A review by dlt603
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

2.5

I thought I'd like this a lot more than I did. I really struggled that the issue of captivity is not at all addressed, in a book seemingly making an argument that octopuses have souls and are highly intelligent beings. The first half of the book is entirely interactions with captive octopuses, which the author mentions are taken from the wild for the single purpose of display, yet never digs further into the ethics around that.

The final nail in the coffin for me was what happens to Kali and still not even a smidge of speculation on captivity.

The author even discusses going through wanting a pet octopus, lists all the reasons she decides against it, none of which are not taking something from the wild for the purpose of her enjoyment. I just truly could not get past that. Additionally I found the title misleading as it was more of a memoir of hanging out and learning to dive with octopuses than an exploration of consciousness. The 2.5 stars are because octopuses are amazing beings and the bit of facts and science mixed in about them was interesting. Otherwise, I found this to be a tough and disappointing read.