Oh my dear goodness. This is haunting. If you'd have told me in the first 50 pages how I'd feel now, having finished it, I wouldn't have believed you. I almost put it down because I was bored. I persisted, and was rewarded. That last page was just powerful.

I really wanted to like this book because I have been looking forward to this author's new book for a long time. I love nature and animals and it should have been right up my alley but the dynamics between the sisters just didn't quite work and and there just wasn't much positives to take away from the story.

In the San Juan Islands, Sam lives with her sister Elena and their dying mother. They’ve been spending fifteen years taking care of their mother, and it seems like her decline is finally coming to an end - at the same time the sameness of their days is changed by a bear sighting. First, in the channel, and second, in their yard. Sam is troubled by the bear, while Elena describes it as magical. The bear becomes the flashpoint of their relationship, highlighting their differences and their secrets.

Julia Phillips’ Disappearing Earth was weird but decent and this is the same: weird but decent. Did I like it? I’m not even sure that matters. Bear is a strange story of family and escape, and the comforting lies we tell ourselves. It drew me in regardless of whether I wanted to be or not.

Bear is an emotional rollercoaster that beautifully portrays the bond between sisters. As someone with an older sister, I found the themes incredibly relatable. The book also really sparked my interest in bears and now I want to read more novels about them! Despite its sadness, "Bear" is a moving tale that kept me hooked throughout. Philips skillfully navigates complex emotions and human relationships, creating a narrative that's both touching and thought-provoking.

I truly despised this book. Sam was incorrigible, selfish, immature, etc. She read like a child even though she was almost 30. Her sister is so desperate not to have to run a household she seeks out the bear. To me, the book went like this:

Sam complains. Sam goes to work, complains, lists every mundane task out for us to see every time she works, which, of course, is constantly because her life is hard. Sam takes a survey on her phone. Sam dreams of leaving.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Over and over.

She finally gets the chance to leave and doesn't take it? I guess because she wants to be there for her sister. Although, she has never stepped up and let her sister shoulder it all their entire lives.

I'll end with how disappointed I am that a female writer would include a narrative that physical abuse from your husband/boyfriend is a family trait passed down through generations. 2024, and we're still doing this? Gross.

Two sisters, Sam and Elena, live with their ailing mother on a Washington coastal island where among wealthy tourists and vacation home owners they struggle financially and emotionally, working at low paid, unsatisfactory jobs. The unexplained arrival on the island of a wild bear upsets their future dreams and fragile bonds of sisterhood in a sort of mythical unraveling of their lives. This novel is a powerful depiction of how unrealistic and unfulfilled expectations, as well as circumstance and past trauma, shapes the personalities and ultimately destructive behaviors of these two women.

If you’re expecting this novel to be anything like Disappearing Earth, you won’t find it here. You’ll find the cleverness of myth and fairytale intertwined in this novel that borrows, slightly, from Brothers’ Grimm’s Snow White and Rose Red.

And you’ll find an entirely different writing style from Disappearing, this one feeling almost middle-grade in sentence dynamics and character development compared to her previous literary trademarks of deep interiority and lush description. Maybe that was by design, given the goal of retelling a fairytale?

But for me, it didn’t take. I wanted more of the bear, a deeper emotional connection to the sisters. I was sad that I never hopped into their skin. I can’t help but think this might have been a more effective short story rather than a novel. There was a ton of repetition that felt like "filler" to make this a book-length story.

I may well end up being an outlier here. But I will definitely read a future Phillips book since I was so taken by her debut.

I must admit that I couldn't wait to be done with this book! I didn't like any of the characters...the sisters claimed they were close and yet they kept vital secrets from each other. Each continued her own pity party about the burdens she carried, never thinking the other was equally or more burdened by their situation. Financial decisions were made unilaterally but impacted all. And there was the bear. Elena's response to and interaction with the bear were just crazy! And Sam calls her on it and fears the worst, which is, of course, exactly what happens!

After LOVING Disappearing Earth, this book was a little challenging for me. The world was really fully realized and the characters felt authentic and three dimensional … but I didn’t really like either of the sisters, which really limited my enjoyment of the story. I kind of wanted to shake them both at various points. But the book is excellent at escalating the tension throughout, and I found myself reading the last third or so almost between my fingers as I waited for something to give. Probably closer to 3.5 stars, but rounding up because of how immersed I was in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

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

BEAR by Julia Phillips is a deceptively simple story that I will think about for a long time. Two sisters live with their mom on an island.

I picked up BEAR to read this morning and did not put it down until I turned the final page, crying, heartbroken that it was over. Julia Phillips has delivered another incredible, imaginative novel that captivated me and will stay with me. These beautifully flawed characters, all trying to find their way, in one of the most compelling settings, the San Juan Islands. I can't wait for this novel to be release so readers can discover its magic!!!

Two sisters and a dying mother, living in a small has on a small island off the coast of Washington, dealing with illness, debt, and ever mounting bills. Told from the perspective of Sam, 13 months younger, they spend their childhood joined at the hip, filled with dreams of escape from the island , their lives there, and their unpaid bills. The catalyst for change comes in the appearance of a bear, thought to be a black bear but actually a grizzly. The older sister is enchanted and mesmerized by it, befriending it, and it plays a major role-but not the only one-in disrupting the bond between the sisters especially for Sam. The conclusion is unexpected, horrifying, and terrifying, but for that you will have to read the book!

A story of a family living on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Two sisters encounter a bear on the island and what unfolds is a story about loyalty, truth, and the power of nature. The characters are well developed as the story carries along. This is a book you want to talk about with someone! The last few pages really shake things up.

Bear is a modern day fairytale-like story (and tragedy) of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island who are buried in debt working demanding service industry jobs while taking care of their dying mother. I was excited to read this after enjoying Julia Philips’s debut, Disappearing Earth, last year.

This one is very different but still just as character-focused. I found the beginning a little bit slow, but once it picked up, I had to know what happened.

Sam has always allowed her older sister, Elena to take charge of their financial responsibilities and physical care when it comes to taking care of their mother. She’s also always trusted that she and Elena had a plan when their mother finally died—sell the house and escape the island that has held them captive for their whole lives. Then a bear arrives on the island and everything changes.

One of the most interesting things to me about this book is that you think you can trust Sam, just Elena and the vision she believes Elena has laid out for them. But in the end, you find out that Sam really knows nothing about her sister. Even the plan for their future that Sam clung to throughout the book is stripped away. It all goes back to the arrival of the bear on the island. But is it really the bear that caused this change in the sister’s relationship, or did they never really know each other at all?

I also love the “woman gone wild” trope that is explored here.

The ending is jarring and dark in a way that I didn’t expect, even though the rest of the book was equally as depressing. It will make you wonder what in the world it’s really saying about sisterhood, death, grief and poverty. I feel the twist at the end works even though part of me isn’t even sure if the bear ever existed at all. After all, Bear reads like a dark fairytale. It makes sense it ends like one too.

I really enjoyed this story of two adult sisters living on the beautiful island of San Juan, Washington..
the island is beautiful but their house is rundown and they have so much debt.
Their house is was their grandmothers and the sisters Elena and Sam were raised there as was their mother.
Their mother is terminally ill now and the both sisters care for her and work hard to stay afloat .. bills, both household and medical from the mother’s illness have left them in dire straits.
One evening…a huge brown bear appears … it swam to the island when Sam was watching at her job on the ferry… then it appeared right outside their house.
The rest of the story is for you to read.
It’s a good one! Enjoy!

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

Two sisters, Sam and Elena, born and raised on a Pacific Northwest island off the coast of Washington, struggle with their ailing single mother to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club. Together, they can't earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about their lives' limits and futures. When a bear enters their lives, things that have been unspoken between the sisters come to light, and their bond begins to unravel. Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that after their mother dies, they need to leave the island. Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Its presence enchants her, and she goes out of her way to lure it closer. Elena's reaction causes Sam to wonder if their bond ever existed, and this throws into doubt Ellen's purported desire to escape putting their long-held dream in danger. I couldn't get into the characters and found the storyline boring, so I wouldn't recommend this book.

Bear by Julia Phillips is an incredible book. Sam and Elena are sisters living on San Juan Island and working at blue collar jobs while taking care of their mother, who suffers from a terminal disease. One night, the sisters discover a bear sitting at their front door. How each sister deals with the bear, and how it affects both of their lives, is the heart of the book. It is a hard book to say that you love, because it focuses so much on loss: loss of family, loss of dreams, loss of innocence. It is beautifully written and this book will stay with me for a long time. I never cry at the end of books, but I definitely cried at the end of this one.

I was utterly moved and surprised by Julia Phillips' masterpiece BEAR. It's a short novel, and lots happens, so it's hard to talk too much about the plot without giving anything away. I'm happy I went into it completely blind, as a found myself actually gasping more than once at the end of chapter cliffhangers. This was my first Julia Phillips' book, and it certainly won't be my last.

At the heart of it, BEAR is about sisters. Sam and Elena live on an island off of the coast of Washington state where Elena works at a golf course and Sam works concessions on a tourist ferry. They are living paycheck to paycheck as they take care of their dying mother, One day, they have a surprising visitor knock on their door and their entire lives are upended in the most unexpected way. Warning - the book is sad with a capital S. But it's also absolutely beautiful, incredibly unique, and one that will stay with me for a long time.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live somewhere else? Well these sisters did.

I was hooked from page one. Its a beautiful story of sisters and family. An absolute memorable story. I will remember this story. A definite recommend

Thank you Netgalley and random house

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

Filled with a distinct sense of place (San Juan Island, Washington State), this book explored the relationship dynamic between two sisters as they journey through their mother's illness. Themes of generational poverty, life patterns seemingly passed from grandmother to mother to daughter, the denial or seeking of relationships are addressed, all as a wild, mysterious beast of a bear intrudes upon their lives. Is the bear a metaphor? Is he a magical savior?

This book had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen. I read it in less than a day. I'm not sure I like how it ended. You'll have to read it and decide for yourself.

As I read this book, parts of it reminded me of The Bear by Claire Cameron and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review