Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: One night Tova, the night janitor at a Puget Sound aquarium, rescues the escape artist resident octopus, Marcellus, from an early death. He pays her back by helping to unravel the mystery of her son’s disappearance 30-years earlier.
Expectation: A high concept buddy dramedy exploring the human and animal connection.
Reality: Marcellus and Tova are the strongest parts of the story, so whenever it shifted to someone else the narrative lost steam. Still, I was charmed overall.
Recommended For: Folks looking for a feel-good beach read.
Why I Read It: It was one of the most popular novels on #Bookstagram this summer, and I had FOMO.
My Take:
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” is a high concept family drama that’s a tad predictable and a bit too convenient. It’s the type of novel I will read — usually because it’s the book du jour — and then roll my eyes at the stock characters and manufactured low-stakes drama while slogging through.
Yet, I was charmed throughout Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel for one simple reason: Marcellus, the octopus.
Taking well-worn tropes — small-town living, lonely widower, failure-to-launch thirtysomething — and pairing them with the musings of an observant and sarcastic giant Pacific octopus, proved to be a winning formula. However, without his frequent (and brief) interstitials throughout the story, this would’ve been a still entertaining but rather forgettable effort.
Populated by some stock, but also many colorful, characters, “Creatures” explores the lasting ramifications of grief, loneliness, aging and the importance of community. It’s not a treatise on the aquatic industry, but it offers insights — and some mild criticism — to how we treat sentient creatures perceived as lesser by humans.
Seventy-year-old Tova is a likable lead character that I found more relatable than anticipated. One night during her shift as a janitor at the Puget Sound aquarium — where she works not out of necessity but to keep busy — she encounters Marcellus tangled in a mess of cords. It turns out our fearless and frustrated cephalopod is already near death and needs a little adventure.
This chance encounter creates a bond between the two and will help Tova answer a 30-year mystery involving the death of her son. Yes, the octopus helps solve a mystery. I know it sounds ridiculous, but Van Pelt sells it.
Maybe it’s because I’m an animal lover, or simply that in mourning the recent loss of one of my cats, I’m more emotional to any story that involves an animal in pain, but I could not help but buy into the story, even when it started to feel long and a bit tired.
Those elements were due to Cameron, an aimless man-child who was abandoned his mother and is seeking answers about his birth father. His entire existence is the very definition of plot device, and honestly, he took up way too much page time for not being interesting.
The story was at its crowd pleasing best when Van Pelt drew the parallels between Tova’s and Marcellus’ desire to leave a legacy. Their wishes were poignant and meaningful, and the way the author connected the two together for a happy ending brought a few tears to my eyes.
This isn’t a life-changing story, and it’s far from the best novel I’ve read in 2022, but it made me laugh, it made me think and it made me cry. What more can you ask for from a talking octopus and his septuagenarian compatriot?
I had high hopes for the audiobook and it mostly delivered. Marin Ireland, one of my narrator all-stars, let me down a bit here. She was fantastic as Tova and Ethan, the Scottish town gossip and grocery story owner, but all her other characters — especially Cameron — felt stale. Still, her okay narration is better than most. Hey, even Michael Jordan had bad games!
Michael Urie brought an aristocratic flair that was perfectly fitting of Marcellus. Many readers will know Urie for his roles on “Ugly Betty” and “Younger,” and his trademark rapid-fire sneering paired with sincere empathy was used to great effect here. It was a delight having him bring Marcellus’ journey to life, and I’d eagerly listen to another of his narrations again soon.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: August 20 – August 23, 2022
Multi-tasking: Good to go. Van Pelt doesn’t go too deep with the emotion, so it’s easy to focus on other tasks while listening, but all of Marcellus’ chapters deserve a close listen.
