A review by val_theburrowofstories
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.

(Tried to read this in January 2025)  

  • The most interesting thing about this book was having the POV of an an OCTOPUS and we barely get it. I understand why people would love to read what this woman is going through with her grief after losing her son but I’m not the target audience for this book. And even if I loved the octopus and reading about this woman’s journey, there’s this Cameron guy ruining the book for me!
  • The way Cameron acts I thought he was in his early 20s but he’s a 30yo loser. From the beginning I didn’t like him and I didn’t think he was a good person because of the way he regarded his girlfriend. He’s so angry with the world. He’s an immature man child. He’s annoying and so whiny. Like dude can you stop whining for a second? he keeps blaming his mother, it's been 21 years! She was battling addiction! And is not like you ended up in an orphanage but maybe your whiny ass deserved it and your lovely aunt should've taken care of another more grateful and nice kid. And the ONLY reason why you're trying to find your father is because you want his money, assuming it's him. Which makes me so mad because later I know Tova will be so excited to have a grandkid but he will be only happy because he will inherit all the money from her! This poor lady might be lonely but she does NOT deserve that asshole of a grandson coming to her life now. And my God he’s stupid, like how do you end up stranded because you travel with very valuable things but instead of taking them with you, you left them in a regular bag and of course they get lost. And what do you mean he goes around with dirty clothes and his face dirty chocolate? Huh? Dude you’re more than THIRTY years old, a disgusting mess with bad hygiene 😭. Even to lie to get a job he’s stupid as hell because how do you end up saying you got experience at FOUR years old!! God, he makes me so mad.
  • In summary, I had a WHOLE different idea on how it was going to go, I mean I thought there was going to be more ocean for one, and that it was going to be a bright and full of life young woman connecting somehow with the octopus and that it was going to be all about that dynamic, but nooooo they had to give us very few chapters and short ones at that with the octopus, the woman is an old lady with a sad life (at least she isn't annoying, I can't fault her for her life), the author for some reason gave us the guard Ethan pov and I have to put up with Cameron's annoying ass because of an obvious connection with the old lady! Oh, and the whole thing on how the octopus is going to help her with the mystery of her dead son? I'm 40% into the book and there's no progress at all on that front!!
  • The key to not have a 1 or 2 star book is to DNF, I had enough of those last year and I'm still learning. If I continue with this I'll most likely rate it 2 stars even with whatever emotional ending there is so yeah, bye. Fuck you, Cameron for ruin this book for me, what a terrible character.

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