,
Most Popular New Fantasy

Join Goodreads

and meet your next favorite book!

Sign Up Now
Sign in with Facebook
Book cover for Remarkably Bright Creatures Book details

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by

4.48 17,380 ratings 3,373 reviews
Your Rating (Clear)
  • Cancel
Write a review
A novel tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which... MoreA novel tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Less

Get a copy

Friends’ Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up .

Community Reviews

Average rating 4.48  ·  17,380 ratings  ·  3,373 reviews

rated it it was amazing
10 days ago

Shelves: audiobook-from-netgalley , general-fiction
***MAY -- TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB BOOK***

**This is a review of the audiobook of this novel

CAN A HUMAN AND A GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS COMMUNICATE?

The answer in this debut novel is most definitely YES!!!

Tova is recently widowed and is working as a cleaning lady at the Sowell Bay Aqu ...more

rated it it was amazing
3 months ago

Marcellus the octopus!!! *heart eyes forever*

I don’t read a lot of literary fiction, but I was utterly charmed by this book. It was so creative and full of heart. I’d classify this as an extremely readable smart people book. Plus look at that gorgeous cover! Perfect for beac ...more

rated it really liked it
2 months ago

Shelves: arc-edelweiss-plus


4.5⭐️

Seventy-year-old Tova Sullivan works the nightshift as a cleaner at Sowell Bay Aquarium. She lives alone, recently widowed and her eighteen-year-old son having disappeared almost thirty years ago. Though financially stable, Tova believes in keeping herself occupied and ...more

rated it it was amazing
11 days ago

Shelves: audio , library , best-of-2022
5 just go with it stars
There have been lots of books between dogs and cats forming impressive bonds with humans. But this is the first that involves an octopus and a human. Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus. And he’s nearing the end of his expected life span. Tova is the ...more

rated it it was amazing
2 months ago

Shelves: american-fiction , audiobook-favorite , compassion-for-loneliness , contemporary-fiction , environment-nature , favorite , favorite-audiobooks , feelings-of-love , fiction , humor , relationships
Audiobook….read by Marin Ireland and Michael Urle
….11 hours and 16 minutes

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book!
A debut classic is born!!

I have fully fallen in love with this gem as others have.
Thank you to *Cheri* for her wonderful review who first turned me on to this p ...more

rated it really liked it
about 2 months ago

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a heartwarming, sweet story! I loved the characters in this book, especially Marcellus, the octopus! I liked that I learned a lot of awesome facts about octopuses while enjoying this book. The storyline was engaging, and it was a warm, emotiona ...more

rated it really liked it
about 2 months ago

Shelves: 2022-reads , buddy-read-with-marialyce , netgalley , fiction
This must be my Year of the Octopus. After watching and loving My Octopus Teacher on Netflix, I’m more than a little obsessed with these amazing, intelligent creatures. This is my second book featuring octopuses (no, it’s not octopi), in as many months.

Tova, the 70-year-old ...more

rated it really liked it
3 months ago

I finished this book with a bittersweet feeling and a smile. Now important is that? For me it's priceless. How rare was that for this reader? Pretty darn rare. Maybe I've been reading the wrong books.

Three wonderful characters and one giant octopus. Tova. Cameron, Ethan, and ...more

rated it really liked it
2 months ago

Shelves: adult-fiction , domestic-fiction , literature , mystery
Given the current state of the world, one needs a charming story that tugs at the heart yet is uplifting. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is the perfect novel that will take your mind away from current politics and an unsettled world. Plus, an octopus is one of the main charac ...more

Readers Also Enjoyed

See more similar books

Book details

Hardcover, 360 pages
Published May 3rd 2022 by Ecco
ISBN
0063204150 (ISBN13: 9780063204157)
Edition language
English
Original title
Remarkably Bright Creatures
See all 18 editions

About this author

Shelby Van Pelt
364 followers

Genres

Articles featuring this book

The 30 Most Popular Debut Novels of 2022 (So Far)

Discovering a favorite new author is one of the genuine thrills of maintaining a serious reading habit. It’s interesting to reflect that all...
Read more...
29 likes · 14 comments

Quotes

Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.
Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?
Ah, to be a human, for whom bliss can be achieved by mere ignorance! Here, in the kingdom of animals, ignorance is dangerous. The poor herring dropped into the tank lacks any awareness of the shark lurking below. Ask the herring whether what he doesn’t know can hurt him.
See all quotes

Discussions