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peonyreading 's review for:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
by Shelby Van Pelt
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
ALL HAIL MARCELLUS OUR OCTOPUS OVERLORD.
All joking aside, I really enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, it was an excellent debut novel and I can't wait to read more by Shelby Van Pelt! The plot was interesting and it was well-paced (not too slow or too fast). Tova was a great protagonist, I loved learning about her, her emotions and her history in bits and pieces. Meanwhile Cameron was definitely more frustrating (Tova was also frustrating at times, but an acceptable amount). I felt as though Cameron's first chapter was heavily edited to try and make him more likeable, because he was much more annoying for the rest of the novel. His conclusion also did not feel as wrapped up as Tova's, which is a shame since he played the role of secondary protagonist.
Marcellus was easily the best part of the novel, even if hewas our octopus overlord played sort of a narrator role, but the novel let us piece things together before he outright told us, which I appreciated and I think was a good compromise between showing versus telling in the story. There were a few things that I was expecting, but there were definitely a few surprises along the way (for example, we never met Cameron's Mom in the novel, which I thought was a bit surprising). Overall I'd give this a 4.5/5, great but a bit shy of being perfect due to frustrating characters (namely Cameron, poor boy needs therapy) and being a bit too preachy at times (it focused a bit too hard on the need for actual family versus found family ).
PS - This has nothing to do with the novel itself, but the cover of the paperback copy is honestly so much prettier in person than I expected, it has a watercolor quality to it which makes it really unique!
All joking aside, I really enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, it was an excellent debut novel and I can't wait to read more by Shelby Van Pelt! The plot was interesting and it was well-paced (not too slow or too fast). Tova was a great protagonist, I loved learning about her, her emotions and her history in bits and pieces. Meanwhile Cameron was definitely more frustrating (Tova was also frustrating at times, but an acceptable amount). I felt as though Cameron's first chapter was heavily edited to try and make him more likeable, because he was much more annoying for the rest of the novel. His conclusion also did not feel as wrapped up as Tova's, which is a shame since he played the role of secondary protagonist.
Marcellus was easily the best part of the novel, even if he
PS - This has nothing to do with the novel itself, but the cover of the paperback copy is honestly so much prettier in person than I expected, it has a watercolor quality to it which makes it really unique!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy