I absolutely loved Remarkably Bright Creatures! This book is a beautiful mix of humor, heart, and emotional depth. The characters are so well-crafted, and the story took me on a journey of self-discovery, loss, and connection. The way the author weaves the lives of the human and animal characters together is nothing short of magical. The insights into the octopus's perspective were surprisingly moving, and I found myself invested in the characters' growth throughout. It’s a feel-good, uplifting read with a perfect balance of lightness and emotional resonance. If you’re looking for a book that will make you smile, think, and maybe even shed a tear, this one is a must-read!

A great read! Original and very well put together with enough mystery and twists. Great character, great writing. Thank you.

Very engaging read. The characters were authentic and relatable. The plot was so well paced, and the dialogue so pithy, that the pages almost turned themselves. I loved the descriptions of the Pacific Northwest setting, which provided a beautiful backdrop for the story. My only criticism is that the plot lines were tied up too neatly at the end, all except one, which seemed to point to a sequel. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it held my attention.

What a wonderful surprise this was! I thought Remarkably Bright Creatures was a story about a woman and an octopus, but it turned out to be so much more than that. This is Shelby Van Pelt’s first book, and I don’t think a debut has affected me like this since I read Hollow Kingdom, another story that unfolds through the eyes of an animal. The story has a bit of magical realism to it, in the sense that parts of it are told from the octopus’s point of view, but otherwise it’s simply a delightful tale about family and connections that had me ugly crying by the end of the book. In the first chapter we meet Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus on display in the Sowell Bay Aquarium near Puget Sound. Marcellus has been in captivity for 1,299 days, and based on his life expectancy of about four years, he believes he only has a handful of days left to live. His dreary days in a small glass enclosure are broken up by secret nighttime excursions, as Marcellus is extremely smart and has found a way out of his tank. Tova Sullivan is a seventy-year-old woman who has been working nights at the aquarium as a cleaning lady for the past two years. Tova knows how to remove the hundreds of fingerprints on the tank walls and can polish the floors to a brilliant shine. She’s also quite fond of the sea creatures she encounters each night, especially Marcellus, and the two have formed an unusual bond since Tova saved Marcellus one night after he escaped and became entangled in a bunch of electrical cords. Next, we meet Cameron Cassmore, a thirty-year-old man who is drifting through life with no real purpose. Cameron lives in California, and one day his aunt gives him a box of his estranged mother’s things. Inside the box he finds a photo and an old class ring, clues that could lead to the identity of his father, a man he never knew. Cameron hops on a plane to Washington state, convinced the man he thinks is his father—a rich real estate tycoon—will be so distraught over abandoning his son, he’ll shower Cam with money. At least that’s the plan. Finally, Ethan Mack is the owner of Sowell Bay’s Shop-Way, the local grocery store. Ethan has known Tova for years and secretly has a crush on her, but Tova is much too distant to notice his interest. When Cameron shows up at the Shop-Way looking for a job, Ethan directs him to his friend who manages the aquarium, which is how Cameron and Tova meet. Tying all these characters together is Marcellus, a remarkably bright octopus with a penchant for stealing and hoarding the treasures he finds after hours on the aquarium floor, and who just might be able to bring two people together who need each other—but don’t yet realize it. Van Pelt’s chapters alternate among all these characters and introduce a slew of side characters as well, each one vitally important to the story. At first, we don’t realize how each character is connected to the next, but slowly the author reveals her secrets until the stunned reader begins to understand the depth of these connections. Each character is given a detailed backstory that becomes very important to the plot. Tova’s story in particular was heart wrenching, as she has experienced quite a bit of loss in her life and finds herself mostly alone in her twilight years. Luckily she belongs to a group of women who call themselves the Knit-Wits, and the four of them meet weekly to eat, drink, gossip and support each other. Tova came to America from Sweden as a little girl, so the story is filled with details about growing up with her Swedish mother and father. Even the Dala horses her mother collected play a part in the story, and I found these little details added so much richness. At first I couldn’t figure out how Cameron fit it, but once he arrives in Sowell Bay and meets Ethan and Tova, his story takes on new meaning. Cameron meets a woman named Avery who also plays a vital part in filling in some of the missing pieces about Cameron’s father, and I loved the way the author gave even the most insignificant side characters meaning and purpose. Van Pelt infuses her story with so many emotional moments and themes. We see how the Knit-Wits are going through the aging process, as their numbers have dwindled over the last few years. Tova is facing being alone in her old age, with no children or husband to take care of her, and so she makes the rash decision to sell her beloved house and move into a retirement community. I don’t want to give too many details about Tova’s past and her losses, because I think it’s better to discover those revelations for yourself. Let’s just say that I felt Tova’s pain and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. And Van Pelt includes so many funny moments in her story that kept the tone light, despite some of the more heavy themes. There’s an ongoing bit about Cameron’s lost luggage that was hysterically funny, and Tova inherits a stray cat at one point, which was a delightful side plot. I also loved the story about the t-shirt that Tova uses to clean Ethan’s kitchen—you’ll just have to read the book so you can experience the hilarity too! And of course, I can’t forget the star of the story, Marcellus the octopus. As the days tick by—each of his chapters starts with a marker (“Day 1,299 of my captivity”, etc)---the tension builds as Marcellus gets closer to his impending death (at least that’s what he thinks). Marcellus understands human nature more than most humans, and I loved the way he wisely intuits each character’s needs. Ultimately, this is a story about creatures—both human and animal—saving each other. The way Marcellus’s story plays out was absolutely perfect—heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. This is a very special book, and I’m so glad I was able to finally read it. Highly recommended!

LOVED this book. I loved the characters so much (especially Marcellus himself) and the story was unique and captivating. I love a story with substance and a happy (or bittersweet) ending without being overly fluffy. This left me with tears in my eyes and my heart feeling full!

I enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures and am excited to read more books by this author in the future. It was a unique and different story, but I loved the way the author accomplished that without adding outrageous plot points or character traits that were so out there it was hard to relate to the characters. On that note, it was the first book I’ve read in awhile where all the main characters were truly likable and I wanted to root for them to come to a happy ending. I found myself laughing out loud several times during the Marcellus chapters. Highly recommend this book to someone who is looking for a different, heartwarming story that I personally found hard to put down.

This story is about love and loss and just getting on with it. In 2024, I bought and read 70 books for my Kindle, and this was my favourite among them all. Tova Sullivan is a 70-something widow living alone in her beloved house. Her only child, Erik, died in a tragic boating accident when he was only eighteen, some thirty years before. Tova never saw dirt that she didn't automatically and thoroughly clean up immediately. So after her husband, Will, died, she accepted a job at the aquarium cleaning it after closing for the day. There she meet, Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, who has been held in captivity since he was a juvenile. And as the sign on his display area says: His life span is four years, which is 1460 days, and Marcellus is counting down every one of them. To me, these are the two main characters of the book, but there are many more whom you will meet while reading this fascinating story. I will be thinking about the two main characters for a very long time and never want to forget them. As I said, this is my favourite book of 2024, and I plead with the author, Shelby Van Pelt to write another one soon. Such imagination and such immense talent.

Hace mucho que no leía un libro tan especial, me ha encantado. Tiene un lugar especial en mi corazón ❤️🐙

Tout le monde est en train de lire ce livre, ou l'a déjà lu aux États Unis. Maintenant c'est le tour des français Loufoque mais gentil.

A beautiful heart-warming story that ended 2024 and started 2025 for me.

Remarkably Bright Creatures - What a book. This is easily the best book I have ever read. From the in-depth characters, the authors style of writing and the knowledge put into this book. It was perfect. The characters in this book where phenomenal. Each with their own unique personality and background story that enabled us as a reader to picture them and their stories perfectly. The book highlights some really interesting concepts, in that we often make our choices which lead to us harming ourselves, leading to conclusions when we don’t know the full picture. This book really made me think outside “the box” so to speak. The octopus- where do I start. If someone had told me I’d fall in love with an idea and personality of an octopus I would think they were mad. But honestly, the character of Marcellus was just beautiful. The relationships as they develop through the book had me welling up in several parts, and watching their stories unfold perfectly with all the pieces in the puzzle coming together was a masterpiece in itself. This was honestly one of the most heart warming- beautifully written books I’ve ever read. The easiest 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve ever given to a book.