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emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was hesitant at first, but this is a wonderful read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Suicide
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (3.5 stars) is a creative undertaking exploring human connection, grief, with a mystery, a little romance, all with a fun twist: there’s an octopus. This book had be at the octopus, which is conveniently portrayed in bright orange right on the cover. It was book-love at first sight, and right to the end I loved him (the octopus). Normally I save my critical comments for later, but this book was so good that I’ll say right away the only thing I didn’t like is that while the characters kept me engaged, the plot meandered and was slow for my liking. The dialogue was stellar.
Marcellus the octopus gets 500 stars. I kept having to stop to highlight great lines mostly from the complex mind of the book’s best character, the cephalopod sidekick of our main character, Tova. She’s wrapped in layers of grief, connects with friends at an emotional remove, a lonely figure. Through her job she forms a unique bond with the octopus she sees each night. I was emotionally invested in the outcome for Tova and incredibly curious about the romantic threads in the novel. A solid ending tied up the threads and gave us a positive outcome tinged with raw emotion - an outcome our protagonist may have dreamt up for herself.
If the story could be distilled to one quote it might be:
“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.” – Shelby Van Pelt, via Marcellus.
Tova’s story presents a relatable template of awkward little silences, the look in the eye that we notice but ignore, the misunderstandings caused by omission rather than any misinformation that form the perimeter of life’s downturns – and then it prompts the reader to think about why we hold things back. At its core, a book about making connections, investing in them, and continuing to do so throughout your life by communicating well.
One lonely cephalopod, far from home, a solitary creature by nature, without ever saying a single word, managed to build a meaningful relationship with a human that changes lives. If Marcellus can do that, then surely we can too as the author and the octopus wonder “Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”
Marcellus the octopus gets 500 stars. I kept having to stop to highlight great lines mostly from the complex mind of the book’s best character, the cephalopod sidekick of our main character, Tova. She’s wrapped in layers of grief, connects with friends at an emotional remove, a lonely figure. Through her job she forms a unique bond with the octopus she sees each night. I was emotionally invested in the outcome for Tova and incredibly curious about the romantic threads in the novel. A solid ending tied up the threads and gave us a positive outcome tinged with raw emotion - an outcome our protagonist may have dreamt up for herself.
If the story could be distilled to one quote it might be:
“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.” – Shelby Van Pelt, via Marcellus.
Tova’s story presents a relatable template of awkward little silences, the look in the eye that we notice but ignore, the misunderstandings caused by omission rather than any misinformation that form the perimeter of life’s downturns – and then it prompts the reader to think about why we hold things back. At its core, a book about making connections, investing in them, and continuing to do so throughout your life by communicating well.
One lonely cephalopod, far from home, a solitary creature by nature, without ever saying a single word, managed to build a meaningful relationship with a human that changes lives. If Marcellus can do that, then surely we can too as the author and the octopus wonder “Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A very sweet and humorous story about friendship, loneliness and hope.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death
Moderate: Cancer
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was absolutely fantastic. I adored Marcellus’s chapters and the audiobook narrator was brilliant. The way they use him as a plot device is super well done, and I feel like he had a satisfying ending. Don’t get me wrong, some suspension of disbelief is needed to believe an octopus would do and think all of these things – it honestly didn’t feel hard at all to disregard whether the situation was realistic or not.
The building of the world and characters felt extremely homely. We do follow Tova, an elderly woman who’s suffered a lot of loss – she accounts for most of the book feeling like a warm hug. Even though this book may look and seem unserious and super positive just from the cover and brief description, it does tackle some darker themes so be sure to look into trigger warnings.
Although the plot twist of this was super obvious, and I guessed it from a mile away, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. There was a small pleasure in waiting for the other characters to catch up and excitement building. Again, the way Marcellus is used for this is really interesting.
I didn’t really care for Cameron’s character until the very end, and there were a lot of characters to keep up with. Sometimes it felt unnecessary, but maybe was for the world and characters to feel as built as possible.
Despite its flaws, this is a very enjoyable read. The pacing is great. The characters are loveable. The tackling of darker subjects was handled really well. You won’t be disappointed with this one, and you will never look at an octopus the same way ever again. Truly unique and brilliant!
The building of the world and characters felt extremely homely. We do follow Tova, an elderly woman who’s suffered a lot of loss – she accounts for most of the book feeling like a warm hug. Even though this book may look and seem unserious and super positive just from the cover and brief description, it does tackle some darker themes so be sure to look into trigger warnings.
Although the plot twist of this was super obvious, and I guessed it from a mile away, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. There was a small pleasure in waiting for the other characters to catch up and excitement building. Again, the way Marcellus is used for this is really interesting.
I didn’t really care for Cameron’s character until the very end, and there were a lot of characters to keep up with. Sometimes it felt unnecessary, but maybe was for the world and characters to feel as built as possible.
Despite its flaws, this is a very enjoyable read. The pacing is great. The characters are loveable. The tackling of darker subjects was handled really well. You won’t be disappointed with this one, and you will never look at an octopus the same way ever again. Truly unique and brilliant!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Suicide, Pregnancy
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really solid book. The writing and narration were both nice. I really like Tova’s character and feel like I’d love to be friends with her she’s such a sweet old lady. The ending was satisfying. I didn’t predict it but it felt almost predictable in a way not to say it was bad but like there weren’t any major surprises after you find out the dad isn’t who he think he is. There’s foreshadowing through the whole story really.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt