Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Publisher: ‎ Ecco
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

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.

Tova works the night shift cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Her husband has passed away and she needed something to fill her time. She forms an unlikely friendship with a giant octopus, Marcellus who lives at the aquarium. I was skeptical about a book where one of the main characters is an octopus but it works. Marcellus’s chapters are narrated in the first person and I felt empathetic towards him and his situation. He doesn’t want to be trapped in an aquarium.

Tova’s son disappeared several years ago under mysterious circumstances. Marcellus, who is extremely observant, actually figures out what happened to him. The way he communicates with Tova is so clever it seemed realistic.

Remarkably Bright Creatures was May’s selection for my book club. We had so much to talk about. This book brings up issues of grief, motherhood, friendship and much more. Highly recommended.