I was intrigued when the synopsis for the book described it as a retelling of a fairy tale. I had to see what it was all about. Fairy tale or not, I enjoyed this book. I loved the Pacific Northwest setting and always love to read about the bonding of sisters.. Sam and her sister Elena live on San Juan island on the coast of Washington, where they care for their dying mother. A migrating bear in the area disrupts the sister's usual daily routines and brings to light secrets kept between them. I should have known what was coming but the ending was a bit of a surprise. Thanks to author Julia Phillips, Random House | Hogarth, and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This book was ok, not great. The story of the sisters and their mother was good. Suspense about the bear activity was OK. I just didn't care for the ending.

Would I recommend it to friends? Debatable.

Nothing is what it seems. The small town on an island popular with tourists. The landscape unchanged for centuries. The sisters devoted to each other. The care they give their once beautiful dying mother. The visitor who changes their lives forever. Phillips is masterful in crafting an illusion in plain sight of tragedy.
Young sisters barely finishing high school are minimally employed in service jobs. Ten years on during the pandemic they are now young women. Together they are the sole caregivers for their mother, suffering from employment related devastating respiratory illness. Without comprehensive medical insurance they are faced with mounting debt. Over time their girlish dreams are eroded and their lives are reduced to the physical, emotional and financial toll of caregiving.
Phillips uses beautifully spare language to reflect the barebones existence of the family doing what needs to be done. The sisters stand in for the national family care crisis. The island is impacted by the loss of tourists during the pandemic and climate change. The women’s mistrust of authorities and bureaucracy is endemic to those struggling on the margins of society.
Hope is something everyone needs. When the visitor appears, he transforms their lives.

I can say with confidence that I’ve never read a book quite like BEAR. This is quite a peculiar yet transfixing tale about two sisters living on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Sam and Elena work in the tourism industry and can’t seem to get ahead with the costs of caring for their ailing mother. When a bear shows up on their property and stays a while the sisters have vastly different reactions. Light on plot but heavy on family dynamics, BEAR explores the complexities of dreams deferred, the sacrifices of caregiving, and slight sisterhood rifts that become insurmountable chasms. Filled with mysterious intrigue, BEAR is a unique story I won’t soon forget.

READ THIS IF YOU
•appreciate a story with a memorable ending
•enjoy a vivid PNW setting
• seek out unique and potentially divisive reads

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: June 25, 2024

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bear is the reminiscent story of two sisters who must care for their terminally ill mother. Set on the beautiful island of San Juan Washington, Elena and Sam live in a rundown house that belonged to their grandmother. Their lives are drab and ordinary until one day a big brown bear appears near the house. The Bear sets off a series of events that you must read the book to find out. Sorry no spoilers here.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This really was captivating, even though the plot is kind of silly. I had to see what happened with the bear!

I have very mixed feelings about this book and really not sure how I truly feel about it. I found the first part very interesting and well written about poverty and surviving. However, after halfway through, it became monotonous and somewhat boring / hard to follow. I liked the premise of Bear, but I kept wanting a true plot and storyline to come through. Overall, it was okay.

Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

I have never felt less intelligent than reading the reviews raving about how wonderful this book is. I can say that Phillips does an excellent job showing the mind-numbing crush of poverty and life in the smallest of small towns with no options. Otherwise, I’m not sure what else she was trying to say. Perhaps I’m just not that smart. Bleakest of bleaks. Nearly threw my iPad twice. More power to you if you got something out of it

I was smitten with the premise of this book, but--for me personally--it just didn't meet expectations.

First off, I thought the descriptive passages were beautiful and I really loved setting and the relationship between the sisters. I also loved the Snow White/Rose Red homage (and wish it would have leaned into it a bit more.) And, of course, I loved the bear (MORE BEAR!)

I think what surprised me was how little bear there was in a book called "Bear." Instead there was more talking ABOUT the bear and what it meant for their lives. It felt more conceptual, than part of the narrative, which was not what I had been expecting.

Also, I had a hard time connecting with Sam. She's so very rude to everyone she meets, and is really emotionally immature. This makes sense due to her family history, but it made it hard to root for her.

I guess ultimately I would have loved a book that switched perspectives between Sam and Elena, since they have such totally different experiences with the bear (and in life) and goals. One sister is having a huge life change and the other is complaining about it the whole time. It sucked that we were stuck in the perspective of the later sister.

Ultimately though, this was a well-written and lovely book. Might be a good match for other readers. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bear was an interesting book, started off a bit slow, but picked up and got more interesting. I really enjoyed the islands and would like to have more information on the different islands that she visited daily in her Ferry job. Interesting family, and the location was great. The story was interesting.

Another book loosely based on a story I was unaware of. This time, it’s very loosely based on the Grimm Brothers’ Snow White and Rose Red fairy tale. And it does sort of have a fairy tale vibe.
Two sisters are in their 20s, taking care of their sickly mother and trying to survive in subsistence jobs. The story juxtaposes between the practical daughter and the dreamer, the older vs. the younger. One day, a bear shows up at their house. The two sisters have very different reactions, especially as the bear keeps making repeated appearances. One is scared and wants it gone. But the other views it as almost a miracle - something wonderful and unique and bringing joy to her life. The surprise is that the practical daughter is the one so entranced by the bear.
While I struggled with this and found myself at times skimming the pages, other sections totally drew me in. The characters were well developed.
I’m an only child, so I found the relationship between the sisters interesting - the pull and push of what each expected from the other. These were two women with vastly different views of trust, especially of authority figures.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am giving this 2.5 stars. I found it interesting for the first half as we met the characters and the bear swam on to the island. I lost interest as the story progressed. The sisters annoyed me and were so hard to connect to. I lost interest the more I read, the less interested I became and just wanted to finish it. The end was weird.

this story was sooooo cute and highlights true, loving sister hood. beautifully written and so hard to put down!!!!!

Julia Phillips is such an incredible talent. I've been dreaming of her next book since reading Disappearing Earth when it first came out, and this didn't disappoint. As everyone else has pointed out, this book is hard to describe, hard to quantify. It's a fairytale feeling.

Two sisters and their bonds are tested when an unexpected visitor begins to regularly show up. A bear. An interesting creative and almost eccentric novel to read, engage with and get lost in.

I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in right away, and I stayed interested throughout.
I used to live in the San Juan Islands, so the setting was really alive in my mind. I loved her descriptions of the ferry, the sea, and the landscape of the area. It's so beautiful.
Sam was a complicated character. There were times I really didn't like her, but I think she had a hard life and lacked coping skills and social niceties. Elena was a bit flatter to me as a character, but it was interesting to see her evolve throughout the book.
Thanks to Net Galley for the book to review.

This obviously was not the book for me, I didn't care for the main characters at all. On the plus side the book did pull me in, I had to keep reading to find out what happened next. Other reviewers have mentioned it being a Snow White & Rose Red retelling, I did not catch that, so it didn't have a lot of the tropes from the Grimm Fairy Tale. People who enjoy stories about sisters may enjoy this more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

Bear is a story of two sisters Elena and Sam who are taking care of their terminally ill mother. The sisters have grown up on an island in the Washington Sound and have always had each others backs. Enter one grizzly bear that appears on the sisters' front porch and will forever change each sisters's life.

I could not put this book down. I love sibling stories and this one includes all of the classic elements: love, dreams, secrets, jealousy, and tragedy. Julia Phillips creates such wonderful characters in this book that are so easy to care about. I can't stop thinking about the ending...no spoilers from this reader. JUST READ IT!!!!!

At the beginning of Bear Julia Phillips includes a brief snippet from the Brothers Grim story Snow-white and Rose-red, a story about two sisters and a bear. I refreshed my memory by reading the full story. It ends with the bear turning into a prince. Well dear readers, in Bear Phillips has written a story about two twenty-something young women, their sick mother, and a bear. The girls and their mother live in a crumbling house that once belonged to their grandmother on a valuable piece of waterfront land in the San Juan Islands west of Bellingham, Washington. The younger sister, Sam, works in the ferry galley while Elena works at the local country club. Neither girl makes much money. Each girl has different expectations for their life after their mother dies. Then one day a bear shows up on the porch of their home and life gets bizarre. The book is well-written, has a vivid sense of place, and clearly delineates the differences in the girls' personalities. It also illustrates how life expectations affect behavior.

Bear by Julia Phillips

Is an exquisitely unique novel about two sisters who live on San Juan island off the coast of Washington. Sam and Elena have always had each other. Throughout their mom’s bad boyfriend years and her terminal illness they’ve relied on each other, with Sam depending on her older sister more than she realizes. One day a bear arrives on the island, and Elena is enraptured. She begins to purposefully seek it out. Sam is scared of the bear, and tries to convince Elena that what she is doing is dangerous.

I think the premise of this novel is refreshing, not something I’ve seen done before. I really wasn’t sure where it was going plotwise for most of the book, but I enjoyed wondering, and I was glad there was some excitement at the end. I would have liked the characters fleshed out a tiny bit more, but I liked the way they interacted with each other. I found it interesting that Sam’s fundamental character traits almost got stronger at the end, rather than changed. Overall I enjoyed this book, 3.5/5 stars. Thank you for the ARC of this novel!