This is an environmental fiction novel.  "The Bears takes readers on a spiritual and environmental journey through the parallel stories of the human protagonists and their bear counterparts."  An oil pipeline has been built in Northern British Columbia.  After the pipeline inevitably bursts and creates "an unpardonable crime," people with a connection to the environment step up to help clean up the spill and the wildlife in the area.     Activist, Gilbert Crow, biologist, Anne and sustainability student Jonathan are compelled to help, especially when a spirit bear is in trouble.

I appreciate this story and enjoy the way it was told, with hope.  A poignant story in today's world, where oil spills are happening more and more frequently.  I loved that the story was told through alternating human and bear points of view.  I also liked how the Great Bear creation story is the foundation and we learn of how animals, humans, and climate are created and regulated by the Great Bear.  The human characters as well as the bears were well developed and even though the bears were anthropomorphized, the voice was still very much one of a wild bear.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

"Good will grow even in the foulest of things, and I have a lot of good"

A sweeping, multi-generational saga that leads four generations of women on a journey to find peace within their relationships.  For four generations of women, their relationships with men, fathers, boyfriends, husbands, have been cursed; all due to one decision made long ago.  The story is told through each of the women's viewpoints, and each has a distinct character.


I really enjoyed this book, even though it isn't really a genre that I would usually read.  The facets of the multiple-generations of women and the mystery wrapped into the story made this really interesting to me.  The characters are all well-developed and any could be a woman you know; Emmy (the great-grandmother), Jenny (the grandmother), Miranda (the mother) and Anlee (the daughter) have all had a rough time with men in their lives.  The women in the family have often been a crutch for one another, but this relationship disintegrated when Emmy disappeared from their lives.  Brought together again by a letter from Emmy asking them to join her in a mysterious place called Angel Cove, the women can begin building their relationships again and finally outrun Josephine Finch.

This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.