Bear by Engel, Marian [Paperback]

Rating: 3.6 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Genre: Classic/LitFic/Romance/Erotica
Type: Book
Worth?: Uhhh

TW: Bestiality

This book won the Governor General's Literary Award in Canada. I really wonder the mental state of the people who thought this book was worth it. I know I said 3.6 but it doesn't deserve a 4.

I picked this book for the controversialness of the story it contained. I try not to shy away from it. I love to see what people can come up with but... there are quiet a few things that just... doesn't make sense. It seemed to be a feministic book but if you call that feministic I want nothing to do with it. If to be apart of the feminist group is to have to fuck a bear... I much rather not. Nothing really stood out as power feminism other than a short blimp mention of a Cary's ancestor.

This woman, Lou, is a homewrecking bear fucker and that is just what she is. I mean the story was... like a dreary blue and sad day by the river. Yes it is a nice quick read but I learn nothing from this. I got nothing from it as well. No sense of joy or hope or anything except ‘ick'.

Semi antiquated writing style using words like "lest" which made what felt like a modern protagonist hard to place and define. The research motive and subject to Lou staying in the house was just uninteresting and hard to follow - I'm not sure what overarching themes were meant to be connecting past to present if any.

I liked the protagonists honesty about desire and sex though. With the current buzz about women preferring to be alone in the woods with a bear than a man in real life, this er adds an alternative flavour to that argument. Still, for me, the most interesting dynamic was between Lou and Homer as we get a sense of Homer's character and voice whereas the Bear remains a voiceless object she cajoles and projects into her orbit. Maybe thats the point?