I enjoyed this book alot, though it's not an action packed, fast paced story, it is still interesting and engaging.
The writing is well done and I could see the mountain and the bear and feel the hunger.

After reading this, I am unsure what this was supposed to be about? Don't get me wrong, the writing was beautiful and the words gave off this amazing imagery where I could picture each scene described. But there was no plot and not much really happened.

If there was a message to be shared, I must have missed it. I think I came away with a greater appreciation for nature and respecting the process of living and dying, but I there was no major message conveyed. I was a little disappointed that this book lacked a clear plot because it truly was written so poetically.

I found it peaceful to read, as if I was reading a Planet Earth episode instead of watching one, but I felt like all it did was pass the time because there was no plot structure. Overall, it was pleasant, but anti-climatic.

RATING BREAKDOWN:
Storyline: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Characters:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emotion:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫(4.87)

REVIEW:
“The last two were a girl and her father who lived along the old eastern range on the side of a mountain they called the mountain that stands alone.”

Synopsis (thanks to Goodreads):

In an Edenic future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They possess a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches the girl how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can only learn to listen.

A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.

The Bear by Andrew Krivak is reminiscent of a folktale or a fairytale of a girl and her father who learn to love and live off the land.

The father tells the girl stories of the land that were passed down to him from generations before him or stories of her mother who had died after childbirth. These stories are very important. Before our modern age (and I’m talking waaaay back) stories were passed down verbally between friends and families. And now, after the fall of man and modern civilization, we fall back to the passing of stories by mouth. The bear in this tale also passes down stories to the girl by mouth, which makes me think that maybe that is the way that stories are meant to be shared. A more personal and intimate way than the mass-produced way that we share stories today.

The father and the girl live simply and live from day to day. The father passes down all of his knowledge to the girl so she can survive into adulthood. I freaking loved the lessons that the father taught the girl. One of my favorites was when a family of geese moved to the water supply where they fished. The father gave the girl some options of how to prevent the geese from stealing the fish, and ultimately the girl chose to shoot the goose and the gander to prevent further goslings from being born. The girl was upset that she had to kill the geese and wished there was a way that she could have explained to the geese that they couldn’t have stayed there instead of killing them and oh my god my heart!

The girl is such a wise and sweet soul in the way that she interacts with nature and the animals around her. I believe that she was one with nature and that is why she was able to make some friends later on in the tale 😉 (no spoilers!!)

I was engaged with the story the whole time and found myself wishing the girl would somehow find someone and be able to have babies and keep the human race going. But, as I kept reading I realized that is not what this book is about. The Bear is about nature and that like it or not we are disposable and nature will survive on with or without us.

This story touched a string in my heart because of my own connection with nature. This planet and what it has to offer is much bigger than we are and we sometimes forget that.

I recommend this book to all of those who love nature and animals. A very enjoyable read!

3.5. This was such a weird little book.
The first half covers the girl's childhood, while the last half until the final chapter lasts a season.
The prose is beautiful but I can't help but be frustrated by this book. The similarities to this book and The Road were very clear, in my opinion this made this book feel cheaper. In the first half especially, with the father and his child in a post-apocalyptic with a desolate feel... last people on earth type mood. The same style is used (no character names, no quotations to dictate dialogue). This was ultimately distracting but once you reach the half point the book changes and becomes more of a... nature type mythology book which seems to get some influences from Aboriginal culture and practices. Overall I enjoyed but felt ultimately distracted by similarities to The Road.

There are just these two, a girl and her father, the last two left living on the eastern range of this mountain. Once, another time, it had been the man and a woman who had come to this place, had built a house using stones from the earth, timber and cement made from limestone, a glass window which was so rare now, handed down to the woman from her parents, and from the generations that came before. The woman was no longer there, she lay underneath the stones and stars on the top of the mountain.

They don’t possess much in the way of worldly goods, although they do have books, a comb, flint and steel, and they are blessed in other ways – from where their house sits halfway up the mountain, they overlook the lake encircled by bushes filled with blueberries and birch trees, eagles soaring overhead, and with other gifts of nature abundant. For food, they fish, hunt, or gather. And in those moments, he teachers her about the land, navigating by the stars, skills needed for survival. He shows her the importance of gratitude, an appreciation of the gift of life, as a gift given, and a gift taken.

A fable set in a dystopian environment, a lovely ode to the beauty that abounds in the nature, and a cautionary tale for everyone and everything living here.



Pub Date: 21 Feb 2020


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Bellevue Literary Press

This was a beautifully written book, the father and daughter relationship was beautifully done, and the plot is thought provoking.

Mythology or prediction? A story about a girl, her father and survival. While the girl and her father are traveling, tragedy strikes. The girl is befriend by The Bear. To her surprise, her dream of being able to speak to the animals that started when her father told her about the bear in the stars, has come true. As she struggles to stay alive thru that first winter, the animals help her and she always makes sure to show them she is grateful..

This fable-like novel traces the story of a girl, apparently the last survivor of humankind, on her journey into nature and her eventual immersion into it. Krivak's prose is simple and compelling, moving us through the girl's adventures and challenges gently but without blinking. The book may remind some of McCarthy's _The Road_ or Martel's _Life of Pi_ and it takes its stand between them as a companion book, but one aimed finally not at the weakness of humanity, but at the wisdom of living with nature and learning to listen to the animals and trees around us. I reviewed a free copy of this novel that was given through netgalley.com, but otherwise was not compensated for my review.

I really, really liked this book. It was such an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world - one that is so far in the future, it almost feels like the past. And maybe I enjoyed it so much because I read it right after finishing a 7 day hike along the West Coast Trail so the process of surviving in nature was fascinating to me.

The Bear is a beautifully written book about a girl and a man (her father) and they are the last two humans on the planet (as far as they or we know). It's a quiet story about the trials and tribulations of their isolated life in the wilderness. When the book opens, the girl is very young and her father is teaching her everything he can about survival as he knows he will not be around forever. The years pass, the girl grows, and so does her expertise and knowledge.

It's not even that a lot happens in the book, or anything dramatic, but the writing is so well done that I enjoyed every word of it and looked forward to picking it up. It's also not a long book, and the author didn't feel the need to drag it out for far too many pages. Some reviewers have said they found the minute details boring, but on the contrary, I really liked all the bits about survival and how much work it actually takes. There's a part in the book where you have to suspend your disbelief for a bit - and really, I had no problem with this and it didn't take away from the story for me at all. Think of it as a fiction piece mixed in with a bit of folklore and maybe you will see the magic in this book too.

Why am I feeling this? she asked. Because you're beginning to understand. Understand what? That every thing has its end. And we have a part to play, right up to that end.

Sometimes a story doesn't have to contain flowery language or poetic verse to be incredible. Sometimes a story is beautiful in its subtlety and the pure truth that it offers. The Bear by Andrew Krivak falls in to the latter. This tale of loss, love and survival is simple in its language but powerful in its message.

The Good: The Bear reminds us of our place in nature and our responsibility to it. The story begins and ends in a satisfactory loop that intimates both the continuity and reciprocity of life. We are a part of nature and yet we are also separate from it. Nature requires balance and respect. Krivak manages to convey this without shouting down the reader's throat, a difficult task.

The Bad: The only downside I really have with The Bear is that I found myself procrastinating with reading because there isn't a ton of plot. I was a little bored, but sometimes that can't be helped when the message is more important than the action. I found it a little repetitive in places as well.

TL;DR: The Bear is like a campfire tale told by a loved one that both entertains and passes on an important lesson. The stories we tell and are told by others are what shape us and help define our values. This beautiful fable reminds us that what we learn from those who come before us is important and lives on long after we're gone. I recommend The Bear to parents and children, since all of us are one, the other, or both.

Contains 1 Spoiler

I ended up reading this in one sitting because I enjoyed it so much. I already loved bears, and this book made me love them even more.

I still don't entirely understand who the girl and her father are or where everyone else went, but I don't especially care. That's how good this was: I don't know the history but it was wonderful all the same. I have theories, of course: some weird epidemic caused by nasty diseased animals, but there is only the vaguest shred of proof of that theory.

The writing style was delightful, with lush descriptions of nature, but the descriptions weren't trying to be "unique" like some authors try to do with nature imagery. The words were simple and honest, but the picture they painted was delightful and I wish I could go to where this was set.

The dialogue is written in an unusual way, but not to the point of being annoying. It reminded me of Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss in its lack of quotation marks, but that style fit with this isolated story.

The book did make me cry because SPOILER:: the father dies and it was extremely sad, and it made me miss my dad even though he's not dead. So good job?

Overall, I loved this book and am so grateful to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

This is the first ARC that I have received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, so many thanks for the opportunity to read this really lovely story.

The Bear is a look into a post-apocalyptic world in which a man and his daughter are the last two known humans alive, following the story of their navigation/survival in this world.

As a lover of post-apocalyptic literature, this was an approach that I have not experienced before. The pace is easy and smooth, and is more about humanity's relationship with the earth and nature rather than survival. It is both devastating and heartwarming and reads like an old story that has been passed down from generation to generation told by a wise grandparent. Throughout I had the feeling as though I was reading a much older piece of classic literature weaving a mix of nature, human resilience, folklore, and magic realism.

I really enjoyed this thoughtful read.

Novel was not the correct medium to tell this story. It dragged on and, with the lack of names, became very boring. This would have been better as a novella or short story.

I'm not surprised to see such split reviews for this book. It is the very definition of a "quiet book." A girl journeys to the ocean and then back home--that's the extent of the plot. If you're interested in that journey (and the twists and turns that happen along the way) then you'll find this book an intriguing read. If not, you'll likely be bored and feel like you're reading a camping manual.

Interestingly, this girl is perhaps the last human girl alive, although the book spends scant time diving into this fact. In this book, the end of the world has come and gone many, many generations ago. There aren't even the demolished buildings or remnants of our society around as there is in so much post apocalyptic fiction. Instead there is just nature, animals, and the girl.

While the stuff about nature in the book is pretty straight-forward (we learn how she fishes, how she makes a bow and arrows), the stuff about animals is less so because the girl can communicate with animals because she is so very alone and because humans have ceased to exist for so long.

Maybe you'll find the girl chatting with a bear in this dreamy, fable-like world to be a quaint idea. Or, you might find it overly precious and be tempted to write it off as the delusions of a person who is so terribly alone. (Where you fall will likely be a matter of personal preference.) Be warned though, that even with those bear chats, there is still little CHATTING happening in this book period. Again, it's a quiet book, about a quiet person on a quiet quest. (Basically an extrovert's nightmare.) It won't be for everyone although I personally thought it had its charms.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Bear was a book that started off really well for me but unfortunately fell flat towards the middle and end, despite Andrew Krivak’s beautiful writing style. I was all for the book’s synopsis of an Eden-like future and a bear that’d guide the girl back home.

It sounded like a book that would provoke a lot of thought about the universe and humans in general. What happened to the humans? Why are there only two left? Although I was very curious about that, the book never answered those questions. It wasn’t a bother to me, as I was hoping that if we couldn’t get that, then at least we could get an emotional journey with the bear and the girl.

The bear had such a great introduction in the book, but its role was actually much smaller than I thought it would be. For the second half of the book, it even felt like I was reading only about the girl and what she did to survive instead of about the survival of both the bear and the girl.

At that point, I had also already read so much about what kinds of food the girl obtained, how she prepared it, where she went, etc. that I wasn’t too interested anymore in what happened to her.

This book was like reading a fairy tale to my kids when they were little. I love make believe. The writer captures the heart and imagination and takes you on a journey that holds you captive cover to cover. I did not want the story to end so abruptly but alas all good stories must come to an end. I really felt like I was part of the story and there with the girl and the bear. I recommend this book to anyone looking to escape reality if only for a short time and live out this journey.

I really wanted to love this book. The premise of the fable-like tale of a girl's journey home with a bear who teaches her about life? Right up my alley. Unfortunately, I felt the execution needed some work and I found myself pushing through despite wanting to put it down.

The writing felt stilted and overly-simplistic. I found myself yearning for more description. While I appreciated this may have been a stylistic choice due to the setting of the novel (last two people alive), I felt it this didn't mean the characters should have such a basic way of looking at everything.

As for the plot, I wanted more from this story. I was waiting for something to happen almost the entire book and was more than 60% through when it finally picked up. And then I was disappointed by the continued slow pace. The conflict didn't feel urgent enough. The character fell flat during this time when she should have come to life. Again, I feel more descriptive writing could have helped.

Thank you to Bellevue Literary Press for providing me with an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This post apocalyptic fairy tale was beautiful.

The man and the girl live in the wilderness as (what is assumed) the last two people al ie after the woman dies. They live off of the land and he teaches her how to survive.

He tells her tales of the bear, the past and her mother. Many of the stories are whimsical and have a very magical feel to them. They weave their way into the main story when a bear shows up to the girl.

This book had very heavy “The Road” feelings, yet the complete lack of people made it feel bigger and emptier.

I loved the centralization around love and grief, gratitude and giving. This simple life lived in a somewhat symbiotic way, was just beautiful.

I loved the anonymity of the nameless characters. It makes them relatable to anyone. I did find the lack of parenthesis for dialogue frustrating but the flow of the story and the language made up for it.

A beautiful book about a young girl learning about the nature that surrounds her and how she fits into the bigger world. This book portrayed the wilderness, the animals, the stars etc. in a way that was almost like music. I loved how the story came full circle, I loved how the story drew me in without gimmicks. I loved how the journey this girl was on was more important to me than wondering what had happened generation prior to the people of the world leaving just her and her father. The book felt peaceful, like I had walked in the woods myself.


'Storms lasted for days and weeks at a time, drifts climbing up against the house and burying paths as deep as some trees grew high.'

Thank you to Bellevue Literary Press for allowing me to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The summary of this book sounded like something very much up my alley, however, the book failed to capture my attention and I DNF'd it at about 24%.