Fiction Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Posted on July 11, 2024 at 10:28 am by Gene Ambaum

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Ecco, 2022. 9780063204157.

Tova works nights cleaning the Sowell Bay Aquarium. It’s there that she notices that the giant Pacific octopus, Marcellus, occasionally leaves his tank in search of snacks. He’s much smarter than anyone (except Tova) believes, and the two become friends. Marcellus knows what happened to Tova’s son, and he can perceive things Tova can’t, particularly about Cameron, the young man who takes over cleaning when Tova is injured. But Marcellus isn’t sure how to tell her what he knows.

This book is lovely, and I’m loaning my copy to lots of friends. My favorite parts were the chapters from Marcellus’s point of view, but I also enjoyed Cameron’s quest to contact the man he believes to be his father and how Tova changes throughout the book.

(Thanks again for the present, Karen!)