Take a photo of a barcode or cover
angorarabbit 's review for:
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.