Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures
Rating: 4 stars
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt had well-developed, relatable characters, which I appreciated. However, the relationship between the human characters and the octopus didn’t really resonate with me. The aquarium setting felt unique but didn’t stand out as a main element of the story. Only one plot twist surprised me, which came near the end of the book. The themes of grief and healing wasn’t relatable for me but I did enjoy the alternating perspectives between the human and octopus.
I found the pacing a bit slow, but the ending was satisfying. However, the book felt somewhat misleading—it revolved more around Tova than Marcellus, the octopus, which was not what I had expected based on the summary. It gave the impression that the octopus would play a larger role in the story.
The book is about two people, Cameron and Tova, both searching for missing pieces in their lives and finding one another in a heartwarming, beautiful way. Overall, the writing was engaging, and I might recommend this book to others even if it wasn’t deeply impactful for me.
Notable Quote
“How do you recover from something like that?” Tova hesitates.
“You don’t recover. Not all the way. But you do move on. You have to.”
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