The story of two sister in a small town struggling to care for their mother. A strange relationship develops between one sister and a bear in their hometown. This book left me feeling a bit off as it never really shared the bond between the sisters that I had hoped for.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! This book quite honestly shook me to my core. “Bear” by Julia Phillips explores the lives of sisters Elena and Sam, who are barely scraping by as they work to take care of their sick mother and pay medical and mortgage bills that keep piling up. They dream of leaving their tiny island one day, and their close-knit sisterhood is what keeps narrator Sam afloat. One day, a grizzly bear arrives on their island, seemingly a stop on its annual swim to the Canadian coast, and seems to take a liking to the girls. The presence of the bear strikes fear into Sam and brings Elena joy in the midst of their issues, shedding light on secrets that lie between the two sisters.

I liked the unreliable narrator aspect of this story and the darkness that grew throughout the book, it kept me riveted until the ending that shocked me.

This is definitely a different type of book. It's a combination of fantasy, grief, fear and family.
Two sisters are living in their grandmothers old cottage with their terminally mother.
They both go to work and live in a boring, uninteresting world now post-pandemic.
Until.... They find a bear who is sitting at the front door. This creature appears harmless, although killing farm life at times.
What now? Do they get someone to relocate this big guy?

I enjoyed this story and needed to finish to find how it concludes and at times it was intense and so very real! Or was it?
You decide!

Thank you to @NetGalley and to`@Random HOuse Publishing Group for allowing me to read and provide my own review of this ARC.

I so enjoyed Julia Phillips's Disappearing Earth for its wonderful writing, fascinating structure, and clever storytelling, so I was eager to read her next novel. While the plot and structure of Bear are completely different, the sense that you are being led through the book by a masterful writer is still there, even when, as a reader, you're at a loss as to where you're heading.

There is an overwhelming sense of being trapped in this book. Sisters Sam and Elena live on an island, in the house where they grew up, and where their ill mother is virtually housebound because of her medical issues. They are struggling under the weight of the mounting bills -- medical bills, taxes, etc. -- that have been piling up due to their mother's condition and the pandemic, during which time Elena was the only one able to work. There are few options open to them, and for all of her adult life, Sam has stuck around knowing that their mother is dying and that when she passes, she and Elena can sell the land the house sits on and leave to start a new life elsewhere. And then one morning the sisters wake up and discover that there is a very large bear sitting just on the other side of their door.

The arrival of this bear throws Sam's plans entirely out the window as it wreaks havoc with her relationship with her sister, and the narrative takes a surprising turn, culminating in a twist you may not at all see coming (but no spoilers here!). The book is tense and sad but also strikes a cord with the feelings that so many of us experienced during the early days of COVID, when the future was so hazy and it was hard to plan for what came next.

Thank you to Random House/Hogarth and NetGalley for the ARC I received in return for an honest review. This book will be published June 25, 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

This novel is about two sisters living with a sick mother trying to make the best of their lackluster jobs. Their lives are mundane and somewhat sad, until a bear appears at their home and changes their lives forever. The story continues to build, and I felt myself expecting more. The climax of the plot does not happen until very late in the book.

However, the book does capture the complicated relationship between sisters and all the emotions associated with sibling rivalry and age differences. While the prose is well written, I did not find the main character to have any redeemable qualities. I kept waiting and waiting for her to improve, but she never did.

a dark fairytale that delves into sisterhood and the mystery of beasts not only among us but within us

BEAR by JULIA PHILLIPS

Rating: 3.75🌟
Genre: literary fiction, quiet thriller

Bear is a novel that tells the story of two sisters and their encounters with a black bear. The two young women work to the bone to support their house on the island and their terminally ill mother with the hope that someday they can sell the home and finally get to live their lives and experience adventure.

Sisterhood is a big theme in this story and although I found the two girls odd and frustrating at times I still appreciated their bond. I did not however like the narrative. While it was interesting to watch things unfold, something about Sam, the younger of the sisters... quite a selfish and immature person, just bothered me. I just couldn’t form a connection, with either of them actually, but that is subjective. It just made it less enjoyable.

Then of course we have the bear 🐻 not as cute as the emoji when it shows up on your front porch! The sisters interpret the bears presence very differently and it was quite interesting to observe their perspectives. While one seemed protective and on edge, the other felt more elated and alive with each encounter, mesmerized and craving more. As time goes on, we watch changes unfold between the sisters’ relationship. A weird obsession develops and seems to slowly drive a wedge between the sisters.

I really didn’t know what to expect in this story but I think I liked it?? It’s not a “wow” factor novel but it did leave a mark and has given me some food for thought. The breezy and warm island atmosphere does little to conceal the disturbing and heartbreaking context and ending so reader beware, this is not a comfort read but rather one that will leave you thinking.

Thank you kindly to the author, publishers and NetGalley for this Advanced Readers Copy. This novel is set to release this summer in June!

This book was like a modern Grimm fairy tale-two sisters struggling to take care of their sick mother trapped in their small town, dealing with poverty and a monstrous bear in the wild who tears their relationship apart.
I found this story sad, terrifying and beautifully written. The wild ending was perfect and I loved every minute of it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in return for an honest review.

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.
-
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!