It is always interesting to have an unusual narrator. It offers a very different perspective, for example, if a dead girl to narrates what happens after her death, or for an unreliable narrator to string you along until the final page, but when I realized that one of the narrators in Remarkably Bright Creatures was an octopus, that was certainly surprising! But despite the unusual narrator or maybe because of the the unusual narrator, this book held my attention to the very end!

Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, was rescued from the sea with a couple of appendages cut or damaged. Since he could not survive in nature, he was brought to the Sowell Bay Aquarium. 

Tova Sullivan, began working the night shift at Sowell Bay Aquarium after her husband died, cleaning the floors and wiping the glass so visitors will be able to see the exhibits the next day. Keeping busy, she has learned, helps keep the grief at bay, something she has had to do ever since her eighteen year old son disappeared in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova and Marcellus, both lonely, form an unlikely alliance. Tova knows Marcellus sometimes escapes out of his tank to explore, but instead of reporting him, Tova helps him coverup his escapades. Grateful for this act of friendship, Marcellus decides that he must help Tova uncover the mystery of her son’s disappearance even if this might take every ounce of strength and cunning left in his old body.

Remarkable, tender, and surprising, this book is something to treasure. The curmudgeonly Marcellus, and the standoffish Tova are quite a match! And yet Van Pelt weaves a story of two unlikely friends and a mysterious disappearance into a story of how we can find love, respect and family under the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Brenda”s Rating: *****(5 Out Of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to? Everyone!

Book Study Wrote? Yes!

Read in e-library format.