Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

this book is so wholesome, oh my god. i almost shed serious tears, especially during marcellus� POV.

this is a story about a cast of characters, humans and animals, alike, who have some unfulfilled potential in their lives. and somehow, the universe has all of their paths cross together, and they impact and change because of each other’s positive influence.

this is like a charlotte’s web story except a charlotte that is bringing a found family together, and the octopus at the center of this, marcellus, is an utter delight. and in a way, just like charlotte, he saves numerous lives with his interferences.

characters
the CHARACTERS of this story are THE crux of this story.

it is very much character-driven.

tova, dealing with the loss of her son, the reality of being an elderly person with no family and trying her damndest to be self-sufficient.

cameron, dealing with the lack of closure regarding his parents, a 30 yr old man who can’t seem to meet his full potential, squandering opportunities even though he’s super smart.

then we have marcellus, who is a very old octopus, stuck in his tank for almost the majority of his projected 4 year lifespan, unable to return to the sea and left to count down the days until his death.

all of their lives changes once they meet each other. and it’s so touching. the earnestness of tova and marcellus� relationship, even though there is literally no possible dialogue exchange from them. the mannerisms alone exemplify how much these two care for one another, what a beautiful soul tova is to care so deeply about the animals in the aquarium. it’s by far my favorite relationship in the story. i was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next marcellus chapter, especially when it led to interactions with the other characters in the cast.

plot
though this story is more character driven, there is a plot though i think personally the characters carry the story for me. if i didn’t feel invested in the characters, i wouldn’t have been impressed with the plot. cameron’s POVs were not really my cup of tea, with the rushed romantic relationship thrown into the mix, but a hefty chunk of the story is his POV, searching for his dad.
there’s also some marcellus shenanigans which definitely stretched believability at points for the sake of the plot towards the end, but marcellus is just so charming that it doesn’t take you out of the story. tova’s story unfolds a lot more as new information comes into play, but on the surface is such an accurate portrayal of a woman who has no family and trying to take care of herself even as she is aging.

spoiler plot:
(view spoiler)[i honestly think it would’ve been more meaningful if the found family was actually all strangers, and that cameron and tova still found solace in one another despite that.

it was still a nice story for tova to find out she had a grandson in cameron too, but in a way it felt a little too neat for me. it would’ve hit harder of a message if tova had been able to move past her grief without it having to be a blood relative, and the fixation over blood relatives and lineage, but it’s just a minor dash for me.

i thought the pacing was a little weird as drama was still being injected last minute like cameron’s fight with ethan and all the “miscommunications� which made the 3rd act pretty hard to read.
cameron was easily the weakest part of the story, and at points, thought he was written purposefully overly immature just to draw tension out between characters. especially towards the end where he lashed out at ethan, terry, tova, avery.

the cameron/avery subplot had no point being there, the way a romance was being thrust into the story took away from page time we could’ve had with the characters we already loved.

also, ethan was sidelined HARDCORE. i really liked his character, the golden retriever energy but it felt like he was just there to be everyone’s support system, giving things for free and always doing favors for everyone to make the plot more convenient. (hide spoiler)]

realistically, i think because of the way the 3rd act plays out pacing-wise, this is more of a 3.5/5 for me, but i have no issues rounding this up to a 4 because i literally read this whole book in ONE day, because i was so invested in marcellus and his relationship with tova. if you’re able to look past some weak points in writing and just enjoy the book for the ride, it is still a super enjoyable book.