Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Remarkably Bright Creatures

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

259 reviews

taural41's review

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I liked the concept behind this book - the Marcellus parts were the most interesting, and I found myself skimming through some of the story lines around Tova’s move and Cameron’s people in order to get to the Tova-Marcellus interactions. My favorite things about Marcellus was just the premise (an incredibly intelligent, aquarium-roving octopus) and his eventual deep love for Tova, but I didn’t love his personality or the tone with which he spoke. I know it added humor to the book and I’m sure absolutely delighted a lot of readers, but it struck me as a little dark and condescending and I don’t love that in a main character. I appreciated the sweet, easy ending as I wasn’t in the mood for it to end on a sad note. Overall, the book was fine, but I didn’t love it. I get why others do, but I don’t think the characters were deep and nuanced enough for me to really love it.

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biscuitgale's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Wow, what an unexpected journey in navigating grief and finding unexpected care from unexpected places! The characters are well developed and have very realistic pain and motivations. I did guess the twist in the story somewhat earlier on, but the story also reveals it to us pretty quickly. Despite the there being tension, this book wasn’t stressful to read. I do have issues with how adamant the book is on blood relationships over found family, but I did enjoy the story overall.

By far my favorite character is Marcellus the Octopus. My least favorite is Cameron; although we do see growth he blames everyone and everything else instead of looking at his own actions.

The way he behaves can’t entirely be chalked up to not having parental figures, at some point he needs to take accountability for his actions but never does. Quite frustrating!

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amaya_s's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leighkelly's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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elizlizabeth's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Lovely read. The audiobook is narrated beautifully, I would highly recommend it. My only complaint is that the author doesn't seem to have written anything else since and I've badly fallen in love for her writing. Alas...

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ang44's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

When it comes to slower-paced books that really take some time for events to happen / have a bigger focus on the word choice and emotional expression, these often have me literally begging for something to happen in the plot - the difference in this story for me was that every single word and sentence added beautiful layers of meaning to the characters, their emotions, and the ways that their lives intertwined. The author does a remarkable job and showing you just how much all of the characters mean to each other. I found this very beautiful and also very sad at times, and I think this book represented life at its most beautiful for me.
I did read the hard copy version (vs audio) and found the octopus perspective a bit silly at first, but i'm really glad I stuck it out, as it really was a miraculous way to turn a story prompt into a novel. I care about all of these characters and I really wished the best for all of them, and I loved the ending of this as well.

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sangsmiles's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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megj23's review

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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m_maria's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

The book's action unfolds slowly but leads to quite unexpected events. I loved octopus'es diary entries as a part of the narration.

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alastaire's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Very heavy, death focused.
I loved each of the characters but thought the general message of the book was a bit off. More info on that in spoiler:

I thought they were setting up a found family story but then it didn't matter to the characters (as in they didn't form a closer familial type bond with each other) until they discovered that they were actually related by blood.

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