Anna: Bear (out June 25, 2024) is a modern day fairytale-like story (and tragedy) of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island who are buried in debt working demanding service industry jobs while taking care of their dying mother. I was excited to read this after enjoying Julia Philips’s debut, Disappearing Earth, last year.
This one is very different but still just as character-focused. I found the beginning a little bit slow, but once it picked up, I had to know what happened.
Sam has always allowed her older sister, Elena to take charge of their financial responsibilities and physical care when it comes to taking care of their mother. She’s also always trusted that she and Elena had a plan when their mother finally died—sell the house and escape the island that has held them captive for their whole lives. Then a bear arrives on the island and everything changes.
One of the most interesting things to me about this book is that you think you can trust Sam, just Elena and the vision she believes Elena has laid out for them. But in the end, you find out that Sam really knows nothing about her sister. Even the plan for their future that Sam clung to throughout the book is stripped away. It all goes back to the arrival of the bear on the island. But is it really the bear that caused this change in the sister’s relationship, or did they never really know each other at all?
I also love the “woman gone wild” trope that is explored here.
The ending is jarring and dark in a way that I didn’t expect, even though the rest of the book was equally as depressing. It will make you wonder what in the world it’s really saying about sisterhood, death, grief and poverty. I feel the twist at the end works even though part of me isn’t even sure if the bear ever existed at all. After all, Bear reads like a dark fairytale. It makes sense it ends like one too.
takes two to book review 