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tani's review
5.0
This was a chance find. I went to the library looking for books for the Fall Challenge at the Seasonal Reading Challenge Group, and while I was browsing the fantasy books, my eyes happened to fall on this one. And what a stroke of good fortune that was!
I'll admit, the book started a little slow, by which I mean I spent the first half thinking it would be 4 stars instead of 5. Sometimes, Cloud was hard to empathize with, and sometimes her self-pity was annoying. Mostly, it was an understandable response to being thrust into circumstances that you have no idea how to deal with. I liked Cloud a lot for the entire book, both when she was a confused child and when she became a brave woman. She's a really great character, the kind that I definitely want to see more of.
I also really enjoyed the mythology aspect. I know pretty much nothing about the mythology of the Native Americans of the West Coast, so this book felt entirely fresh to me. I really liked reading something with a basis that wasn't Greek or Roman or medieval. I wasn't left wondering how the characters could be so stupid as not to understand how things worked, because I was just as clueless as them, a rather nice change. And I don't know where line between mythology and imagination was drawn, but either way, it was fascinating to follow all the twists and turns that the plot took.
In short, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.
I'll admit, the book started a little slow, by which I mean I spent the first half thinking it would be 4 stars instead of 5. Sometimes, Cloud was hard to empathize with, and sometimes her self-pity was annoying. Mostly, it was an understandable response to being thrust into circumstances that you have no idea how to deal with. I liked Cloud a lot for the entire book, both when she was a confused child and when she became a brave woman. She's a really great character, the kind that I definitely want to see more of.
I also really enjoyed the mythology aspect. I know pretty much nothing about the mythology of the Native Americans of the West Coast, so this book felt entirely fresh to me. I really liked reading something with a basis that wasn't Greek or Roman or medieval. I wasn't left wondering how the characters could be so stupid as not to understand how things worked, because I was just as clueless as them, a rather nice change. And I don't know where line between mythology and imagination was drawn, but either way, it was fascinating to follow all the twists and turns that the plot took.
In short, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.
rebeccacider's review
4.0
This was an idiosyncratic book, with a slow start and an ending that I'm not quite sure about, but I wholly recommend it to fans of mythic fiction. It's a beautiful evocation of the textures, scents, and daily rhythms of its folkloric Pacific Northwest setting, exploring through fine details what it means to be a living being in a world of birth and death and struggle.
While the book dragged for me at first, readerly patience is rewarded with a tense, high stakes coming of age–quest story. Cloud is a wonderful, slightly unusual character, a clueless mortal girl with immortal bear parentage who struggles to identify her desires and emotions. The text makes wise observations about trauma and family, and it's refreshing to encounter a female protagonist with low emotional intelligence.
Finally, Judith Berman is an anthropologist, and this is a respectful and nuanced adaptation of Native source material by a non-Native author. This is her only novel, although I think I've read a short story or two of hers. Alas, it seems she's wholly out of print, so I will be on the lookout for new publications.
While the book dragged for me at first, readerly patience is rewarded with a tense, high stakes coming of age–quest story. Cloud is a wonderful, slightly unusual character, a clueless mortal girl with immortal bear parentage who struggles to identify her desires and emotions. The text makes wise observations about trauma and family, and it's refreshing to encounter a female protagonist with low emotional intelligence.
Finally, Judith Berman is an anthropologist, and this is a respectful and nuanced adaptation of Native source material by a non-Native author. This is her only novel, although I think I've read a short story or two of hers. Alas, it seems she's wholly out of print, so I will be on the lookout for new publications.
nannahnannah's review
5.0
I stumbled across this book completely by chance in a used bookstore. I hesitated to get it because of the (obviously) white girl on the cover, but after seeing this interview by the author that other reviewers provided, I decided to grab it. Judith Berman talks about cultural appropriation, the research that went into the book, and her displeasure with the cover.
Bear Daughter is a book set in an alternate world, based on the cultures of the Northwest Coast Native Americans and with a plot that follows many Old World European myths and traditions: a great journey, underworlds, and wizards whose power sources are found in hidden, locked boxes. Cloud, the MC, is a bear-girl, borne of one of the First People and a mortal. Her father, a bear, and her brothers, all murdered, call out to her in her sleep. They won't stop haunting her until she can find their bones and free their spirits.
Immediately, I fell in love with the writing style, Cloud, and the plot. I could not stop reading. Even at the beginning, which is fairly slow, but never boring. It's addicting, dark, and lovely, evoking gorgeous imagery. The plot meanders, sometimes a little too much, but I couldn't bring myself to mind, because I was just too caught up in the writing and the journey.
I'm pretty sure this is a book that will be one of my favorites for a very long time.
Bear Daughter is a book set in an alternate world, based on the cultures of the Northwest Coast Native Americans and with a plot that follows many Old World European myths and traditions: a great journey, underworlds, and wizards whose power sources are found in hidden, locked boxes. Cloud, the MC, is a bear-girl, borne of one of the First People and a mortal. Her father, a bear, and her brothers, all murdered, call out to her in her sleep. They won't stop haunting her until she can find their bones and free their spirits.
Immediately, I fell in love with the writing style, Cloud, and the plot. I could not stop reading. Even at the beginning, which is fairly slow, but never boring. It's addicting, dark, and lovely, evoking gorgeous imagery. The plot meanders, sometimes a little too much, but I couldn't bring myself to mind, because I was just too caught up in the writing and the journey.
I'm pretty sure this is a book that will be one of my favorites for a very long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
calicojackofficial's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mara_miriam's review
1.0
I really wanted to like this book, but in the end I found it simply exhausting; about half-way through I just wanted it to be over and done with. The main character went through so many harrowing and redundant journeys that I wound up skimming sections throughout the last three-quarters of the book. Although I love fables and magical realism, I was not touched by this story. There was much repetitive over-the-top violence and so few interpersonal connections, the story just did not resonate.
taylesium's review
5.0
I think this book is seriously underrated; it was definitely one of the most unique and intriguing books I've read in a while.
I would call it a "realistic epic fairytale." The fairytale part is obvious: it's full of robes that allow someone to change shape, magical boxes and tools, houses located at the edge of the world, trips to the underworld, and monsters that lure people away to eat them. Although the mythology is apparently based on Canadian First Nations/Native American folklore (I actually saw a lot of similarity to coastal British Columbia in the setting), it definitely taps into a much broader sense of legendary tradition. If you wanted to, you could identify many similarities and comparisons to Greek mythology and Germanic fairytales, for instance. In the sense of drawing on a sort of collective mythological consciousness, it has a kind of universal appeal.
The story is epic in that it covers long journeys, heroes facing off against villains, and battles among spirits and wizards. And it is realistic in the sense that the author makes you almost taste the food, smell the scents, and feel the injuries. Even more than that, it is realistic in that the people are very believable. The villains are often victims of their own worst natures, like one driven insane by jealous obsession, and the "friendlies" are often flawed and less than accommodating.
Overall, it's very much a story about people, about growing up and overcoming one's weaknesses...or not overcoming them, all woven into an amazingly vivid tale of immortals, wizards, monsters, and humans. I highly recommend this book.
I would call it a "realistic epic fairytale." The fairytale part is obvious: it's full of robes that allow someone to change shape, magical boxes and tools, houses located at the edge of the world, trips to the underworld, and monsters that lure people away to eat them. Although the mythology is apparently based on Canadian First Nations/Native American folklore (I actually saw a lot of similarity to coastal British Columbia in the setting), it definitely taps into a much broader sense of legendary tradition. If you wanted to, you could identify many similarities and comparisons to Greek mythology and Germanic fairytales, for instance. In the sense of drawing on a sort of collective mythological consciousness, it has a kind of universal appeal.
The story is epic in that it covers long journeys, heroes facing off against villains, and battles among spirits and wizards. And it is realistic in the sense that the author makes you almost taste the food, smell the scents, and feel the injuries. Even more than that, it is realistic in that the people are very believable. The villains are often victims of their own worst natures, like one driven insane by jealous obsession, and the "friendlies" are often flawed and less than accommodating.
Overall, it's very much a story about people, about growing up and overcoming one's weaknesses...or not overcoming them, all woven into an amazingly vivid tale of immortals, wizards, monsters, and humans. I highly recommend this book.
brownbetty's review
4.0
[b:Bear Daughter|508364|Bear Daughter|Judith Berman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309209274s/508364.jpg|496387] is quite obviously set among pre-contact west-coast natives. [a: Berman|1561120|A.S. Berman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1238506385p2/1561120.jpg] is an anthropologist specializing in west-coast natives, but I was a bit uneasy reading something so saturated in native folklore written by a white woman. However, at no point did I feel that she presumed, although obviously, I am not an expert. I was also reassured by reading the author's essay on her struggle not to appropriate. [http://www.vectormagazine.co.uk/article.asp?articleID=29]. It's a thoughtful essay, and one which I recommend.
That out of the way, it was nice to read a story in which no white people appeared (discluding the girl on the cover who could only look whiter if she were blonde). The culture was treated as normal, rather than a deviation from the norm, and the author made the interesting choice, which I decided I liked, to use the less exotic word whenever one was available: house, instead of longhouse, feast instead of potlatch.
The story is long, and comfortably inhabits the liminal space between the mundane and the spiritual. Cloud, the protagonist, is at times self-centered, cowardly, and sullen, and yet remains likable, somehow, perhaps because of her loyalty to those she loves. I liked that the culture's patriarchal tendencies were not white-washed, and that the class system's fundamental injustice was treated frankly.
Recommended for those who want an unconventional quest story and good writing.
That out of the way, it was nice to read a story in which no white people appeared (discluding the girl on the cover who could only look whiter if she were blonde). The culture was treated as normal, rather than a deviation from the norm, and the author made the interesting choice, which I decided I liked, to use the less exotic word whenever one was available: house, instead of longhouse, feast instead of potlatch.
The story is long, and comfortably inhabits the liminal space between the mundane and the spiritual. Cloud, the protagonist, is at times self-centered, cowardly, and sullen, and yet remains likable, somehow, perhaps because of her loyalty to those she loves. I liked that the culture's patriarchal tendencies were not white-washed, and that the class system's fundamental injustice was treated frankly.
Recommended for those who want an unconventional quest story and good writing.
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