Sunday, December 10, 2023

Remarkably Bright Creatures

                  


Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Publisher: Ecco, May 3, 2022
Pages: 362
Genre: Literary Fiction

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late. 

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.


This was recommended to me ages ago. I put it on hold at the library, and even pushed it back a few times when the hold came up. I'm an idiot. I should have read this book the very second that it was recommended to me. It's so utterly beautiful. 


The many intersections of these peoples lives are really cool. They just kept coming, and every time I got a chill.


And then there's Marcellus. I listened to the audiobook and I loved that there was a different narrator for Marcellus than all of the other chapters. Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus, and the story recounts the last few months of his life. You know this from the very beginning. And still, when the end of the book happens, and you see how much he's weakened throughout, I lost it! But I'm so glad that he found a friend along the way.


Tova is wonderful. She lives in this quaint town and cleans the aquarium. She makes friends with an octopus and hates it that everyone in town is such a gossip. And she's somehow this lynchpin for all of these people to come together. I loved her decisiveness. Even when she decided that she needed to change her mind, once she realized she was on the wrong path, she redirected and just had this confidence to stick to her guns. I loved it.


Ratings
Stars: 5/5

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