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Reviews tagging 'Suicide'
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
27 reviews
cian_'s review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
acsmallwood's review against another edition
I stopped at the end of chapter 6 when Kali dies. It is absolutely gut wrenching and didn’t need to happen. She spent her whole life cooped up and when she was moved to a tank that they hadn’t ensured was octopus proof, she escaped and died. The fact that they didn’t have a 24/7 watch on her despite knowing that it might not be secure is shockingly lax. The author does not do nearly enough exploration into what it means to hold such intelligent creatures in captivity, especially non-display animals. Really disappointing and I couldn’t keep reading even though I was almost done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Suicide
emory's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Suicide
laneyreadz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot, but it did have some slow moments throughout. I found the chapters named after the octopuses to be the strongest and most interesting. I definitely recommend if you already love the animal and want to learn more about them!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I have never been so moved by a book before. It's beautifully written. You instantly fall in love with everyone, vertebrate or invertebrate. You learn so much about so many different animals, people and beliefs. I cannot recommend it enough, I'm seriously considering rereading it already because there's so much to take in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Grief, Self harm, and Dementia
Minor: Self harm
aspi8tionalpile's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I would highly recommend the audiobook format. The author is a very engaging and enthusiastic storyteller, so just let go and enjoy. Her experiences with octopuses leave you envious and I became quite attached to these wondrous beings. Other of her experiences like learning to scuba dive weren’t as engaging. She builds her case with respect to soul throughout the book while never overtly talking about it, then draws her conclusion on the matter at the very end. It would have been interesting to approach the topic earlier. I did thoroughly enjoy the book. I lost sleep because I just couldn’t put it down. Sign of a good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Dementia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
mollydimatteo's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I really enjoyed this book at the beginning. It was not quite what I expected. It is more of a memoir of the author’s experiences with octopuses than it is the story of an octopus soul. I would’ve like to learn more about octopuses themselves, but I adjusted from the change in expectations. I enjoyed the story telling. However, it goes on a bit too long and becomes repetitive. I think it’s a great story, but could stand to be just a bit shorter. I also share some of the concerns about some of the animal treatment in the book. I am not a professional, so I cannot comment on specific decisions, but it did raise some red flags as I was reading.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
bosco29's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
The tidbits about octopuses throughout were fascinating but the rest of the book was mostly about the author, coworkers, and their life stories that I found uninteresting, drawn out, and unnecessary even for storytelling. For example, one of her co-workers lost a friend to suicide and that took up a chunk of an entire chapter. You learn about the person who died, their families, etc, the grief of the coworker, etc and it had absolutely nothing to do with octopuses or her coworkers work at the aquarium so it felt out of place. It was also shocking because you went from playing with the octopus happily to her coworker's friends death very quickly and again, it had nothing to add or take away from the storyline so it felt like it was used as a page filler.
Some parts of the book were a lot more religious/spiritual than I expected. Yes, the title is Soul of an Octopus, but it felt a little "woo" at times which detracts from the science of it for me.
Good book for the octopus facts and stories about the octopuses though! I wish it had been more of that and less about her home life and the home and profe sional lives of her colleagues.
Some parts of the book were a lot more religious/spiritual than I expected. Yes, the title is Soul of an Octopus, but it felt a little "woo" at times which detracts from the science of it for me.
Good book for the octopus facts and stories about the octopuses though! I wish it had been more of that and less about her home life and the home and profe sional lives of her colleagues.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
madscientistcat's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
wad3mil3sgarru2's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Terminal illness, Animal death, Misogyny, Suicide, and Suicide attempt