Bear is the story of a creature who disrupts the lives of two sisters living on San Juan Island in Washington State. Sam and Elena are caring for their terminally ill mother and barely eking out a living, their financial status made even worse by the pandemic and their mother's medical bills.. One day a large grizzly bear seems to take up residence on the Island, despite Animal Control's assurances that it is just passing through. As the novel progresses, the two sisters, Elena and Sam, react to it differently. Sam is wary and frightened, while Elena senses a bond with the bear and meets it frequently as she walks to and from work. Elena assures Sam that the bear means no harm, and that they seem to have some kind of magic connection, as Sam grows more and more frightened and angry.

The bear seems to symbolize each sister's outlook toward their life. Sam is depressed about her life and longs to escape from the island after their mother's inevitable death. Elena looks with positivity on her future on the island. Will the sisters, who have been together all their lives, realize that they have different goals for the future and go their separate ways? Will each deal with the bear in the way then have chosen to deal with their lives? Or will the bear help them find common ground?

Julia Phillips' prose is beautiful and even poetic at times. There is an air of magic and mystery surrounding the presence of the bear, and its relationship with Elena. The book is short and a quick read, but it will stay with me for a while. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Bear by Julia Phillips.

Phillips is a fantastic writer, immediately drawing me into the life of these two sisters who encounter a dangerous/magical beast in their Pacific Northwestern town. The relationships of the people in the town, particularly the sisters, felt so real, while the story as a whole carried some fairy tale elements - from the excerpt from Brothers Grimm setting up the tale, to the stories Sam tells herself about her sister's death.

I did not expect that ending, but I suppose it was inevitable. A little weird, and a lot good.

Two sisters are living a difficult life on the small island where they were born. One night, a bear shows up. Sam is terrified, but Elena is enchanted. The bear keeps appearing, and their monotonous life begins to change. The book is descriptive and atmospheric. It meanders slowly through Sam's emotional journey. If you're looking for something plot-focused, this is not the book for you. I personally did not care for this book and would not have finished it if I didn't feel committed to reviewing it, but I suspect it will do well in literary circles who value eloquent prose over interesting plots.

Thank you Random House for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

Bear, by Julia Philips, is an atmospheric read that tells the story of two sisters caring for their dying mother on a small Pacific Northwest island when their island has an intriguing visitor.

The author created a rich family story while showing the hardships of simply surviving. The sisters parallel one another by giving two perspectives of the same life. One can't wait to get off the island and seek adventure while the other sees the magic and adventure, which is intensified by the appearance of the bear.

I wish the characters were more vibrant and developed, although this could have been a deliberate choice by the author to play up the hopelessness of the story and add more magic to the bear. This is a unique read that lends itself to readers looking to enjoy a slowburn.

Whether you like, love, or hate this novel, it will stay with you long after you read the last page.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Hogarth, for this ARC to get my honest review

Happy Reading!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Two sisters struggling with the care of their ill mother, the upkeep of their home, and their feelings about a bear that is spending time in their vicinity. Their options for work, health care for their mom, and sovial interactions are limited on their small coastal island. The bear becomes island fodder.

The sisters' relationship is challenged, and then it is exposed that there was unknown fissures that were present before the bear arrived.

The ending was shocking. It stayed with me. What is freedom?

This is a difficult review to write. The story is about two sisters who seem close and yet have many secrets from each other . They are taking care of their dying mother and struggling financially to survive. And then a bear appears. The story is very slow moving and i did not get a good sense of who the sisters truly were.. The relationship between one of the sisters and the bear felt like a fairy tale.

Sam & Elena are sisters living on the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. Their mom is in the final stages of cancer due to the many years of inhaling fumes as a nail stylist. Sam works the concession stand on the ferry, preparing food (microwaving) & beverages for the tourists going to the islands. Elena works at the country club. A bear is spotted swimming near the islands and the sisters spot him as they open their front door. Sam dreams of a life away from the islands where she will not have to worry about their family finances. The story follows Sam as she navigates her job, her friendships, her mothers illness and subsequent death and most importantly her relationship with her sister.

Capturing the essence of familial bonds and personal growth, Julia Phillips's the Bear is a masterful portrayal of two sisters navigating the complexities of adulthood. The narrative weaves through their triumphs and tribulations, painting a vivid picture of their evolving relationship against the backdrop of their mother's illness and the metaphorical bear that represents their past and current struggles.

The author's eloquent prose invites readers into the sisters' world, making their experiences palpable and their emotional journey resonant. With each page, the characters' development is crafted with such depth that we, the readers, find ourselves deeply invested in their outcomes. The story gradually builds in a slow-burn that culminates in an ending that is truly a piece of masterful writing, leaving an indelible mark on the reader. This book is richly layered and exquisitely told, I highly recommend it!

3.75 rounded up to 4.

I was drawn in right away to Sam and Elena’s story and found myself immersed in their existence.

Right away you realize the struggle for this little family to survive. Their mother is literally dying and the girls are her caretakers. Sam is dreaming of leaving the island and the life she and Elena will have once they do.

Then, a bear swims to their island and literally knocks everything in their lives of course. Sam begins to see what she’d been avoiding, their mother’s health declines and their lives are altered beyond recognition.

Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley and Hogarth. All opinions are my own.

Bear by Julia Phillips

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC ebook to read.

This is my first read by Julia Phillips and I wasn’t sure what to expect in, Bear.
Living on San Juan Island, Washington, two adult sisters, thirteen months apart are caring for their dying mother. Medical bills are piling up and they are struggling to stay afloat. Sam, works on the ferry and Elena, as a waitress in town. They carry on with their mundane life and dream of one day to be able to leave the island. The dreaming of getting away from all this, is what gives Sam hope. Sam is always raging on about their lot in life and Elena has a calmness and strength that Sam relies upon. Then a bear shows up at their doorstep one day and changes everything.

They both become obsessed with this bear, which brings out emotions of hopelessness, sadness and grief, as well as, feelings of joy that perhaps haven’t been felt in some time. The tension builds as the bear keeps reappearing.

I think the writing was fine, but I guess I didn’t grasp the whole meaning of the ‘bear’ as others seem to have. I think you should read reviews of people who loved this to glean a better understanding of what this book is truly about.

I wanted to like this book. The setting is local to me, and the description sounded intriguing. The book itself, though, is tedious and repetitive. I actually gave up on it half way through.

This book, set in the San Juan Islands at the north of Washington state, begins with an epigraph from the Grimm fairy tale, “Snow White and Rose Red.” It’s critical to familiarize yourself with this tale if you want to reach the meat of Bear. In Bear, Sam and Elena, close sisters living below the poverty line, tend to their failing mother. When they were younger, they understood that their mother’s prognosis was bad, but as they creep towards their thirties and their mom is still alive but very sick, they recognize the price of care.
When a bear swims over to San Juan and makes its way to their front door, the girls have widely different responses: Elena sees a magical interlude, and Sam sees danger. The encounter with the bear exposes and continues to widen a rift between the sisters. The fairy story ends well for Snow White and Rose Red, but life for Elena and Sam is couched in reality.

I like Julia Phillip's prose. It’s effective at commuting hopelessness and grief, as well as keeping the reader guessing about the magic. I wanted so much for there to be magic. The book focuses most attention on Sam, the younger of the two girls, and her coming to terms with the truths she has overlooked, whether voluntarily or not. My initial response to the book was that I felt Phillips made Sam too dull; as Sam moves from naive to enlightened, I’d expect her character to also gain some dimensionality. Perhaps this is intentional– Phillips doesn’t develop the men; they seem to be interchangeable place markers. Men, the reader understands early on, are not trustworthy, so it makes sense to keep them at a distance. In the end, this is a social novel that examines the effects of poverty and isolation on a tight-knit little family. If you’re a fan of realist fiction, you’ll appreciate Bear.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for access to the ARC. All opinions stated here are my own, and I don’t receive any remuneration for my review.

Sam has been waiting for her life to start, dreaming of escaping her isolated island with her sister. A unexpected series of events -and a bear- have her rethinking her plans.

I thought this book was very well written, but the further I got, the more obvious it became where the story was going and the inevitable ending. I did not like the ending or the continued fantasy the MC perpetuated in her head. Just felt a little annoyed. I guess in the end I kept reading because I hoped for a different outcome, and I did like the writing style. But kind of hated the MC by the end.

Thank you to Hogarth and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy of this book.

On the islands off the coast of Washington State, two sisters struggle to support their beloved but dying mother. Sam, 28, and Elena, only 13 months older, work in dead-end jobs, with no benefits, to keep their small, dilapidated home that sits on an acre of prime real estate. Their plan is that when their mother dies, they will sell the land and escape together for their long-delayed adventures in the rest of the world. Isolated from others, disappointed repeatedly by services and authorities they turn to for help, they cope by imagining a better life.
Enter the Bear.

Bears are rare but occasional visitors to these islands, usually on their way farther north. This one stays, and seems to form a bond with the older sister, Elena. Sam, through whose eyes we experience the story, is suspicious and anxious, and increasingly frightened and horrified by her sister’s attraction to what Elena describes as this magical being, and the best thing that has ever happened to her.

Like many aspects of the book, the sisters’ closeness has an almost fairy-tale quality. In Sam’s eyes, they were, are, and always will be together in complete understanding and sympathy. Reality intrudes in the form of the Bear, who changes their journeys forever.
This book is poignant and powerful, so beautifully written that the story becomes believable. There are flashes of humor – Sam takes on-
This does not insulate her, or us, from a series of shocks that shake up her world and lead her to question what and why she understood about her sister, and reality, in general.

This strange story may haunt readers for a long time after leaving it.

Island off Washington State - Present Day

Adult sisters Sam and Elena live on a small island off the coast of Washington state. They live in the home where they grew up, and care for their mother who is slowly dying. Sam works on one of the many ferry boats that traverse the San Juan Islands, selling food and drinks to the many tourists and summer residents. Elena works in the restaurant of the local golf club. Both women have dreams of eventually selling the family home and moving to a more exciting life on the mainland. The pandemic restricted their incomes, and now, even though both are back to work, their lives are stagnating as they watch their mother slipping away.

One night as the ferry headed into her island, she and the crew and passengers spot a bear swimming beside the boat. It is fascinating to see, and Sam relates the story to her mother and sister. Sam had seen whales before, but never a bear. It was an amazing sight. A few nights later, however, Sam hears some snuffling noises outside, and the next morning as she leaves for work, she spots large droppings in the front yard, much larger than any dog would have left. And then, the sisters wake up one morning to a bear sitting on their front steps.

Despite the obvious danger of a bear on the small island, Elena continues to walk home from work along the forest edge. It is there that she and the bear "meet" - both seemingly curious about the other before the animal shuffles away. Elena is mesmerized and tells Sam that she and the bear seemed to have an agreement that they would peacefully observe each other. Sam, horrified, speaks to a wildlife person who warns the sisters not to encourage or feed the bear. But Elena is convinced that the bear is just curious, like her.

BEAR is an incredible novel of magical, and very human emotions. The two sisters have endured much hardship in their lives, and are very close. But the bear seems to have come between them in many ways as Elena's trust in the bear, and Sam's confusion about that sets them both off in different directions.

I think this book is beautiful in the sense that it shows two sides to the same situation. You have Sam who feels trapped by her life on the island and wants to get off. Then you have Elena who for the most part is quiet about the situation but wants to find beauty in the life she has. Throughout the story the sisters both struggle. When the bear shows up at their door literally the sisters have such different reactions to what it means, how to handle it, etc. I love seeing both sides of the same moment. The metaphors and allusions in this book are beautiful. So many people are faced with bears in their lives and how they respond can be just so unique. This is just a beautiful book. One that will be perfect for book groups and readers alike. I will be interested to see what conversations come out of this book.
Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group, Hogarth, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Initially drawn in by the cover and the title, as well as Phillip’s Disappearing Earth. The bear is both a real, symbolic, and mythical creature that gives the book a dark Grimm fairytale vibe. Sam and her sister Elena are the caretakers of their ailing mother in a hardscrabble home. The area is rich in nature, but their situation is hand-to-mouth. Sam works on a ferry providing cheap treats and drinks to mostly tourists. Elena works as a waitress in a club catering to the more monied crowd. Both sisters may have had more rewarding career paths if not for their dedication, love, and obligation to their mother. No other help or relatives can step in to relieve their lives of being primary care givers. Sam hopes that once her mother passes, they will have enough resources through the sale of the wooded property to begin lives elsewhere. She assumes that her dream is also the dream for Elena. But is it?

When the bear unexpectedly enters their lives, plans are upended in unexpected ways. The nature descriptions are beautiful. Insight into Sam’s thoughts and Elena’s imaginings show ways that isolation wrecks its own circumstances. Thoughtful, slow read but raises questions about nature and duty. Recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

I really enjoyed Julia Phillips’ Disappearing Earth so I picked up this book. The writing in Bear is just as good as in Disappearing Earth and the characters are interesting in how they misunderstand each other throughout. I had a hard time getting immersed in the story, though. I never became vested in the character’s lives. The most interesting character, in my opinion, was the minor character, Madeline. I also enjoyed how Ben redeemed himself, which was completely unexpected. As for Sam and Elena, I really didn’t care too much about them. Even with that, I still recommend the book. It is a decent read- but I was not as “wowed” as I was by Phillips’ earlier novel.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

It was sort of slow going. Each sister reacts differently to the Bear. Choices - hopes? It was different.