Bear

A Novel

De: Julia Phillips

Narrado por: Sophie Amoss

Duración: 7 h y 51 m

Resumen del Editor

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the celebrated author of Disappearing Earth comes a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods—“a mesmerizing story about hope, sisterhood, and survival with a truly shocking twist at the end” (People, Book of the Week).

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK!

One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Summer: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, People, Vulture, Elle, Bustle, LitHub, Parade, Publishers Weekly, Electric Lit, WBEZ Chicago

“Thrilling and propulsive, glorious and terrifying. Julia Phillips is a brilliant writer.”—Ann Patchett

“Beautiful and haunting . . . this is brilliant.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and Elena dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.

Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the desire to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.

A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us—and within us—Bear is a propulsive, mythical, richly imagined novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.

©2024 Julia Phillips (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A bold and brilliant modern fable of sisterhood, class, and our relationship to the natural world.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Mythical and enchanting, Phillips’s second novel delves into sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among—and within—us all.”—Oprah Daily (One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2024)

“This mythical novel of obsession, moral reckoning, and aspiration glows with fairy tale magic.”—The Boston Globe

Keep looking for another book

Loved this author’s first book. Ignored the critical reviews on this site but they were right. I stuck it out til the end but it just got worse. Over all, kind of a mess.

Lovely writing. Dreadful Sam.

Phillips creates a character, Sam, and then deconstructs her. The metaphoric bear is jealousy, envy, fear of loss and ultimately a real bear, not anthropomorphic. The book is almost too sorrowful to recommend. Phillips’ books incooorate the natural world as a principal.

Narration Didn’t Work For Me

As gorgeous as the story is, the uber emotive narration competes with, and even mocks the writing at times.
Many, if not most, listeners seem to enjoy this style . I don’t.

The Bear

I thought the book was slow and overall boring. I did not care for it.

Long Trot Down a Single Path

The twist at the end was a nice unexpected turn after chapters and chapters of predictability.

Engaging story of sisters

Enjoyable read about 2 sisters that feel bonded,but also one also finds an indescribable bond with a wandering bear. Quite a story and well read for audible experience.

Story of survival

Loved that it took place in the San Jauns and on the ferry system where I grew up.
Has a lot of sadness and longing. And escape at the end.

I couldn’t wait for this to get over

I really liked Phillips’ Disappearing Earth, but I was very disappointed by this one. It might have made a good short story or even a novella, but in this form, it was just boring. If I could have, I would have returned it. The characters were shallowly drawn and not very likable and I there was too much mundane detail that did not move the story or develop the characters.

Meh.

I didn’t trust or like the main character, and the storyline was pretty weak. Everything seemed overly dramatic without there being any real drama.

Codependency

I remember as a child reading Snow White and Rose Red from the brothers Grimm. So I appreciated the parallels the author was drawing. The book was itself a parable… a fairy tale in its truest, and most original form, which is to say it was violent and held no real happy ending. And that’s OK. It just felt so desperately sad and I honestly kept thinking that the character of Sam needed some serious therapy.