Remarkably Bright Creatures
-
-
4.5 • 3.1K Ratings
-
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times Bestseller
Soon to be a Netflix Film
A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing.” -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here
For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This charming mystery is about the unlikely bond between a 70-year-old janitor, her new assistant…and a giant octopus named Marcellus. Tova took her night job at a suburban Washington State aquarium to pull herself out of the grief over her husband’s recent death, in addition to the disappearance of her teenage son three decades before. Thirty-year-old man-child Cameron is trying to prove to himself that he’s ready for adult responsibility. Marcellus, nearing the end of a life in captivity, knows that there’s another connection between the two co-workers—though getting them to figure it out is something else entirely. Author Shelby Van Pelt has the humanistic eccentricity of Fredrik Backman and the clear, dialogue-driven storytelling of Taylor Jenkins Reid, while narrator Marin Ireland (with a martini-dry assist from actor Michael Urie as Marcellus) keeps this speedy novel moving crisply. Mixing a literary character study with a fun beach read, Remarkably Bright Creatures is an absolute gem.
Customer Reviews
Delightful!
A great story!
A good book for beginners
This book is really good for people that like audiobooks or people who just started listening to them even this is my first audiobook! And I hope you like this book too!
3⭐️
3/5 Stars - A Charming, But Predictable, Cozy Read
Remarkably Bright Creatures was a pleasant, low-stakes break from more complex genres, but it ultimately didn't live up to the hype I'd encountered. While I appreciate the desire for a small, simple, and cozy literary fiction novel, the plot felt too linear and predictable to truly resonate as a 4 or 5-star read.
The strongest element was, without a doubt, the perspective of the octopus, Marcellus, and I wish he'd had more chapters. The only moment before the end that truly evoked emotion was the scene with Tova closing on her house—a surprisingly sad, realistic beat. I found Cameron to be a frustratingly naïve and underdeveloped character—it's easy to see why Katie moved on!
Ultimately, while I enjoyed the experience, I didn't love it. It was a cute and straightforward read, but not the game-changer I'd hoped for and for that I'm slightly dissapointed. It confirms a feeling I often have with literary fiction: I'm interested in the synopsis, but the execution often feels too slow or simple for my taste. Maybe literary fiction and I just aren't a perfect match, but this one was just okay.