This magical tale entwines the lives of two sisters struggling to survive with an otherworldly encounter with an all too-real fairy tale beast. At once entrancing and threatening, the grizzly embodies and reflects the dangers and passions the sisters face and the choices they make. Gripping and compelling, spell-binding and lyric, tragic and sublime.

Not what I was expecting, but pleasantly surprised! A book dealing with the family dynamics between two sisters in their late 20s taking care of their dying mother on the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Phillips did a phenomenal job describing the oddity of living in a small tourist town in the PNW that you just cannot seem to leave.

As soon as I opened this book and saw a map with my town on it I knew I was going to love this book.

Thank you Random House Publishing for a digital arc of this book. Reviews have been published on Goodreads and Storygraph (04/08/2024) and a review will be shared on Amazon on release day.

This was an unusual novel whose premise was difficult for me to embrace. My daughter lived in a rural area and the bears were a menace, we avoided them at all costs. It was not possible for me to accept the bear in this book having the curiosity to approach humans so readily and without malice. The details of the family’s life were heartbreaking. Our healthcare system is so flawed and the suffering as a result reflects badly on our government. I empathized with the sisters. However, ultimately, for me the novel failed to engage me. The horrific ending was unseen and surprising. I could not accept the mysterious allure of the bear. The author writes well but I question her choice of topic.

Sam and Elena are sisters, living on San Juan Island. Where the wealthy have vacation homes. Sam works the ferry while Elena works bartending at the golf club.

They live in the house of their Grandmother, who has died, and their mother who is terminally ill. The house is falling down around them and their mother’s medical bills are keeping them in debt. For years they have been planning their escape from the island. They’ll sell the house and move.

One day Sam spots a bear swimming to the island. The next day it is at their door! They are both terrified but one of them will become obsessed with the bear and that will change everything!

A beautiful and haunting story.


NetGalley/ Random House Hogarth/ June 25,2024

We have beautiful writing, a cool rustic island setting ive never even heard of. We have an element of danger (BEAR), with feeling trapped by the life we are living. We have past trauma. We have a strong sisterly connection. There is a cute, but stupid, dog. Loss and sorrow but also hope. I think when all these things are written out, this book sounds pretty special.

But there is a missing element, like the author didn't fully commit to any of these themes so while I really was impressed with the writing, the story fell short. I was never really scared of the bear. I know I should have been but wasn't. I guess I'm Elena in this situation but I also didn't really understand Elena even though I'm the first daughter, responsible one looking after their silly and annoying younger sibling but I just kept thinking...Elena stop being stupid and Sam just get out of there.

I am firmly TEAM SAM, even though she made poor decisions and her attention span was zero. And there are no teams. No one wins because this is codependency at its finest and I think Sam's better off which is maybe not the intention. I wanted more Madeline. I wanted some more action. Even after it all ends, I felt sadly disconnected and unaffected by it all. If anything, the story finally kicks off and then it's over. I don't know, I guess I'm dead inside.

I received an e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Bear

If you like real-world interfamilial emotionally wrenching drama, then this may be the book for you. I had thought this was something very different, based on the description. Like quite a few other reviewers, I had thought this was a sort of magical realism fairy-tale sort of story, so I was disappointed. (I also don’t particularly care for real-world interfamilial emotionally wrenching drama, so that didn’t help matters, but since I had already received the book, I did try to give it a fair and unbiased read.) So that’s my first callout for you, potential reader - if you (like me) are reading the synopsis and thinking there is something interestingly magical going on here…there is not.

Second callout: this book prominently features a parent who is slowly dying from cancer. This is a major plot point and we get a lot of explicit passages talking about the physical ravages on the mother’s body, and the mental and emotional ravages for all of the family members. (This isn’t a spoiler - it’s made clear right at the start of the book.) If you don’t enjoy reading about this sort of thing, here’s your heads-up, because bizarrely enough, there’s no mention of this in the synopsis (if no other reason than to make potential readers aware, since this is a topic that a lot of people may not want to read about).

Having said all that, the book is well-written and well-plotted. I can tell why people enjoy this author’s work. I loved the descriptions of life on the San Juan Islands, of nature and all the things that come with it - the sights of the forest, the smells of the ocean, the sounds of late-night walks. But sadly, there was no magical realism, and the bear is just a bear. Nothing more. So there you have it. I hope this review helps you decide if this book is for you, and if you do like real-world family drama, I think you will likely very much enjoy this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review. This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts closer to the book release date.

The book explores the complications of family, all of those vast and minute occurrences that show how fragile we all are, and the need to connect and trust. The complications of family life and the search for something that feels just out of reach. This book will speak to all those families, especially sisters and mothers, who are just trying to make life work and how necessary dreams are.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Bear.
The setting for this book is done beautifully by the author. Two sisters live on the islands off the coast of Washington and have a rough life.
One day a Bear comes to them and everything changes.
Is this near a sign or just a bear
And the sisters are torn and seeking just the essence that their lives could be better.
Is this a sign?
This book is descriptive and sad in many ways. T hi s is not my genre and was lost to the meaning of the Bear
3 stars

Sam and her sister Elena live on an island off the coast of Washington working long hours without ever catching up on their bills thanks to the pandemic, which closed down the tourist trade, and their dying mother’s medical bills. When their mother passes, Sam is certain they can sell the house and get away and start a good life at long last.

One day a bear shows up just outside their cabin. Sam is terrified, but Elena thinks it’s wonderful. They report the citing to wildlife officials, but they have no faith that people will ever help them. The bear shows up repeatedly. It’s both wonderous and frightening.

This is beautifully written about the struggles of folks who work hard and still can’t escape the noose of poverty and how that impacts choices and chances.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 25, 2024.

The book was written well and I read the first half very quickly. I found the story interesting and I was excited to find out what was going to happen with the girls and the bear. Unfortunately, from 50-70% not much was happening and it was difficult to get through. The ending was disappointing and sad. There was little emotion ignited inside me with this one. A decent book but one I don’t think I would reread.

I really enjoyed this somewhat maudlin tale of two sisters on island and their encounters with life and wildlife. I think the interactions and relationship between the sisters was well laid out -- it felt real. Some fairy tale elements were present, but to me they didn't detract from the heart of the human story.

I was really sad when I finished this, and I felt it in my gut. I don't often feel that way when I complete a book...

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a book of fairy tales. She read from this book whenever we stayed with our grandparents. The first story was Snow White and Rose Red, so this was the one we heard most frequently. Naturally, when I read the summary of Bear, it brought me back to happy memories of my childhood. Luckily for me, I was the one who inherited her book. So, before I read Bear, I re-read Snow White and Rose Red. While I would probably not characterize this as a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, it certainly had the important elements.
I thought this was an engaging story, taking place in an area where residents are close to the environment in which they live and work. It highlighted our strengths and failings as individuals, family members, coworkers, and residents of a community. It was easy to relate to the characters because they feel real. I am so glad I read this book, and I highly recommend it.

This book absolutely took my breath away. The Bear is a story about sisterhood, grief, nature, and so much more. Julia Phillips is such a talented writer--I can't wait to read Disappearing Earth (and whatever she writes next!). Ann Patchett put it best--Julia Phillips has my full attention.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is well written. It is just not for me. I didn't like the POV and the way it was going. Maybe others will love it though. DNF

This novel is set on San Juan Island in Washington State, and the atmospheric details are great. It has lots of lovely descriptions of the island and the ferry going to it.

I am not finishing this book, because I dislike the genre, namely women’s fiction. It’s probably a very nice book for its genre. However, I just don’t want to invest time in works that aren’t “literary.” Too many great, thoughtful and artistic books to read, so little time.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Okay. So I was a little confused on this one. The first half I was expecting very much a Bear and the Nightingale situation where there’s a sense of magic, the Bear is not just a bear and there truly was some magical elements to it. This is what I get for coming in blind! I then spent the second half of the novel wondering if I missed a key element in the first half.

Spoiler: it’s not magical. Hah! All jokes aside, about 75% of the way through I wondered how it would end. I am so glad that Sam got the ending she deserved - as a Washington native and growing up in a town much like hers, it made me so happy that she could be someone other than her destiny. Elena, on the other hand. You know, everything was so ethereal with her, do you really expect me to believe there wasn’t any magic!?!?

Good story. CLEARLY not what I was expecting - and the ending was so abrupt I had to laugh!

On a small island in the PNW, sisters Sam and Elena are living their lives in limbo, as they work low-paying jobs and care for their mother who is dying of cancer. Sam in particular is desperate for a new life and has clung to the tales her sister told her of selling their family home and moving off the island for a better life. Convinced this will eventually come to pass, Sam refuses to get attached to co-worker Ben with whom she has been having an affair. When a bear arrives on the island - a grizzly, no less - and appears at their doorstep, Sam is terrified while Elena is intrigued. Thus begins the unraveling of the sisters' close friendship as Sam realizes how very different her sister is from her - a realization that Sam refuses at first because of what that could mean for their plans.

The characters of the sisters, of the men in their lives, of the authority figures they have to deal with, and of course, their beloved mother, feel so genuine and even though the idea of a bear coming between two siblings sounds farfetched, it makes total sense in this story. The novel is moving and sad, its events both tragic and hopeful.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

Another great novel by Phillips. I enjoyed this one even more than her first book. I love her writing. This one had a unique lovely story line.

Bear by Julia Phillips was an interesting book. I wanted to so badly enjoy the story. Phillips' descriptions of the setting painyted a beutiful picture. Where it fell flat for me was the depth of charectors. I felt like the story was lacking and I could not put my finger because... maybe it was me, but I kept waiting for it to get better and it did NOT.

Sam and Elena are twenty-something sisters who live on San Juan island in Washington state. One evening Sam and some of the passengers on the ferry where she works see a bear swimming alongside the ship. Excited, Sam can't wait to tell her older sister about the sighting. Elena's response is one of fear and concern, nothing like Sam's expectation. However, as the story unfolds, Sam becomes terrified of the bear while Elena embraces the magic, the gift, that the animal's presence represents.

A variant of the Snow White and Rose Red fairy tale, this novel is grim and tragic. It reveals the lives of two poor girls and their terminally ill mother who are eager to experience something, anything besides the painful bleakness that is life for them. Told in third-person, the reader is engaged with the world and people of San Juan in the child-like way that Sam perceives them. It is easy in the beginning to feel, anticipate, some sort of magic lurking in this mystical forest on an island, but sensation is not reality.

This tale is gritty and real. It is as unsettling as it is beautifully written.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.