Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

368 Pages, Published In 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Remarkably Bright Creatures, a debut by Shelby Van Pelt, is a warm and uplifting novel that explores friendship, grief, and human connection through the alternating perspectives of a giant Pacific octopus and a 70-year-old widow who is a cleaner at the aquarium. The story is surprisingly action-packed, with lovely characters and a mysterious plot that keeps readers cliff-hanging until the very end. And as the title gently suggests, the “remarkably bright creature” isn’t only the octopus.