Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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Remarkably Bright Creatures is a novel by Shelby Van Pelt. It follows an older woman, Tova Sullivan, a giant Pacific octopus, and a man named Cameron. Tova is in her seventies and works at the aquarium as the night janitor. One night, she sees a strange thing in the corner of the staff area. It was an octopus, lying on the ground, tied up by an electrical cord. This leads her to look more closely at what the octopus is doing every day and how it is escaping from the tank. The octopus spends chapters showing how its life works in the aquarium, from how it escapes the tank to what the scientists do with it. The giant Pacific octopus is the biggest species of octopus in the world and is not meant for captivity. Cameron, the third protagonist, is a man down on his luck in his thirties. With a split-second decision, Cameron decides to look for his mom. This leads him to work at the aquarium, meeting new people, and working to get his life together.

One thing that I really liked about this book was the character development. I felt like Van Pelt did a very good job creating a thought-out character arc. Tova learns to live with her grief and not just survive. She learns how to not just live but also how to feel joy, even after finding out what happened to her son. The octopus learns how to let go when things are over. Cameron grows up and learns how to live on his own. He learns how to be around other people without being dependent on them, and how to love. I felt like there was just a lot of character growth that was really fun to read about.

Another piece of this was the mystery. I think that it was well done. There wasn’t so much mystery that only thriller/mystery fans would like it, but I think that it added a lot of depth to the story and kept me intrigued. Something I don’t like in books is when the ending falls flat. I would say that Remarkably Bright Creatures not only didn’t fall flat, it soared, or swam if you will. I would definitely recommend this book, and I felt like it had a lot of brightness at the end, which was really nice to read about.

I would recommend this book to fans of The Life Impossible, aquariums, and reading not-so-lighthearted happily ever afters.


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