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informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
I learned a lot reading this book! Love that it all takes place at the New England Aquarium which is where I’ve spent so many summer hours just exploring the exhibits and looking at all of the animals. It makes me wonder which of the octopuses in this story I’ve seen before! You can tell Montgomery loves these creatures like no other, and her passion for these intelligent, curious, incredible animals is so evident. Although there are some sad parts in this book, I felt overall quite warm & fuzzy, comforted somehow, while reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Death, Dementia
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Despite containing some interesting octopus facts, I cannot recommend this book to anyone who actually cares for octopuses as a whole. The author (who I’ve since learned is a naturalist, NOT a biologist or conservationist) discusses the species’ sentience without actually making any connections about it. Despite sharing her story of TWO octopuses at an aquarium that died trying to escape captivity (a measly pickle barrel), the author goes on to defend snatching these creatures from their natural habitat so people like her can fall in love with them (even if aquariums do not have the resources or space for them). In fact, the only the reason the author does not own a pet octopus, according to her, is because it would put a strain on her marriage. I found this cognitive dissonance jarring and made the entire book feel exploitative of such brilliant creatures that deserve more than being confined to jail cells for entertainment.
If you do want to know more about octopuses, I would recommend an author that is a biologist, conservationist, or ecologist rather than just someone who wants one à la Veruca Salt.
If you do want to know more about octopuses, I would recommend an author that is a biologist, conservationist, or ecologist rather than just someone who wants one à la Veruca Salt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Really truly gorgeous and emotional. I loved this.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Suicide, Dementia
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Excellent. I feel that the author soars when she is telling the story of the natural world in her lyrical, moving way. There was a part about the ancestors of octopuses going back millions (on millions) of years that was so beautiful I had to read it out loud. The story itself is also good - the adventure of learning scuba and seeing an octopus in the wild, going behind the scenes to meet a new octopus for the first time — let’s be real, I am ridiculously jealous. Where I feel the book sags a bit, I’m sorry to say, is when talking about people. The other volunteers felt more inanimate than the octopuses. I felt weird when the author talked about a person who had died or someone’s struggle with terminal illness. Human grief felt like a narrative paper clip. Overall, though, the book was exceptional and I throughly enjoyed being immersed in the world of these octopuses.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This is def more of a memoir following naturalist Sy Montgomery and her experiences with this aquarium and the octopusses/people there. Which I thought was awesome and fun but not exactly what this marketed as. Still so so enjoyable in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
I did learn a few things about octopuses, but more about the life of Ms Montgomery and friends. Perhaps that is because we know so little about octopuses. There is a decent sized bibliography in the back but there are no in text citations so it makes it a little difficult to verify the claims made in the book. Also to sort out bias from facts.
I was discomforted by two things in the book. First the capture and display of wild animals who will live out their lives in tanks rather than an entire ocean. Yes, there are the excuses of education and research. But there seems to be very little learned. The description of the Seattle Aquarium’s Valentine’s Day exhibit makes me think more of exhibitionism than education. The in-depth description of that day was cringe.
Secondly the humans have more words than the octopuses. Which might have been okay except it seemed to be distraction from the author’s life. Of all the people the author writes about is the man whose wife has a devastating neurological illness, a teenager whose best friend committed suicide, and a woman with severe migraines. Meanwhile when an expedition to Namibia is cancelled on short notice Ms Montgomery is able to fit in a dive trip to Cozumel and later to Moorea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Medical content
Minor: Child death, Suicide, Dementia
Graphic wild caught animals kept in captivity.
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death