Remarkably Bright Creatures

I read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt for my book club with friends at church. The book description says, "After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late."

I feel like the description doesn't really capture the full story of this book, but what a great read! I was so engaged that I finished the book in just three days. I just couldn't stand the not-knowing and wanted to see how the characters figured things out and how things would come together. The author did an amazing job creating believable, lovable characters (including the octopus!), and I was just rooting for both Tova and Cameron. I also loved how the author seemed to care about tying up loose ends and making things end well. As I reflected on the book at the end, I saw a few plot gaps, but I feel like they were small and didn't hurt the story. I thought this was a great book with a clever plot. The only bad thing about the book was it had quite a bit of bad language. The book switched perspectives, and whenever Cameron was talking, there was a lot of bad words peppered throughout. Usually I put down books like this, but since I was doing it with a book club, I stuck with it and just kinda skimmed those parts. But I wanted to give this disclaimer for others who avoid bad language in books.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)