Reread - Original review (07/2022) below. I read this a year ago and it's stuck with me as a fond memory. I had it noted as "recommend to mom" and my mom DID read it this month, and it was a bookclub pick. I'd listened to the audio edition then, so I decided to read it to prep for book club. All the better to make some notes and highlights. Ironically, even though I'd loved this, and it's only been a year ... there were some bigger things I didn't quite remember, although I did remember some other things. I don't know that I enjoyed it quite as much on the re-read, not having that "ah" moment during the reveal. Still love the 1st person POV from the octopus. The other POVs (Tova, Cameron, Ethan) were third person, all present-tense.  No numerical chapter numbers, but easy to tell which are Marcellus (LOVE his final statement), and the other chapters each had a unique title/heading that was fun to pinpoint within the chapter. 

Fun to look at the alternate illustrations on covers from different countries! 




Original Review ... This book had quite a bit of buzz ... I had a wait on my library hold. I had been listening to a lot of fantasy and needed a genre change. This fit the bill. It caught my attention and held it. Easy to listen to, and I cared about the characters. There were three POVs, Tova, Cameron, and Marcellus. Tova is an older woman who lost her son years ago, her husband more recently, and then her brother. She is alone, cleaning the local aquarium as something to keep busy. Cameron is a younger man who is struggling with life - can't keep a girl or a job, abandoned by his mother, never knew his father - but he is going to attempt to track him down. Then there is Marcellus ... who is an octopus. Yes, the octopus is telling the story in 1/3 of the chapters. 

I liked the creativity of the octopus storyline, and the way the three POVs intertwined and connected. While he didn't get his own POV, Ethan - a local shopkeeper, also plays a big part (and had a fun accent in the audiobook). 

I'll remember this one fondly. Loved the end, when it was said that they are "remarkably bright creatures" *Ü*