Julia Phillips has written another fantastic novel which celebrates sisterhood. The two young women live on an island off the coast of Washington where Sam works on a ferry and Elena is a bartender in town. They are scraping to get by but don't want to lose the house where they grew up with their mother and each other. The author asks us to suspend belief as Elena sees, speaks to and hears a bear that has crossed her path in the woods. She is enthralled with the bear but her sister Sam much less. Sam sees it as dangerous and destructive.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this ARC. This review is entirely my own opinion.

Two 20-something sisters feel trapped on San Juan Islands, Washington as they work dead-end jobs & care for their dying mother. That is, until a near-mystical bear appears inspiring hope and terror. Phillips ably portrays the feelings off isolation and frustration, but also the disconnect between family members. Based on the Snow White, Rose Red myth.
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A beautifully written book! I absolutely loved the PNW setting and the story of Sam and Elena. While I know it was a fairytale retelling, to me the bear represented pain, death, and grief, and I saw so much of myself in both Sam and Elena in different ways. This is a sad and heavy book (based off the Grimm fairytale, not the Disney version) but it was so beautifully done that I couldn't put it down and it will stay with me for quite a long time.

"That was back when she pictured pain as something swift and final. She understood better now, what it actually was--not a glass dropped onto a tile floor, one terrible burst, but a tree required to grow over years in a space that limited it. Branches curled in on themselves, leaves drooping. A living thing that was forced, relentlessly, to submit."

I can't recall where I first saw this book. I was not approached by the publisher, I don't recall reading any other reviews of it. I can only assume that I found it myself on Netgalley. I would have been drawn immediately to that beautiful cover and then, I assume, to a story about sisters. A look at other reviews will show you that responses to this book are all over the place, much as are my thoughts about the book. Here we have one of those books where I wonder if I just didn't "get" something, where I felt like I needed to spend some time with my thoughts before I decided how I felt about it.
There's a lot to unpack here. There's an element of the fairytale here. In fact, the book opens with a line from the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red:
“‘Poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.’”
This line is equally appropriate:
"The two children were so fond of one another that they always held each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white said: ‘We will not leave each other,’ Rose-red answered: ‘Never so long as we live,’ and their mother would add: ‘What one has she must share with the other.’"
At least, it has long been Sam's impression that she and Elena would never be parted, that each of them was the only person the other could trust. It's an impression partly ingrained by the ways life has treated the sisters; but also because of what Elena told Sam years ago, when she told Sam that, when their mother died, the two of them would sell the land and home their grandmother bought and leave San Juan Island. Sam has lived for ten years with the promise that there is hope in her future, that the half million dollar selling price of the land will assure the sisters of a bright future, a chance to put the traumas of their past and a mountain of debt behind them.

But the bear's arrival begins to expose buried feelings and secrets. Elena finally feels alive and, once again, in touch with the land that fed her soul and helped her survive over the years. In Sam, the bear's arrival raises fear to the surface, not just because of what the threat the bear physically poses but also a because it presents the threat of a rift between Sam and Elena. That fear, coupled with the distrust of authorities so deeply engrained in Sam, causes mounting conflict between the sisters.

It's hard to find a character in this book that you can attach yourself to, but it's also easy to see how each of them became the person they are now. As the daughters of a woman who works in a nail salon, the wealthier children in town look down on them; as the survivors of an abuser brought into their home by their own mother and whom the system did not protect, they had only each other to turn to; as the caregivers to a dying mother, the sisters are forced to find jobs straight out of high school, jobs that might just pay the bills were it not for their mother's medical bills.

As the oldest, Elena has always been the one to take charge and she has had to take on not only the care of their mother and a full-time job, but she has also become the person in charge of trying to keep things afloat. Sam moves through life in a bit of a haze, bidding her time for the day she can leave the island and refusing to make any connects with other people who might hurt her. In the end, it's Elena who hurts her; even so, Sam is willing to do whatever it takes to bring Elena back to her with tragic consequences.

And there, you see, as I thought more about the book, it became clearer to me. Unlike those who either disliked the book or those who loved it, I find myself falling somewhere in between. The Pacific Northwest is vivid and it's hard to imagine wanting to leave it. Phillips has created a unique story, to be sure; it might even be one I'm thinking about long after this. But I so often wanted to just shake both of the sisters, wanted them to be honest with each other, to stop making stupid mistakes; I struggled with believing that anyone could be so oblivious to the danger as Elena was; and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the ending.

expected a lot more with all the fantastical elements that were being presented in this but it just ended up being okay.

What an amazing little book. Loved the story and the characters. Phillips is an amazing writer. Will see recommend to many patrons.

Thank you so much for the arc of The Bear. This book reminded me of Lauren Geoff's the Vaster Wilds in a way. I think it was how Bear was a survival story where the landscape has such an impact on the characters.

I loved the PNW setting because I could easily picture the ferry and the Islands. And I really liked the relationship between the sisters as seen through Sam's point of view.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending...it was unexpected which I appreciate but really really sad!

I'll definitely read Julia Phillips' next book!

Bear highlights two sisters living on an island off the coast of Washington state, caring for their ailing mother. Their world begins to turn upside down when a bear appears at their home.

This gave an interesting perspective into nature, sisterhood, and the feeling of being trapped because of circumstance. The idea being will undoubtedly leave the reader with strong emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hogarth Books.

I struggled with this book a little. It took me a bit to get into it. This book is about two sisters and their very complicated relationship and one bear that complicates it even more.

I really wanted more juicy revelations or scandals with this being a family drama. I think this book just didn’t resonate with me like it would have had I been the right audience.

I’m rating this book 3 stars because I did find myself getting caught up in the story once it picked up and it made me want to finish the book to find out how the sisters story would end.

I was captivated reading Bear. Having no prior knowledge about this book I was pleasantly surprised. A huge brown bear appears on the island of San Juan, Washington and the people are concerned. The bonds of sisterhood are strained by caring for an ill mother, their jobs, wanting a better life, love, and keeping secrets. The bear mesmerizes the oldest sister, which eventually brings this story to a boiling point. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read Bear!

This book!!!!!!!!!

Julia is a masterful story teller. I absolutely loved Disappearing Earth a few years back and I was eager to get my hands on this. That being said I felt like the build up and the mystery of the story were rather anti-climatic. The ending I know was intentionally awful, but I really feel like it should have ended differently (a reader's woe I guess). The relationship dynamics between the sister really drive the story and I could picture everything really well.

I do not think this book is for everyone and don't think I could really recommend it (hence the three stars).

“Bear” by Julia Phillips is a mesmerizing novel set on a Pacific Northwest island. It follows two sisters, Sam and Elena, whose lives are disrupted by an unexpected visitor—a mysterious bear. Phillips skillfully weaves complex characters and emotional landscapes, although I found the bear-focused sections less engaging

Two sisters on San Juan Island have committed to staying on the island to care for their mother. The very different sisters work all the time, live a secluded life and stick by each other. Enter a bear, unusual on the island this bear seems to be uniquely coming to their home, staying near and seemingly befriending Elena while Sam is terrified. The wildlife officers have deemed him harmless but advise everyone to stay away. Why is Elena so intrigued by this special bear? Do they have a bond?
Read for yourself!

Sisters Elena and Sam live on an island off the coast of Washington State with their bed-ridden mother. Their lives are centered around caring for their mother, working low-paying jobs, and dreaming of a better future. One day, a bear is spotted on the island and he seems drawn to the sisters. As the impending loss of their mother draws closer, Elena engages in increasingly risky behavior around the bear. Inspired by the fairy-tale Snow-White and Rose-Red, this is a beautifully written novel.

I am not 100% sold on this novel, but I think there are some very bright spots throughout. The writing is wonderful and the setting is very atmospheric, but Sam and Elena, while intriguing, just didn't do it for me. I appreciated the story, I didn't appreciate the pacing. I needed things to speed up a bit. Again, the story is wildly beautiful, but I just wasn't able to stay connected all the way through.

Bear has been a unique engrossing read about two sisters who are wrestling with big life issues. They wrestle with feeling trapped by a small town. When a bear appears on the island their hopes and fears are elevated and makes them examine all they believe and understand to be true. I love Philips writing style. Her weaving of this tale, imagery and word choice is perfect. I am grateful to the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this engaging book.

Bear is a wild book in so many ways. It starts as a fairy tale, but this is more of a dark Grimm fairy tale than any gentle tale of girls in the woods. It's smart and beautifully written, with lush prose. It didn't entirely work for me, however. I love a fairy tale retelling, but I spent much of the novel frustrated with the two sister's actions- though much of the story revolves around the question of who is the good sister, anyways. I did not love this, but I liked it, and I thought it was a fitting meditation on humanity versus nature, and what it means to want more when more may be beyond us. Four complicated and messy, but powerful, stars.

This is a big, brave and brutal book - a story of two sisters living a hard life on San Juan Island off the Washington coast. The geography was a character of its own, one I know well having been to the island several times. The depictions of the landscape, the water, the ferries, and the town of Friday Harbor added to my enjoyment and investment in the story.

Elena and Sam are struggling to get by, as their mother lingers from a deadly disease. Elena is the 'responsible' one who holds this fragile family together. Sam is the dreamer, who knows one day they will pay off their debts, get off the island, and have a chance at a better life.

Then something mysterious happens - a bear shows up on the island, and at the sisters' front door. Sam is afraid and cautious, but Elena sees the animal as a sign. And so the split between the sisters begins. Sam wants to report the bear to authorities, Elena considers the bear her spirit animal.

Sam begins a campaign to win her sister back to her side, working with state officials, a friendly neighbor, and a wanna-be boyfriend.
The story focuses on the struggle between the sisters, between human and wild animal, and between dreams and idle wishes. Highly recommended!

Sometimes I think if I read another book about a middle-aged woman finding out her husband is having an affair; or about a thirty-something finding love where she least expects it; or about a divorced woman hiding from her abusive ex... I will just give up on reading! (haha - not really. NEVER!)
BUT - I've never read a novel with a plot like this one (I guarantee you haven't either) and it was awesome. I was hooked from the beginning and I read through it very quickly, loving every page. Without spoiling anything - I'll just say that the story is about two sisters who have had very difficult lives, but seem to be managing. Then the title character arrives.
I was a fan of Phillip's first book, Disappearing Earth. This book is very different and I liked it even better. She is brilliant at using words and phrases that surprised and delighted me. An experience riding on a ferry happens during a "few wet minutes", the moon is "a hole in the darkness". Metaphors are light and perfect. Twists are unexpected but absolutely earned. Loved it.

BEAR by Julia Phillips is a novel purportedly about two sisters, Sam and Elena, who live with their ailing mother in financial precarity on San Juan Island off the coast of Washington. When a bear starts coming around to their home, Sam becomes increasingly distraught, while Elena views it as a thrilling diversion. Halfway through, I was wondering where, exactly, this was all going—because a bear isn’t that scary or unusual to me. Knowing Phillips’ brilliance from her first novel, DISAPPEARING EARTH, I kept reading, trusting that she’d spin something splendid from this premise.

She does. This is a novel about dreams deferred, the things we hold on to, misperception, and sisterhood. What I love most is that there isn’t just one interpretation of the bear and what it signifies; there are multiple levels at which the narrative works, the bear a shape-shifting shadow that casts dappled patterns onto the terrain of the story and onto the psychology of the sisters. There’s their mother’s abusive boyfriend, a stale friend-with-benefits situation, terminal illness, the suffocating sensation of being trapped on an island, the older sister-younger sister dynamic, and the disorienting vertigo of questioning everything you ever believed. It’s a Rorschach test of sorts, perhaps, but I don’t want to give the impression that this is just a cerebral book that twists your brain into knots. Rather, it coaxes the reader to accompany Sam to the emotional precipice of that moment that she’s been waiting for all her life, after which everything will finally fall into place.

I will absolutely read anything Phillips writes; her prose always reminds me of why I love the act of reading—pure pleasure. I fully recommend BEAR to patient readers of literary fiction who are willing to wait for the payoff; the second half of the novel acquires escalating complexity and intensifying unease as the reader is led into an open-ended modern parable with age-old themes.