Julia Phillip’s Bear describes the realistic, contemporary problems of sisters caring for their dying mother, trapped by love and poverty. The family lives near a forest on an island with few job options. The younger sister, Sam, holds on to the childhood dream her sister Elena shared of selling the land and leaving the island after their mother’s death.

Their mother had masked the hardships of life when the sisters were girls. Their mom was beautiful and loving and joyful. They are committed to being home for her as her illness progresses and leaves her bedridden. Medical debts mount up while a lack insurance coverage leaves their mother without medicine for her pain. The girls’ service jobs cater to the rich tourists to their beautiful island. Sam bristles at their presumed superiority.

When a huge bear swims to the island and is found on the sisters’ porch, Sam is horrified but Elena, who had always been the more fearful, is mesmerized. Sam wants the bear gone, while Elena is enchanted by it and lures it closer, resulting in a divisive struggle as each sister seeks their own vision of salvation.

The story is an interesting riff on the fairy tale archetypes of sibling rivalry and the animal bridegroom, incorporating vivid and precise descriptions of the working poor with the desire to find transformation. For Sam, that means leaving and starting anew someplace with better opportunity, always united with her sister. Sam resists forging a full relationship with her coworker “with benefits”, trapped in the childhood pact made with Elena to stick together and get off the island. But Elena has encountered a sense of the mysterious other that enchants her. Even her secret boyfriend is unaware of Elena’s deep attraction to the dangerous entity that stalks her, and how deeply alive she felt in its presence.

The novel turns from realism to a dark irony with a grim conclusion.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

Julia Phillips made a splash with her first novel, Disappearing Earth and returns with a novel again featuring a pair of sisters. And a bear who embodies the spirit of the natural world, Devoted but very different in temperament, the women live on the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, and where they and their ailing mother struggle to survive. The appearance of a large brown bear provokes fear in one, fascination in the other. What makes life worth living? How does one find joy? Highly recommended.

We live in western PA where we have an occasional bear sighting in a residential area. Usually no harm done except to knock over a bird feeder. Until a few weeks ago when a woman who lives about 3 miles from us (in a residential area) stepped out on her deck to take her little dog outside and met up with a mother black bear with 3 yearling cubs. The cubs were up a tree off the side of the deck but the mother bear still felt they were being threatened so she attacked the woman and gave her quite severe injuries. The woman and her dog were able to get away and get back in the house but she spent several weeks in the hospital with multiple surgeries to repair the damage. Unfortunately the mother bear was euthanized because she became aggressive with the game warden. The three yearlings were captured and released in a more appropriate area. So when this book appeared in my TBR list, I was immediately drawn to drop everything and read it. As I was reading I identified more with Sam than Elena. While bears fascinate me, I have no desire to get close to them or befriend them. I don't want to give away the plot so I'll just suggest you read it yourself and see if you are more like Sam or more like Elena.

In the Pacific Northwest, two hard-scrabble sisters living on an island try to come to terms with both the impending death of their beloved mother, and with the sudden appearance of dangerous wildlife threatening their home and their relationship, These circumstances force them into a wider circle of possible threats to their lifestyle, and each tries to cope in her own way, foreshadowing climactic tragedy, in this affecting family tale.

I was really looking forward to reading this new book by the author of Disappearing Earth. I enjoyed learning about the San Juan Islands. I found the story not believable. I did not like the character Sam. The writing style ejected me from the story several times.

Sam and her older sister Elena live in the San Juan Island chain off the coast of Washington state. Sam remembers their early childhood as idyllic, roaming the woods with her sister and living in a simple cottage with her mother and grandmother. Once adolescence begins and class divisions at school become hurtful Sam withdraws into family life and focuses on a shared dream of escaping the island with Elena once their sick mother dies and they are able to sell the family home.

Day after day as Sam circles the island chain in her job as a snack shop attendant on the local ferry line, she imagines this future and pins all of her hopes and ambitions to it. One day during the endless loop Sam sees something amazing, a bear swimming alongside the ferry. Where the animal has come from and where exactly it will settle becomes the talk of the town. Sightings begin on the sisters' island, even in the woods right beside their cottage. Wildlife experts believe that the bear will soon move on and warn the residents to report all encounters and to make sure that no food or garbage is left out to attract it. One sister becomes frightened of the destructive power of this interloper while the other is compelled by its majesty. This is a book that will resonate.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this novel.

Thank you for the ARC. This was somewhere around 3.5 star book for me. It is well-written and interesting, but the narrative felt like it was stretched too thin-- particularly because the ending seemed ordained from the moment the eponymous bear shows up! The story is slow, and the days of the main characters' are repetitive, so at times it felt like the plot dragged towards the inevitable conclusion. I also had a hard time connecting with the main character, as she seemed completely arrested by her family situation. I kept having to remind myself that she was supposedly a woman near 30, and not an 18 year old. However, the writing is beautiful, particularly the descriptions of the island where the family lives, and the family dynamics were interesting. I just think that this could've been written as a powerful short story instead.

First, thank you NetGalley for letting me read a ARC of the Bear. I honestly went into this book knowing nothing except that it takes place in the PNW. I’ve lived in Oregon/Washington all my life and frequently go to Anacortes. It was fun to have the setting be close to home. The sister dynamics were great for most of the book. I felt like the ending was obvious, but not in a bad way. I didn’t enjoy how Elena’s character arced. She went from a good daughter and sister to a psycho really fast. The craziness felt a bit rushed. It reminded me of the episodes on animal planet where people fall in love with deadly animals. Sam was blind to things, sure, but only at Elena’s doing. It was a quick story that is true to entertain people that love those deadly animal planet shows.

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Two sisters take care of their ailing mother as a bear continuously and mysteriously bothers them.
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With a slow start, this novel develops into an engaging, insightful, and pleasant read about two adult sisters taking care of their sick mom. The forested island setting of the PNW is well-detailed. I also love the zoology elements, and to me it seems that the sisters’ arc meshes so well with the setting and the literal/metaphorical presence of the titular bear.

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sam and Elena are strong characters with a relationship I don’t totally get (like why do they insist on living their entire lives together?) and an even stronger bond. I think Elena could’ve been developed mor, perhaps a consequence of third person limited POV focusing in on Sam. It took a while for me to distinguish the sisters’ personalities and narrative arcs, and Elena never fully formed for me.
Sam is a comprehensive character; I felt I completely understood her narrative and persona, such as her always feeling like the helpless youngest, being unsure of who she trusts or can rely on, and wanting to escape her life.
The bear is the character I didn’t know I needed. (Even though I’m pretty sure they’re omnivores, not carnivores as the story states several times??)

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A reflective novel that starts more plot-heavy and develops into a deep look at sisterly bonds, filial piety, and what it means to let go and pursue joy. A nice balance of figurative language and clean, quick prose. Plus, I love the ending and generally the author’s risk-taking and emphasis on how life is imperfect and unfair.

Recommended to contemporary family stories.

This was an interesting take on a fairytale type plot. The sisters are a struggling duo faced with the presence of a large bear hanging out near their home. The portrayal of poverty and trying to find one’s dreams is well played. It’s a very raw feeling story that left me kind of sad and empty.

I have to say I was breathless through most of this story, and I mean breathless in a good way! The tale of these two sisters—so much like a fairy tale, yet so much not—was riveting and sensual (in the author's use of visual, auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic descriptions. I would like to have heard some of the story from Elena's point of view, however, because I wanted to be in her mind and heart and thoughts as much as I was in Sam's. It would have felt more balanced to me.

The theme of the sacredness of the Animals, along with respect for Nature and Mother Earth was especially meaningful for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Bear" centers on the perspective of Sam, a 20-something woman living on San Juan Island with her older sister Elena and their terminally ill mother. The two siblings have the spent their recent years trying to care for their mother, ferrying her to doctor and hospital visits and paying for medication to lessen her physical pain, which has placed a strain on their finances and their relationship with each other. Sam works on the ferry, selling concessions to the many wealthy passengers who board each day, while her sister works as a server at the golf club. Sam holds onto the promise that her sister once made her that they'd sell their home and leave, using the proceeds to help make a new life for themselves.

Their days seem repetitive and depressing until Sam spots a bear swimming in the waters during one of her shifts. Her amazement is compounded when, in the following days, it makes an appearance right in front of her family's home - and quickly becomes an overnight sensation in their small town. It makes its way across several locations in their area, occasionally leaving disturbances in its wake, but continues to return to Sam and Elena's home. In the midst of this, Sam and Elena's relationship grows even more strained and distant, especially as their mother's physical condition worsens and her death looms closer.

I have a difficult time categorizing "Bear" and my own impressions of it. The novel is a slower paced built up that's much more character-driven than I expected, and frequently jumps back to earlier points in time to reveal more about the characters and their relationships with each other. On surface level, the sisters appear very close and aligned, but we see the splinters and differences between them appear; Sam is frustrated with their current situation and driven by her desire to leave it behind - while Elena struggles with the burden of being the new head of household, forced to be strong and responsible. Across the chapters, we watch as the tension builds and as the appearances from bear become more frequent, question what the creature actually represents. In the final few chapters, it has an abrupt and unexpected shift that transforms it into something far more eerie and haunting.

While I enjoyed the journey, I'm not sure this is a novel I'd readily recommend to anyone.

There’s no doubt that Julia Phillips is a great writer. I *loved* The Disappearing Earth. But Bear didn’t really work for me. I thought the storyline had so much potential—two sisters who dream of leaving the island they’ve lived on all their lives once their mother dies, but who find their plans interrupted when a bear shows up and impacts the sisters in very different ways. A metaphor for what is wild, unpredictable, and magical about the natural world, the bear mesmerizes one sister and terrifies the other. The novel is told from just one of the sister’s perspectives and I think it would have been more powerful and nuanced if chapters alternated perspectives. Still, Phillips is a master at writing about the natural world and the scenes she describes are powerful and beautiful! Bear is worth reading!

Wow... just wow. Those were my initial thoughts as I finished this fast paced book! I did NOT see that coming... at all! Whew!

Buckle in for this one... it is the story of Sam and Elena (and their ailing mother) on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Life is a struggle for them... life is emerging from COVID restrictions... and the struggle is real for this family. But nothing is boring... that is for certain! (especially when the bear arrives... literally on their doorstep!) From that point the story just races... and we learn that Sam's vision of "life" after their mother dies (whenever that happens) is not Elena's idea at all. We learn of secrets, of resentments, and how family can sometimes disappoint us greatly. And none of that prepared me for the wild ending of this book! I almost feel the need to read it again to see if I missed some clues!

I highly recommend this book and I'd like to thank Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House, and Hogarth for this advance digital copy of the book.

There are lots of “modern fairy tales” out there right now and Bear by Julia Phillips leaves a bigger impression than most others. Often with these sorts of books that blend reality with something more storybook or fable-like, I’m detached from the characters. There’s a sense of remove. You’re being told a story but not actually “in” it. Thankfully, Bear isn’t like those at all.

It’s the story of two sisters living on San Juan Island, told from the younger’s point of view, as they struggle to stay afloat financially. While Sam still holds onto the teenage dream of selling the family home and starting fresh somewhere else with her older sister, Elena has become more pragmatic and seems to have lost the ambition to leave entirely. The relationship between the sisters is rich and warm and their depressingly common and anxiety-inducing circumstances are written with an attention to detail that I really appreciated. And then a bear shows up on their property, forcing them out of their malaise and making their lives a whole lot more exciting and dangerous.

I didn’t need Bear to have much plot, I was just enjoying spending time with this family, but it really does pick up the pace early on and become a propulsive read. I raced through it and found it equal parts moving and frightening all the way to the end.

3.75 stars

If I could describe Bear in one word it would be 'enigmatic'. There is something so enchanting, mysterious, atmospheric about this novel. The sensation is prevalent throughout.

Julia Phillips has written a rich work of prose here. Bear is a story of sisterhood, of responsibility, hopes and dreams, coming-of-age (or rather coming-to-terms-with-age), and of rebellion against one's lot in life. The characters show varied perspectives on life: some content with the hand they've been dealt and willing to make the most of it; some muddling along, clinging to life with a mirage of a dream in the distance; others still twisting their reality into something more, something fantastical. Central to it all is Bear. A bear out of place, ordinary, yet extraordinary through circumstance, changes this family irrevocably.

Bear is one of those quietly impactful stories which I know will haunt me in its' beauty and tragedy. This, thanks largely to the realism of Phillips' characters and her masterful worldbuilding.

That the author chose to open with an excerpt from a Grimm fairy tale is telling--here is a haunting fairy tale of modern adulthood.

I absolutely loved the novel, Disappearing Earth and was anxious to read Julia Phillips’ newest book, Bear. While it too is set in a remote area and is the story of two sisters, that is where the commonality ends. In that book, the reader was given multiple points of view. In this, we have the perspective of one of the sisters and because her point of view dominates, we don’t know until late in the book how unreliable she may be.

This tale of two sisters is metaphorically based on the Snow White and Rose Red fairy tale —two sisters, a loving mother, an adventure with a bear. In the novel, Elena and Sam have a narrow existence. They live in a ramshackle house with their dying mother. She was a loving mother who they adored although she let danger befall them when they were younger. This somewhat drives the narrative.

Sam is the narrator. She is brittle, unhappy, and awkward in the world. She works a minimum wage job she dislikes. Her slightly older sister, Elena, is outgoing, lovingly takes over the mother’s care, manages the tight household budget, and essentially negotiates the outside world for them. Sam idolizes her, depends on her, and lives for the time she believes will turn their lives around after their mother’s death.

Enter a migrating bear who visits their house in his wanderings and flips the story. What is it about this bear that intrigues Elena and how will this impact both of them.

While I admire the way this author layers her characters and her ability to make them intrinsically part of the setting , this story felt forced and was hard for me to finish. I really needed more from Elena.

The grind of poverty and ill health against the gentrification of a beautiful, isolated community has been wearing on two sisters, Rose Red, I mean Elena and Briar Rose, that is, Sam. The two women are not quite making ends meet on the San Juan Islands. Both have dreary jobs, Elena at the golf course kitchen, while Sam at the food concession onboard the ferry that serves the San Juans. Their mother is dying, miserably, from the fumes inhaled across a lifetime as a nail tech. The Pandemic knocked them down financially. The two have never recovered from the trauma inflicted on them by their mother's last boyfriend.

The story is told from Sam's perspective. The youngest by a scant year, Sam is a loner, whose only emotional connection is to her mother and sister. As a reader, I found myself diagnosing Sam: she is 30-ish, but seems to have the emotional maturity of a tween. She has a poor grasp of nuance, and is cripplingly self-absorbed and resentful of nearly everyone. Is she on the spectrum? Is it a cognitive disability? Is it simply the result of grinding, hopeless, generational poverty and trauma? In this, I admire the writer for creating so thoroughly complete (if unpleasant) a character that each of Sam's increasingly painful and wrong-headed decisions seem 100% in keeping with her nature.

Sam has treasured the idea of escape: knowing their mother's illness is terminal, Elena once told Sam that when their mother died, they would sell the house and move away on the proceeds. But everything seems to come unglued when an enormous bear crosses the strait and begins roaming their island. The bear, like the enchanted prince of the fairy tale, frightens the girls. For Elena, the fear also brings a sense of promise and wonder. Sam does not understand this, or perhaps she does, but her nature does not allow her to let Elena have this experience.

It's a propulsive novel, one that I finished in a rush. I did not like the characters particularly, but I felt empathy for them and their terrible situation, and that's what good writing does. Well done Julia Phillips!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for the eARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Julia Philips is a highly skilled author, Through her words, she allows you to visualize every captivating detail, and your heart rate will increase during the dramatic scenes as though you are living along with the all too-human (sympathetic and yet tragically flawed) characters in this story.

A beautiful and heartbreaking story, about 2 daughters and their chronically ill mother who reside on an island, they once found magical, dulled over endless plodding hours spent slavishly working away for little. As a surprise visitor enters their lives, loyalties and trust is stretched to the breaking point as the sisters differences surface.

Life proceeds predictably, but beautifully told br the author, towards a stunningly (and yet somehow unavoidable) shocking conclusion.

A beautifully written novel about expectations, broken dreams, heartache and everything else associated with sisters. This is my first foray into the works of Julia Phillips and I am now a true fan of her craft. In this novel, Phillips weaves myth into reality by merely introducing a bear into the lives of two sisters who are struggling to find their place in the small claustrophobic world in which they live.
Honestly, it took me awhile to get immersed into this story because I couldn't seem to attach myself to any one character, but the beauty of the setting kept me intrigued enough in the plot that I continued reading.
The ending broke me.
Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the free copy.