A review by booksrockcal
Bear by Julia Phillips

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is about two sisters and is loosely based on a fable about two sisters .  This modern day story of modern day two sisters living in the post pandemic  pacific Northwest whose lives are upended by a bear has some magical or unrealistic elements which generally cause me to DNF books but I kept going with this one and I’m glad I did.  In this book two 20 something sisters are scraping by, taking care of their dying mother while working menial jobs that allow them to just get by. They live in a wealthy community and dream of the day they can sell their valuable home and make a new start elsewhere. This is the dream of one sister but the appearance of the bear calls into question what one sister considers their joint dream as it also reveals the secrets they kept from each other and the different visions each actually has for the future. Themes include the impacts of poverty and classicism, the effect of the natural world on people’s lives, and the bonds of family as either constructing or liberating. I found the end of the book a bit jarring but the writing is solid and i especially appreciated the use of metaphors (again not something i typically say when discussing a book). A solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4