Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
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.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #8: Features the ocean)
2024 Library Love Challenge
The Reason
I’ve heard wonderful things about it and I was intrigued by the premise. It also ended up being the first book chosen for my in-person bookclub.
The Quotes
“Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”
“Secrets are everywhere. Some humans are crammed full of them. How do they not explode? It seems to be a hallmark of the human species: abysmal communication skills.”
“You can’t fix someone who is determined to stay broken.”
The Characters
Marcellus the octopus! I like that we get his POV, and I really like his personality too. Tova was also a main character and I liked her fine, and Cameron too, but sometimes he got on my nerves. I love the Knit-Wits; I love that they have their own idiosyncrasies but they genuinely care about Tova. Ethan was a real character too, even though he liked to gossip.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed the story, but it’s not exactly what I expected, and I do have some issues with it. I wanted more from Marcellus and I thought it would be more Marcellus-centric, but it felt like he was just a side character in Cameron’s and Tova’s stories. I enjoyed their stories too, but I’m just disappointed it wasn’t about Marcellus.
My Feels
I do love that this is literally a found family story, but it didn’t give me the feels, to be quite honest. It’s a decent story, and I like that there was warmth between the characters, but there wasn’t enough. I love Marcellus, but even the relationship between Marcellus and Tova wasn’t enough. I’m disappointed.
My Rating
3/5 stars. I had high hopes for this book because it was so highly recommended, but I’m disappointed with the prolonged runaround and the lack of focus on the octopus and I feel just meh about it in the end.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Bummer that it was only 3/5 stars for you! The concept of a octopus is so cute though🥺
I agree, I wanted so much more of the octopus than there was!
[…] book club meeting this weekend! It was so much fun; we talked about our book of the month – Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, it was just okay for most of us – and also got to know each other a […]
I am sorry to hear this book wasn’t quite what you expected and left you feeling disappointed. Having the point of view of an octopus in the story does sound fun.
Yeah, I would’ve loved it more if the octopus played a bigger part. It’s not a bad book though, it just could’ve been better.
Yeah I listened to this novel on audio in 2022 and felt about the same as you. I gave it 3.5 stars. The character of Cameron drove me a bit nuts b/c he acts childish for age 30. I liked the octopus best, but I agree he could have gotten a bigger role perhaps. The book was so-so. Sorry you were looking for more — I know it was popular for a while.
Omg yes, Cameron was a little annoying!
Oh sorry you didn’t love this! I was surprised that Marcellus wasn’t the main focus too, at first, but the more I got to know the characters I realized he was there to help bring all the characters together.
That’s a good point! I guess the story isn’t really about Marcellus as it is about Tova and Cameron, so I was just expecting something else.
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