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Really truly gorgeous and emotional. I loved this.

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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A good book for learning descriptive narrative. Does an excellent job “humanizing” many types of ocean creatures. 

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