everyone needs a helping tentacle sometimes

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: As is the case in most small towns, everybody who lives in Sowell Bay, Washington knows at least a little about everyone else who lives in town.  And everybody knows that Tova Sullivan's son, Erik, died when he was 18, but nobody quite knows how or why, except that he was on his boat, and many suspect that he took his own life.  Tova never believed that, though, and 30 years later, she has no more answers than she did the day he died.

Marcellus knows a little bit about what happened to Erik, or at least where his body is.  But Marcellus is a Giant Pacific Octopus, and can't exactly share that information.  He is, as the label by his tank reads, a remarkably bright creature, and prone to escaping from his tank.  When Tova finds him stuck in a tangle of electrical cords, she helps him back in his tank, and a friendship is formed.

Cameron has never had good luck.  His mother abandoned him when he was nine, and although his aunt gave him a loving home, he's never been able to live up to his potential.  When a class ring and a photo suggest that wealthy real estate developer Simon Brinks is his father, he heads to Sowell Bay to find out. 

Chapters go back and forth among these three characters (and yes, Marcellus is obviously the best narrator).  Cameron's arrival in town sets off a chain of events that will connect the three characters, and provide some closure for all of them.  The way their stories come together will not be a surprise for most readers, but the journey with these characters is so pleasurable, that no-one will mind the predictable ending.  Readers will be rooting for each character to find their own kind of happiness, and will appreciate the way they do.

viven las niñas

The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction

Review: Usually, when I put a book down and pick it up and put it down and pick it up, it means that I'm struggling to get through it.  That was not the case here.  Rather, it meant that I wanted to sit with each few chapters before moving on.  The book somewhat lends itself to this approach, as each chapter is a vignette in a character's life, before jumping several months or years in time.  Most often, we jump forward, but in the first section, the narrative jumps both forward and back to tell the story of a romance and its consequences.  Time moves non-linearly in the last section as well, but in that case, it serves to dish up a few big reveals, and so makes sense.  I couldn't quite figure out the reasoning behind the jumping around in the first section.

This is a compelling story, exploring the bond between mothers and daughters, the sacrifices a mother might make to save her daughter, and a daughter coming to understand those sacrifices as an adult.  Though the writing is uneven in some places, overall the story flows from mother to daughter, from one year to the next, connecting generations through time and space.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.