After her husband’s death, Tova Sullivan takes up the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and keeping busy the way she always has, especially in the thirty-plus years since her eighteen-year-old son Erik vanished on a boat in Puget Sound. But when she forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus, she gets more than she bargained for because Marcellus knows what happened the night Erik disappeared, and he’s determined to get the truth to her before it’s too late.
Okay so here’s the thing, I bought this for my mom for Mother’s Day. It’s been sitting on my TBR since 2022 and I’d never gotten around to it, but it seemed like something she’d love so I grabbed her a copy. And then I commandeered it and binged the whole thing myself this Mother’s Day instead. Sorry, Mom.
In all seriousness, I really wanted to read this before watching the Netflix adaptation (Sally Field as Tova? Yes please), and I’m glad I did. I’ll be honest though; I had seriously hyped this book up in my head. So many people I know have given it rave reviews, so I went in with sky-high expectations. I wasn’t immediately hooked, and I think that initial slow start kept it from being an immediate five-star read for me. But once I settled in, I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, sweet story.
It has such a calming vibe and reading it at the lake really made the whole experience hit differently. I loved the multiple POVs and how the characters are quietly woven together in ways you don’t fully see coming. The portrayals of grief, of growing older, of loneliness and connection are all so well done. And Tova’s kindness is just the backbone of this entire book. She’s the kind of character you want to sit with for a while.
This book is a warm hug. A calm, steady presence when you need one. It didn’t blow me away the way I expected it to, but it filled me up in a way I didn’t know I needed. If you haven’t read it yet, grab a copy, find a quiet spot near some water, and let it do its thing.
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Remarkably Bright Creatures is out now.Ā If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my InstagramĀ @speakingof.books.
