#54 [2023/CBR15] Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

After watching My Octopus Teacher on Netflix and reading Montgomery Sy's The Soul of an Octopus, (which was interesting, even though I had some problems with it), I've grown very fond of octopuses. They are smart, curious, have brains in their legs, can change colors, and can squeeze through almost any tiny hole. They recognize and remember people and will treat the ones they like differently. So, when I saw that Remarkably Bright Creatures (2022) by Shelby Van Pelt had an octopus as a narrator, I was immediately intrigued.

However, after finally receiving the book from my library, I was a little worried. Apparently Remarkably Bright Creatures is a "Jenna pick." I wasn't sure what that meant, but I learned that it's a book club for Jenna Bush. I don't ever watch the show she's on, but I assume we don't have much in common. I wasn't sure how similar our reading tastes were. In addition, a blurb in the book stated that readers of A Man Called Ove would love this book. Unfortunately for me, I really didn't like A Man Called Ove. And there were some notable similarities between the books: a lonely, old person who has just lost their spouse finds a new community. Fortunately, I enjoyed reading this one because I liked the main characters a little more and found it more fun to read.

Tova Sullivan lives in a small, seaside town in Washington. She cleans the aquarium at night because she likes things clean, she likes to stay busy, and she likes the sea creatures. Her husband died about four years before and she is on her own. Her only son died mysteriously in the sea when he was only eighteen years old, a tragedy that she has, understandably, never gotten over.

There is a giant Pacific Octopus in the aquarium whose name is Marcellus. The book begins from his perspective, saying that he has been in captivity for over 1,000 days and he is destined to die there. He takes a liking to Tova when she helps him after he escapes from his cage, and they seem to have something of an understanding.

Cameron lives in California and is not a productive member of society. He's just lost his latest job and gotten dumped by his girlfriend. His mother is a drug addict who left him with her sister when he was just a child. Cameron gets some information about his mom, and decides to go find his father and see if he can get any money from him.

When Tova's brother dies, leaving her totally alone in the world, she decides to sell her house and move into a fancy retirement community. Right about this time, Cameron shows up looking for his dad and manages to get a temporary job at the aquarium. 

Marcellus is a very smart octopus and doesn't act real. He reminded me a little bit of the dog in Lessons in Chemistry--except even less natural. He knows things he couldn't have known and wouldn't have any interest in anyway, but he goes out of his way to share this knowledge with Tova. If you expect this story to be a somewhat happy fairy tale where coincidences abound, animals have magical powers, and everything is better in the end, then you will be more than satisfied. But I also thought Van Pelt did a good job with addressing loneliness as you get older as well as the grief from losing a child. In addition, even semi-magical octopuses are fun to read about. Recommended more highly than A Man Called Ove.