting to report to others, eliciting interest and awe. But then, when it shows up repeatedly along the route Elena walks to work, it comes between the sisters.

The mother in Bear is beloved but burdensome, after she could no longer work and care for her girls, she relinquished all household and financial duties over to them, just as her own mother had done to her, in this very same house. The cycle of abuse, impoverishment, and isolation that these women suffer from is traumatizing for them and from a lesser writer would be agonizing for the reader, but Julia Phillips makes it outrageously compelling.

The premise and setting of this story were very promising, but it unfortunately didn’t follow through for me. I didn’t really get mythical vibes coming through, and the bear storyline didn’t grab my attention. I do think the exploration of sisterhood relationships was well done and interesting, but I couldn’t find a way to connect with the main character, Sam, at all. While I can definitely see the appeal of this one for some people, it just wasn’t a good fit for me.

I was drawn to this one based its setting in the San Juan Islands, a place I love. That was indeed the best part of the book. Well, that and the bear. I strongly disliked Sam and couldn't relate to her at all, even though I too have been a caregiver. I do sympathize with the circumstances that Sam and Elena had to endure but overall the book just wasn't a good fit for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Hogarth for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Bear will be available on 6/25/24. Perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did.

This book is a good summer read. It deals with the struggle of everyday life for some sisters who have a single mom that is really sick. The sisters both work minimum wage jobs and are figuring out what they will need
to do when their mom is no longer around, then one day a bear shows up and seems to be retuning to their front yard.

It was a quick read, good plot. A book that makes you think about complexities of life.

Bear by Julia Phillips is a novel love, loss, and nature. Sisters, Elena and Sam, live with their mom in their family home on San Juan Island. Elena is a waitress at the local golf club and Sam operates the concession stand on the ferry. Their mother, who worked as a nail stylist, is dying from numerous breathing issues created by the daily exposure to chemicals at the nail salon. The sisters are surprised to find a large black bear on their porch one morning. The story unfolds from there with mom's health, the mounting expenses and bills, and the sisters contact with the bear. The Bear does not involve the bestiality in Marian Engle's 1976 novel Bear, but it does explore the relationships between humans and wild animals. As a humorous aside, there is are two sentences in the book where Phillips plays on the word bear: the girls, living with their mom and her boyfriend, found the situation unbearable; another when Sam expresses her feelings about Elena, Sam feels "unbearably" good.
Highly recommended for discussion groups, especially if paired with the older Engle's novel

The description of Bear as a ‘mesmerizing’ story of two sisters in the Pacific Northwest who encounter a bear that changes the course of the relationship and ultimately of their lives, plus a blurb from Angie Kim who wrote my favorite novel of 2023 (Happiness Falls) was more than enough to pique my interest. While the San Juan Island setting was excellently drawn, the rest of the story unfortunately just completely missed the mark for me.

This story is written from the perspective of 28-year-old Sam, who lives with her older sister Elena and their mom in a small house on San Juan Island. Sam describes a close bond with her sister their entire lives, and they’re currently just scraping by in jobs they have more or less out of necessity while caring for their sick mother. One fateful day, a bear wanders onto their property and the sisters react completely differently to it, with Elena becoming completely enamored by the creature in an almost mystical way, while Sam fears the animal and the destruction it’s capable of. The rest of the story progresses slowly from there to an unsettling ending.

For such a character-driven story, the characters themselves are what I struggled with the most throughout the pages. One of the things I enjoy most about character-driven novels is really diving into understanding who the characters are at their cores in terms of their morals and internal thoughts, and getting a sense of what drives them to do what they do. But Sam and Elena constantly felt at arm’s length to me, and I had a hard time following the rationale behind their actions when we never got enough background about either of them to really understand their motivations for why they acted the way they did, particularly in their responses to the bear. I especially had a hard time with Sam - I honestly loathed her, couldn’t get past her rudeness, condescension, immaturity and selfishness, and was disappointed that I didn’t see more development in her character. Like a few other readers before me have mentioned in reviews, I think alternating perspectives between Sam and Elena would have been a game-changer in being able to connect with them on any level.

While I really enjoyed the atmospheric nature-writing and sense of place, the prose in general felt a little overly and unnecessarily dramatic for my personal taste. Some reviews describe Bear as a modern-day fable, and it’s quite possible that there was some element of retelling/allegory within the pages that just went over my head and took away from my overall appreciation. However, I typically think of fables as ending in some sort of lesson or “moral to the story”, which I failed to find in this case. All in all, while I’d certainly give this author another try to experience her nature-writing again, this one unfortunately just wasn’t for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Julie Phillips’ Bear is a character study of the grit and dedication of sisters. Depending on your mood or book preferences, this story may fall flat or completely win you over. The plot doesn’t blast forward but the characters are well developed and real.

Pick up Bear if you’re into rich, beautiful characters and smooth writing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of Bear in exchange for my honest thoughts.

4.5 rounded up. When I finished the arc and looked up the title on Goodreads, I was surprised by the mixed reviews (seems people love it or hate it). Reading the less enthusiastic reviews, it seems like those who didn't like the novel didn't connect with the character-driven narrative. Which is valid - if you're looking for a plot where a lot happens, this isn't the book for you. At least until the very end, anyway. Or if you're looking for a protagonist who always makes sympathetic decisions. Or if you are adverse to "depressing" situations. More literary than plot-driven.

But I really connected to this portrait of a sisterhood and human connection, very loosely on the fable of Snow White and Rose Red (I did not make that connection while reading but several reviewers noted it). Although a very slow burn to start, by the end my heart was so invested. The writing was beautiful.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Hogarth. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: General Fiction, Women's Fiction
Spice Level: Sex on page (mechanical and crude)
Language: Smattering of swearing

BEAR by Julia Phillips is hard for me to explain in a review. It highlights the tragedy of poverty, the loss of dreams, and disconnectedness. The sisters have always relied on each other, but the bear is a catalyst for change.

This book could be seen as literary because of the themes.

Somehow, I wanted to feel a little bit more "magic" in this. It's rather bleak.

So, this wasn't my personal favorite of the year, but it's well written, and I think many readers are going to love it.

Best reading to you!

This was kind of a let down mostly just because I had high expectations. I think others might enjoy it. It just missed the mark for me.

Another slow burning, character-driven story of human connection from Julia Philips, who is fast becoming my new favorite writer. Disappearing Earth is one of my top ten titles, and Bear does not disappoint. I will be interested in seeing how this one is received, as Philips moves from a large and varied cast of characters in DE to focus in on the lives of two working poor sisters whose understanding of each other and their close relationship is challenged in Bear. While this is a clever and thoroughly modern take on the Grimm fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red, don't expect any magical realism. It is heartbreakingly real, right up to and including the tragic ending. Incredibly well executed on both the sentence and story level. Massive thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy. Do not miss it!

I am honestly unsure how to review this book. I truly enjoyed it - but when describing it, there was not a ton that happened. It was very much about the bond of sisters, during good times and bad. Two adult sisters live with their ailing mother in Washington. Between their sick mother, old crumbling house and low paying jobs, the sisters are struggling financially. One of the sisters sees a bear swimming during her job on the ferry and is in awe. When the bear begins showing up at their house and in their neighborhood, they become obsessed. The story follows the sisters and their relationships - their hardships, celebrations and growth. I found it an interesting and quick read!

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.