benedicta's Reviews > Remarkably Bright Creatures

4.2⭐️ what a ride through a genre I didn't know existed 🥺💙

✔️ domestic fiction
✔️ feel-good mystery
✔️ exploration of friendship
✔️ coastal setting
✔️ three povs
- random older lady's pov (Tova)
- random young man's pov (Cameron)
- giant pacific octopus's pov

Such are the secrets the sea holds. What I would not give to explore them again. If I could go back in time, I would collect all of it—the sneaker sole, the shoelace, the buttons, and the twin key. I would give it all to her. I am sorry for her loss. Returning this key is the least I can do. - Marcellus, the giant pacific Octopus

this isn't a thrilling story, it didn't particularly give me joy but it did give me feelings I do not know how to properly articulate.

Tova works in the town's aquarium and is still grieving about her son she lost at sea years ago, presumed dead and ruled a suicide. Tova has doubts about the unanswered questions surrounding the mystery of her son's death.

When an unlikely friendship develops between Tova and Marcellus, we learn from the fresh perspective of a tale told by an octopus that her mother's intuition was right and that there was more to the police report of her greatest tragedy.

We see Cameron, a young man who can't get his shit life together long enough to keep a job or girlfriend go on a quest to find his deadbeat dad some free cash. When he arrives in Sowell Bay just in time to be a temp for Tova's job as a cleaner in the aquarium, these characters's stories intersect beautifully to create a heartwarming read that's wise and quirky. A wonderful portrayal of how to thrive in loneliness ❤️❤️

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not my boss asking me to read this book and let her know if it's actually good so she doesn't have to waste her time on it WHAT- ✋🏽😭😭