“All I wanted was to pick up my sword and go to battle and fight that bear.”

Oh how I love my country of Canada …

I know the title has the word “bear” in it, but I learned more about nature, wildlife, and bears than I thought I would. At first, I was wondering how Cameron would weave in her cancer story, but the metaphors were written together so well. It was hauntingly beautiful and raw to see her fixate on a specific bear attack and survival on external threats while being fearful of the monster within her own body.

I interpreted the deep dive into bear and the attack’s research as her distracting herself from her own recovery, which is a relatable choice in itself.

Speaking of that, I learned so much about bears here and it was fascinating.

Bonus points for Cameron narrating the book herself.

Thank you, Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada, for the ARC!

A thought provoking memoir that caught my attention as it was set in Canada. I found the beginning of the book to be very well paced - informative and interesting.

As the book went on it started to become rather repetitive and at times my mind would wander.


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

As someone who lives about an hour away from the Canadian rockies, I have both fear and respect for bears. This was so informative, while also unexpectedly personal as the author ties in her own research about bears with her journey with her rare form of cancer. This is exactly the type of audiobook i enjoy.

I didn’t pick up How to Survive a Bear Attack because I frequent bear country. I picked it up because life, like wilderness survival, requires courage, clarity, and a well-packed mental backpack. And wow—this book delivers give you much more than "what to do if you meet a bear."

You WILL get actual bear attack tips (stand still? climb a tree? play dead?—read to find out), but what struck me most was how cleverly the author uses the metaphor of a bear attack to explore her fears, loves, and responses to what life throws us unexpectedly.

There’s something deeply empowering about learning how to stay calm in chaos, even if the chaos is less "roaring predator" and more "life pivots you didn’t see coming." The book is funny, smart, and sneakily philosophical. I found myself pausing to reflect on my own emotional resilience as much as what kind of bear spray is best or could I actually put my hands over my neck to protect my most vulnerable body part in the event of a bear attack.

This is survival wisdom disguised as a quirky field manual—and I really enjoyed it. Whether you’re an actual outdoors person or someone who feels like you’re constantly navigating wild terrain (hello, modern life), How to Survive a Bear Attack is a delightful mix of practical advice and metaphorical depth. It reminded me that we all have an inner wilderness—and that learning how to face it with curiosity and confidence is true survival.

Highly recommend—bear spray optional.

How to Survive a Bear Attack was a captivating take on a memoir. It was a solid mix of Claire’s life woven together with black bear encounters. Clare has a deep love for the back country, and wilderness and no matter what life tosses her way, she fights to stay connected to her passion and those she cares for.

This isn't usually what I read but I'm glad I did. It was inspiring and heartbreaking and I look forward to whatever else this author comes out with.

Very intriguing, honest & emotional. Listening to the audio book really enhanced the enjoyment of this book.

This memoir absolutely stayed with me. Claire Cameron masterfully weaves together three gripping threads: the haunting true story of a bear attack in Algonquin Park, the biology and behavior of bears, and her own deeply personal journey through grief, cancer, and survival.

The three-part structure—bear facts, the near-attack couple, and Claire’s own reckoning—creates a layered, thoughtful narrative that’s both emotionally powerful and utterly compelling. I was drawn in by the wilderness and true crime elements, but it was Claire’s honesty, vulnerability, and reflection on life and loss that lingered long after the last page.

This book is a beautiful, bracing reminder of how wildness lives in the world—and in us. Also? It's a solid case for always being prepared… and wearing SPF.

Thank you to Claire Cameron for sharing such a personal, courageous story and for continuing to write with such insight and depth. And thank you to NetGalley for the ARC—it was a privilege to listen.

Admittedly, yes. It was the title that drew me in and made me want to read Claire Cameron's How To Survive A Bear Attack.

Part memoir, part survival guide and part true crime (if nature is the criminal), this was a book I tore through. Breaking it down further, this is part Canadiana, part history, part heroism, and part acceptance. It is always, without a doubt, full fight.

I appreciated the comparison Cameron made between her own cancer struggles and those from individuals encountering bear attacks. The level of research put in comes across, as does the love Cameron has for Algonquin Park and nature itself.

This audiobook is narrated by Cameron with notes read by Rachel Cairns; Cameron's narration had heart, depth, and emotion as she recounted both her own battles, and those of others, and I appreciated the sources sited within the notes.

I have purposefully not read many memoirs this part year, but this was one I couldn't pass up!

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada Audiobooks and Knopf Canada for the complimentary audio copy to read and review.

Living close to Alquonquin Park had me intrigued with this book. An audiobook that was captivating and one I couldn't stop listening to. Cameron weaves a few narratives together - dealing with cancer and a story about a tragedy of a couple who were visiting the park in the 90's. A memoir about survival and grief. An introspective memoir - worth a listen.

I received this book as an eALC in exchange for my honest review through Netgalley & the publisher Knopf Canada. Audiobooks are my favourite way to read memoirs - I love hearing the author’s story through their own voice.

Claire and her family were avid campers in Algonquin and she’s also been fascinated by bears. Specifically there was one unprovoked attack in the back country in 1991 by a predatory bear that really captured her attention. She overcame the loss of her father who had skin cancer while she was experiencing the park.

Years later she is diagnosed with the same skin cancer her father had around a similar age he passed at and becomes obsessed with researching the bear attack.

It feels like the author really dove into the investigation as a way to keep occupied while she was going through treatment. It seemed like it kept her motivated to find out the truth of what happened that day.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one on audio and would recommend it in that format if this is one you’re considering picking up. It does cover some hard topics so would suggest checking the trigger warnings beforehand.

I enjoyed this hybrid genre book more than I expected to. The author blends memoir, nature nonfiction and creative nonfiction in this book where she tells her story through the lens of research into a tragic bear attack in 1991 that killed two people. The creative nonfiction portion comes in when she tells the hypothetical story of the bear's journey that season that lead him to that island where the attack happened that ultimately lost him his life. The author also shares her passion for bears with sections describing many different aspects of bears. This sort of a mix usually does not work for me but it did here. At first I wondered about the bear portions adn if she had put that together from autopsy reports - which seemed far-fetched-but once the author mentioned her experience writing fiction, specifically a work based on the 1991 attack, that portion clicked into place. Overall, I really enjoyed this work.

My favourite type of nonfiction book is one that blends memoir with nature writing and How to Survive a Bear Attack is a great example.

In terms of the nature writing, Cameron places us in the mind of the bear, describing its surroundings and potential motivations leading up to and at the time of the attack. While at times it may seem conjecture, Cameron backs it up with bear studies and by talking with experts. Can we ever know what the bear was thinking at the time of the attack? No but Cameron's writing has authority and i enjoyed the POV of the bear as it wandered the forest.

As for the memoir, Cameron explores grief, both when her father died from cancer and when she finds herself diagnosed with the same cancer. Her descriptions of her relationship with her father were honest and emotional and I could imagine, to a certain extent, what she was experiencing as she found herself travelling a similar path.

Through the bear attack and grief, Cameron was able to also explore the different types of fear - the fear when facing a bear attack, the fear when facing a cancer diagnosis, the fear of facing the need to tell her children about her cancer diagnosis - and how we respond in each situation. Do we run away and stand strong and face the fear?

I highly recommend this book. 4.25⭐️

A book I would likely never have picked up on my own, but thanks to NetGalley I got it as an audio book, and I'm so glad I did!
I never knew how much I wanted to know about bears and this book kept me wanting more information as it went along.
At first I struggled with the author's jumping around of perspectives and time periods, but eventually that became part of what made this book so amazing. The interwoven stories of the past, present, human, and bear are well done and how it all comes together to create a story was lovely.
Very interesting.
My happy place is Muskoka and Algonquin Park, so this book felt extra special and probably influenced my love of this book a bit.

Weeks later and I'm still thinking about this book a lot!

10+ years ago I read a novel titled The Bear that fictionalized the account of a bear attack in Algonquin Park that killed a couple in the early 90s. The novel speculates what would have happened if the couple had children with them. The novel itself is told from the perspective of the couple’s five year old daughter. I remember this vividly because after reading this book I spent the following months trying to convince all of my coworkers to read it. I even bought a copy for one of them as a birthday present!

Cut to present day and me still consistently thinking about this book. I see this audiobook available on NetGalley and immediately knew this was the same author.

Part memoir and part survival guide, Claire Cameron’s “How to Survive a Bear Attack” is thought-provoking, reflective, uncomfortable and hopeful all at once. Claire narrates the audiobook herself and what an engaging narrator! I have been in an audiobook slump for MONTHS and this was the story I needed to drag me out of that.

When I originally read The Bear in 2014 I had never visited Algonquin Park. Since then I have visited twice and every summer I promise myself that I won’t let another year go by without visiting. For anyone who is familiar with the area you’ll easily be transported to the Highway 60 Corridor, The Lookout and Lake Opeongo (to name a few).

I was captivated by Claire’s personal account of fighting the same type of cancer that her father had passed from when she was just a young girl. Especially from the perspective of having two young boys and knowing that no one else could raise them like you would.

If you can get your hands on this book, in any way, shape or form, it is worth it!

Thank you to @netgalley and @knopfca for providing me with access to the audiobook version in exchange for an honest review.

How to Survive a Bear Attack is out now!

5⭐️

I really enjoyed the reading. The book written from very interesting angle, how the author put the her investigation why the bear attacks and her own fight with her cancer. How to survive both.
A lot of interesting facts and information about bears. And about Algonquin park.
Some part of the book sounds completely like a fiction novel and not memoir. Beautifully written.
Great reading!

I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did - "How to Survive a Bear Attack" turned out to be an unsuspecting 5-star read for me!

I don’t usually gravitate toward non-fiction, but the title and cover immediately caught my attention. What I found inside was far more than I anticipated. Yes, it’s a memoir, but it reads with the tension and pacing of a mystery or psychological thriller. Claire Cameron masterfully weaves personal narrative with broader reflections, and the result is something gripping, intimate, and often haunting.

The dual narration by Claire Cameron and Rachel Cairns added even more depth to the experience. The voices were well-suited to the material, and the delivery kept me fully engaged from start to finish.

If you're a fan of memoirs with a suspenseful edge - or if you, like me, are usually drawn to thrillers and want to dip your toes into non-fiction—this is a fantastic pick. Thought-provoking, raw, and quietly powerful, this is a standout audiobook that I’ll be recommending widely.

Would I Survive a Bear Attack?

Claire Cameron’s How to Survive a Bear Attack had me asking that exact question: Would I survive? Honestly, it’s something I probably should ask myself every time I wander into the woods around my property without bear spray.

Bear sightings aren’t rare in my neck of the woods. They like to roam around our land. One time, while I was down by the river, I looked up at the ridge and there it was—a black bear. I’m not sure if it saw us, but it just went about its business and wandered away. No big drama. But sometimes, it's not that simple.

Three years ago, a member of our community was killed by a bear on the trails just outside my property. It was rare. It was shocking. And it still lingers in the back of my mind.

Why Do Bears Attack?
That question drives Cameron’s memoir. Obsessed with a real-life attack in Ontario’s Algonquin Park—where two campers were killed—she retraces the steps of both the victims and the bear, piecing together what led to the tragedy. She brings in experts, looks at other attacks, and gives us a deep dive into bear behavior.

But this isn’t just a book about wildlife—it’s also about survival of a different kind. While researching the attack, Cameron was battling a rare genetic cancer. She draws a powerful parallel between the predator in the woods and the one in her own body. Her illness becomes her personal bear—unpredictable, untamed, and terrifying in its own way.

The Bear and the Path to the Answers

I struggled a bit with the pacing. Cameron’s forensic deep dive into the bear attack is fascinating, but she jumps around while retracing those steps and the back-and-forth felt uneven and she repeats things when she returns to those steps.

The bear facts are fascinating and Cameron makes a compelling case for what may have happened in Algonquin. As for the bear attack near my place? That mystery remains unsolved. But this book definitely made me think more deeply about bears predatory behaviour and not to underestimate them.

Audiobook Verse Ebook
I received a copy of the audiobook from the publisher and paired it with the ebook. I liked both formats. Cameron narrates the audiobook herself in a steady, factual tone. It works for the investigative angle, but it didn’t always carry the emotional weight I craved. I found myself more connected to the story when I was reading—it hit harder that way.

Will I still continue to leave the cottage without bear spray after reading this? Well....

This is a unique memoir in that it's part Claire Cameron's struggle with a medical diagnosis and part investigation into a bear attack in Algonquin Park. The author clearly loves and respects bears (all nature and wildlife, but this is all about the black bear) and gave me an appreciation for them. I'm not outdoorsy, don't like sleeping on the ground and have never encountered a bear (nor do I want to), but the author's descriptions and fictionalized sections of what the bear could have been doing, thinking and acting like before the attack were fascinating. The author also doesn't forget the title of her book either : she really does give the reader tips on what to do if you are in the unfortunate situation of being attacked by a bear who won't back down.
Listened on audio as an ARC through Netgalley.

✨Review - How To Survive A Bear Attack by @

“Claire Cameron confronts the rare genetic mutation that gave her cancer by investigating an equally rare and terrifying event—a predatory bear attack.”

It’s #MemoirMonday. I picked up this audiobook from @NetGalley on a whim after reading that it was set in Algonquin Park, a gorgeous provincial park just a few hours down the road from where I live. I drive through it often on my way to a camp further into Muskoka, and I am always in awe of its beauty, so I had hoped this book would include a good amount of vivid descriptions and maybe even some tips on which hiking trails I should visit.

With that as my end goal, this book delivered. I loved feeling transported to the park, specifically to Opeongo Lake. I also appreciated the ways Cameron questioned the ethics of nature preserves, noting how ironic it is that the Algonquin people whom the park is named for were kicked off its land when it became provincially protected. (She mentions how important it is to ask for whom and from what an area is being protected.) I also appreciated her candid insight into her wrestling with her cancer diagnosis, and how she found peace in new normals and rhythms for her life.

What I didn’t enjoy as much was the speculative narration on the life of the bear whom she was paralleling with her own journey. I found it distracting from Cameron’s memoir - a bit of fiction amidst her own personal truth that didn’t seem to fit for me, despite Cameron’s obvious writing talent.

This audiobook was narrated by Cameron herself, and I always find this is the best way to experience a memoir.

Thanks to @Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this complimentary copy. All thoughts are my own.