In A Constellation of Minor Bears, Ferguson has outdid herself. Talk about a book full of heart from cover to cover. This book exceeded my already high expectations. I loved it! Keep reading this book review of A Constellation of Minor Bears for my full thoughts.
Summary
Before that awful Saturday, Molly used to be inseparable from her brother, Hank, and his best friend, Tray. The indoor climbing accident that left Hank with a traumatic brain injury filled Molly with anger.
While she knows the accident wasn’t Tray’s fault, she will never forgive him for being there and failing to stop the damage. But she can’t forgive herself for not being there either.
Determined to go on the trio’s post-graduation hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, even without Hank, Molly packs her bag. But when her parents put Tray in charge of looking out for her, she is stuck backpacking with the person who incites her easy anger.
Despite all her planning, the trail she’ll walk has a few more twists and turns ahead. . . .
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
A Constellation of Minor Bears navigates grief, anger, and forgiveness. It’s a story about love. About friends which used to know each and every glance, but now feel like strangers in familiar clothes. It’s about family which supports us, turns on us, and changes. Dual POV, A Constellation of Minor Bears is heartfelt from head to toe. Beginning with Hank’s accident, Tray and Molly both have their own trauma and experiences to deal with whether that be the family struggling to pick up pieces, or the best friend who saw it happen.
I immediately loved seeing Tray and Molly work through their own feelings. The anger, love, and resentment they feel towards each other. How nothing is ever simple. Tray loves Molly and her edges, her tendency to bite, and has been running towards her all his life. And Molly doesn’t know what to do with these large emotions of anger and guilt, just trying to survive day to day even if it means that sometimes the wrong person bears the burden. A Constellation of Minor Bears also examines the fatphobia and anti-indigenous racism prevalent and running rampant. The erasure of history, the treatment and suspicion and the cruelty of fatphobia on our bones and hearts.
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In many ways, A Constellation of Minor Bears is about sitting with the person we have morphed into and allowing our loved ones to change. We cannot always assume they will stay the same. When they change, a true love will grow together, will make space for these new perspectives. For Hank, Tray, and Molly they have to open themselves up again to the ones who used to know us better than we knew ourselves. I loved every piece of A Constellation of Minor Bears from the sibling relationship to Molly’s navigating of her own future.
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