Remarkably Bright Creatures

Sometimes a book finds you in the strangest way.

I was in Whole Foods one day, waiting for my no salt deli turkey and wearing a skirt with an octopus on it when a woman came up to me and said something along the lines of, “I love your skirt....you need to read this book!”

She was talking about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

Of course, I was intrigued. I mean, how could I not be? I adore strangers who openly talk to me. It is something of a vetting tool. If someone feels free enough to reach out and make chit chat with a stranger in Whole foods, they are already ahead of the game in my book.

Anyway, she had spotted my octopus skirt (it really is cute) , and had to share about this book she had just finished...and apparently that was all the recommendation I needed.

So I read it.

And I loved this weird book.

Spoiler alert...the main character is an octopus.

Well… one of the main characters.

Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus who lives in an aquarium, and he is quite possibly the most unusual—and entertaining—character I've encountered in a long time. He is intelligent, observant, sarcastic, and far more aware of the people around him than they realize.

And somehow, the story completely works.

The human side of the story centers around Tova, an older woman who works nights cleaning the aquarium. She's dealing with loneliness and the grief surrounding the loss of her husband and the mysterious disappearance of her son years earlier.

As Tova's life begins to intersect with Marcellus and the other characters, the story becomes much more than a quirky tale about an octopus.

It's really a story about loneliness, grief, friendship, family, and unexpected connections.

What I loved most was the combination of the serious and the completely strange. There are some genuinely sad moments, but the book never felt overwhelmingly sad. Instead, there is a warmth running through the whole story, along with enough humor and oddness to keep it from becoming predictable.

And Marcellus is the perfect example of that.

I never thought I would become emotionally attached to an octopus.

Yet here I am.

I found myself looking forward to his observations and wondering what he was going to figure out next. His perspective gives the book something completely different from the usual story, and I think that's a big part of why I enjoyed it so much.

I also loved the way the characters slowly find their way into each other's lives. None of them seem to have everything figured out. They are lonely, imperfect people carrying their own histories, and somehow they begin to form a little unexpected community.

It's sweet without being overly sentimental.

It's funny without being silly.

It's sad without being depressing.

And, yes, it's wonderfully weird.

I'm especially glad that random woman in Whole Foods walked over to me that day because of my octopus skirt. I wish I knew where to find her because I think we could be great friends.

What are the chances?

I probably would have walked right past this book otherwise.

Instead, a woman saw an octopus on my skirt, recommended a book about an octopus, and introduced me to one of the most unusual and charming stories I've read in a long time.

Also, I love my octopus skirt. I got it on Etsy.

★★★★★