Remarkably Bright Creatures

Wow, I'd give this book ten stars if I could. It's a great story about a widow reinventing herself, a young man who is lost, and a ticking time bomb of an octopus. Yes, that's right. An octopus. It's said when this story was submitted to a publisher for consideration, an editor wrote in the margin: “This is either brilliant or bananas.” Let me clear up any doubts. It's brilliant.When Tova starts working at the local aquarium near Puget Sound, she's already lost her husband to cancer, and her only son, who died in an unexplained drowning, has been gone for 30 years. She has taken a part-time job cleaning floors and fingerprints from fish tanks at night to stay busy. It's how she deals with all she's lost. Speaking of loss, Cameron is losing his band, his best friends married and are having a baby, and the aunt who raised him is involved with someone in the trailer park where she lives. He's also lost his latest in a string of unfulfilling jobs. When his aunt gives him some artifacts from the mother he never really knew, he decides he might as well go looking for the father he never knew either.And then, there's the octopus, Marcellus. He's been held captive most of his life. He tends to be a clever guy who sneaks out of his enclosure when the aquarium is closed. He can stay out of the water for 20 minutes before what he calls “The Consequences” start to affect him. He's extremely perceptive, as you might expect from an octopus who knows how to escape his tank and keep an eye on the clock.The author takes these three characters as her main ingredients, throws in some locals from the small community where Tova lives and creates magic. I am not normally a crier when reading and I have to admit, Shelby Van Pelt almost got me. Nothing actually streamed down my cheeks into my ears—I read in bed—but the words got pretty blurry on the page. For a feel good story that will make you glad you read it, read [b:Remarkably Bright Creatures 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651600548l/58733693.SY75.jpg 90375164]. You will be glad you did.