A Curmudgeonly Octopus

A review of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

I think 90% of people who are into books and follow book pages online would’ve heard of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It is one of those books that seems to pop up everywhere. I am always a bit suspicious of books in this category - do they just have a really good marketing team behind them? I was a little reluctant to read it because of the hype.

This is one that definitely lives up to the hype! I was not disappointed.

This is the authors debut novel - I love it when someone knocks it out of the park with their first book. This book alone will almost guarantee sales of whatever is to follow! This is currently sitting at 4.44/5 on Good Reads and has had over 250,000 ratings. Keep in mind that this was published in May 2022.

This book is about friendship - the friendship between a widow, Tova, and a giant Pacific octopus. After Tova’s husband died, she started working night shift cleaning the local aquarium. There she strikes up a friendship with the octopus, Marcellus. Tova is a complex character, carrying a lot of sorrow. We learn that her only son Erik disappeared on a boat one night when he was 18 years old.

Marcellus is an observer of people. Marcellus knows what happened to Erik. He must tell Tova what happened to Erik before it is too late.

Are you reading this thinking it sounds absolutely ridiculous? When I was describing this to my daughter and explaining to her that there are chapters from the perspective of the octopus, it does sound all a bit silly! Please believe me when I say that as far fetched and random as this sounds, this is probably one of the most beautiful books you will ever read. The writing is simply exquisite. There is so much beauty in these lines. The characters are complex and well developed. The plot was captivating and well thought through - I didn’t want it to end!

This book is like a warm hug from a friend you have been missing. Simply delightful! An easy five stars from me. If you haven’t read this book, please add this to your list, read it, and let me know what you think… because life is too short to read bad books.