Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Literary Fiction
Women’s Fiction
2 unlikely friends and co-workers
Giant Pacific Octopus
3 different points of view
Finding love after a loss
Unlikely Hero
Will keep you guessing until the end
Get the Book HERE

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Literary Fiction
Start Date: October 16, 2024
End Date: October 25, 2024

After losing her husband, Tova takes a night job at the local aquarium. She takes great pride in being the cleaning lady, and although quirky, talks with the animals at night. Tova has always felt a connection with Marcellus, the aquariums Giant Pacific Octopus. But little does Tova know, Marcellus will be key to her finding out what happened to her son 18 years ago, when he mysteriously vanished one night after work.

Cameron’s life is falling apart. He’s broke, can’t keep a job, and is living with his aunt. His mom abandoned him when he was 9, and he never knew his father. All he’s got left is his band, and even now, that’s going to be over as soon as his best friend has her baby (which is any day now). He decides now is as a good time as ever to go find his dad. He’s got a picture from his mom’s yearbook, and it’s wrapped around a class ring. With only that information, and knowing where his mother went to school, he sets out to the Pacific Northwest to find his father and demand he pay up for abandoning him and his mom.

When Tova hurts herself and needs time off, the aquarium hires Cameron to fill in temporarily. Cameron soon learns about Marcellus, and how he can escape his aquarium hold, but only for short spurts. Pacific Octopuses are smart, and Cameron soon learns Marcellus may know more about his family than he thinks.

This story was so heartwarming and while I REALLY didn’t like Cameron at first, he grew on me. He seemed like the entitled younger millennial who assumed people should help him simply because he had a rough life, and it was starting to get on my nerves until later in the story, so if you can’t stand him either I promise it will get better! I simply fell in love with Tova’s character from the very beginning, and of course this is also told from Marcellus’ view point, which I found so interesting. The story didn’t really start coming together for me until the very end, which I loved as I usually figure these things out early on and then am borded with story because it’s too predictable.