Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. This is her first novel. You can find her online at shelbyvanpelt.com.
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 imagined 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 before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
Of course you can't start a review about Remarkably Bright Creatures without first talking about the octopus Marcellus. As the blurb describes, Marcellus is appropriately curmudgeonly, what with being in captivity for over a thousand days. We open with Marcellus describing his life in the aquarium, and his encounters with the main character Tova, and over the course of the novel, Marcellus butts in when he is most needed to provide some warmth, thoughtfulness, and mystery to the story. Marcellus's character is so well-written, making him a definite fan favorite. His character makes you think about remarkably bright creatures, as well as about the captivity of sea life and other organisms. Definitely a very thought provoking and necessary addition to the cast, Remarkably Bright Creatures would not be the book that it is without Marcellus.
This book is entirely character-driven, so if you're more of a fan of action and adventure, maybe this book isn't for you. But if you—like me—just love the sort of wandering path a book can take when it follows a thoughtful cast of characters, Remarkably Bright Creatures is full of them. Tova, whose husband died recently and whose son died a long time ago, is a woman who is living with her grief, and figuring out how she wants the rest of her life to go. Marcellus helps her along, as do some of the nosy neighbors in the town of Sowell. Cameron is lost in life, having been fired from probably every job he's ever had; determined to do something with himself, he figures that finding his dad will help fill the hole in his life, and sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. Other characters include the gossiping storeowner, Ethan; the newcomer to town, Adam; and the cast of Knit-Wits, Tova's well meaning but sometimes overbearing best friends.
While this book is definitely character-driven, there is an element of mystery! This was very exciting to me, because I do love a little mystery in my books, and Van Pelt writes it in such a way to where it doesn't overwhelm the plot, but it is definitely necessary for that happily ever after we love to see. The mystery wasn't too complicated—so if you're a sleuth (I am not), you might be disappointed with how quickly you figure it out. But, because the mystery isn't a central point necessarily, if you figure it out too soon, it doesn't ruin the rest of the book by any means. In fact, if you figure it out before the characters do, you'll be at the edge of your seat for a long time, waiting to see how they'll work it out and what they'll do about it. I definitely don't want to spoil anything, so I just recommend you get your hands on this one as soon as possible!
I hope Shelby Van Pelt writes more novels—the way she examined so many difficult topics with care and compassion within the pages of Remarkably Bright Creatures had me so close to crying that I didn't even think it was possible. I will be thinking about Marcellus probably for a long time now, as well as the other characters. Until then, you can find Van Pelt online at shelbyvanpelt.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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