1.42k reviews for:

Bear

Julia Phillips

3.39 AVERAGE

anna_oreally's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

2catmom's review against another edition

4.0

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I like Sam. I would think like her more than her sister. 

So much grace for the mistakes made. 

So much suffering for such young women. 

So much magic. How? 

ksimmons008's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

eavery's review against another edition

5.0

reflective sad medium-paced

madscranberry's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

slwhitmore's review against another edition

3.75

dark sad tense slow-paced

maxx310's review against another edition

3.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

reading_christine's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ajnsmiths's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional tense

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“Sam felt shattered. 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 dropping. A living thing that was forced, relentlessly, to submit. That was how sorrow acted on them.”

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This one felt very special. I think this book was greatly misunderstood - saw a lot of reviews unwilling to lend any empathy, or maybe more importantly narrative significance, to Sam as a character. The more you read her, the more you see her inability to connect with others and a warping of her reality to suit her needs. She becomes less and less trustworthy, and in turn, I questioned everyone she describes. The bear is indeed actually a bear, but for the majority of this novel I questioned if the bear was truly there and if it didn’t exist, what did it represent? Elena embraces the bear and Sam is frightened of it, and because of this, I actually thought the bear was change itself and even though Sam insists she wants change, nothing about her or in her life really indicates that. In fact, the life she has built on a premise of change in the near futur created the most static existence she could have - no real connections outside of a house she hopes to sell. Elena makes the best of her life as it is and lives (with her own share of delusion) in the present and with others. 
Just a really smart and layered story where so much happens internally without much happening plot-wise.