Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Narrator: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
Published by HarperAudio, HarperCollins on May 3, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Literary
Length: 11 hours 16 minutes
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon | Audible | B&N | Kobo | Libro.fm

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing.” -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus

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. 

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

This was good! I was excited when I was asked to join a book club and found out this was the first book chosen. I have had a copy of this audiobook gathering digital dust for a long time and couldn’t wait to see why this book was so popular. I was hooked by this delightful story immediately and couldn’t wait to see how things would come together.

This story is told from three main points of view. Tova is a widowed woman in her 70s who lost not only her husband but also her son years ago when he was a young man. She works at the local aquarium cleaning after hours where she meets Marcellus. Marcellus is an octopus and the parts of the story from his point of view were my favorite. I just loved the way he saw the world and how he had everything figured out. Cameron is a lost man hoping to find his way by finally meeting the father he never knew. I knew that things were about to become interesting when their three lives converged.

Marin Ireland and Michael Urie did a fantastic job with the narration of this audiobook. Both narrators were able to add just enough emotion to their reading to help the personalities of these characters shine. It was a wonderful listening experience and I found myself wanting to listen to this book for hours at a time. I am certain that their performance added a lot to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I absolutely loved the octopus and would have loved to see more of him in the story. I was also captivated by Tova’s story and wanted to see good things happen in her life. I am impressed by the fact that this is the author’s debut novel and hope to read more of her work in the near future.

Related Posts