Felt a little more middle grade than young adult, both in the writing style and in the simple/straightforward plot. Not in a bad way, just in a way I am uninterested in. 

Read her memoir (Easy Crafts for the Insane) and thoroughly enjoyed it so figured I’d check out her other book that made her career. DNFing bc i just didn’t have time to read this library hold at this point but will most likely revisit at a later date. 

Overall pretty good. Didn’t go as deep into the consciousness aspect as I would’ve liked, but I learned a lot of cool facts and watched a lot of cool octopus videos on YouTube after. As someone who lives in Boston and has been to the New England Aquarium many times, hearing that aspect was very pleasant. 

Surprisingly no mention of conservation, either of octopuses specifically or oceans in general, nor really a mention of climate change which hugely impact the oceans and thus all the animals inside them. 

I enjoyed this more than the first in the series bc I’m not into alpha-holes or morally grey MMC but I still think this was a bit too domineering for my taste. Probably won’t read the rest of the series. 

This is written for someone who is strongly anti-immigration and pro-capitalism, who needs to be convinced through data that immigration is good. Didn’t anticipate or enjoy that. Nor did I enjoy the framing of the basis of the book: emigration from poor countries to rich countries is the main and best way to improve standards of living bc capitalism. What about solutions for people who like where they are, enjoy their traditions, culture, etc and don’t want to have to move and assimilate to a rich country? Esp for indigenous people this would really not work. 

This was an enjoyable lighthearted book that felt more novella than fully fleshed out story. I enjoyed the fall setting a pumpkin inclusion especially.