apocalypticfiction

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

Our family is doing more experience gifts and less "stuff" this year for Christmas. So I told my son I would like to do a buddy read with him. He's not a non-reader, but he doesn't read as regularly as me.(He does read a book to his daughter every night though which I love.) So we went to the bookstore together, part of the gift, and picked one out. He found this one. I'll be sure to report back once we are finished. It looks interesting.

Deblovestoread What a lovely idea! 4d

Dilara How lovely! 💝 4d

DogMomIrene Love this idea for the book buddy experience! 3d

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Twainy

End Is Now | Hugh Howey

pick

These are the heavy hitters of horror/sci-fi. A giant collection of dystopian end of world goodness! A wonderful collection of short stories. Many more hits than misses!! I loved it!! Book one was better but still worth reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Edit - I accidentally put this review on The Sleepers War. I‘ve fixed that.

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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

#Memories
#DecemberDreams
#TBR

❤️📚❤️

Eggs

Eggs Sounds unique! 12mo

55 likes1 comment

Hilary427

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

pick

This was a low pick for me…it‘s odd, different. Not in a bad way necessarily, just different. Not your typical end of the world story! Hard to explain - so just read it and decide for yourself 😂
⭐️: 3.75/5

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mom_of_4

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

Hopeing this book is good. Seen it a-lot on here n had mixed reviews.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Let me know how it is! 1y

36 likes1 comment

Soubhiville

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

Open to those who signed up for #book2book with @AllDebooks

Comment below if you‘d like to take this one home. If multiple folks are interested I‘ll draw a random number. I‘m in the US.

@CSeydel @Bookish_Gal @LiteraryinLawrence @Chrissyreadit @Clwojick @Cuilin @bcncookbookclub @Tineke @julieclair @Catsandbooks @TheAromaofBooks @BookwormAHN @Lizpixie @KateReadsYA @TheBookHippie @dabbe

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DebinHawaii

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

pick

#RushAThon #20in4

Read for #CampLitsy23 🏕️I liked this one—the premise was intriguing & although there were a few too many threads of plot that didn‘t seem to come together (& the author didn‘t stick the landing quite as I hoped), I‘m a fan of apocalyptic/dystopian/pandemic books & I wanted to find out what happened, so it kept me turning pages. This is my first book by this author (although Swimming Lessons is stuck in my #BOTM TBR stack) ⬇️

Megabooks, DieAReader, Andrew65, squirrelbrain, BarbaraBB, GHABI4ROSES

DebinHawaii …& I try another. Thank you again for hosting this round @squirrelbrain & also to @Megabooks & @BarbaraBB for hosting & putting together #CampLitsy23 🏕️📚💚 I really enjoyed it! (edited) 1y

Megabooks You‘re welcome! So glad you joined us at camp this summer! I‘m glad you liked the book, too. 😁🏕️ 1y

BarbaraBB Very happy you joined and added so much to our discussions 💖 1y

See All 6 Comments

DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 1y

squirrelbrain I‘m glad you (kind of!) liked it in the end. Thanks for joining us at camp and adding so much to our discussions. 1y

Andrew65 Going well 👏👏👏 1y

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squirrelbrain

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

#camplitsy23

A few Littens bailed on this book 😬 but you can still join in with this question, even if you didn‘t get to the end! It‘s your opportunity to say what you thought of the book. There were quite a few plot holes identified last week; do you feel that these were resolved satisfactorily? What about the character development and the outside world; did we learn any more?

Join us tomorrow to vote for your favourite of this month‘s books!

Megabooks, BarbaraBB

squirrelbrain @Debinhawaii @Deblovestoread @DGRachel @eraderneely @ErikasMindfulShelf @GatheringBooks @Gissy @hes7 @Hooked_on_Books @ImperfectCJ @IndoorDame @JamieArc @JenniferP @JenReadsAlot @Jess @jhod 1y

squirrelbrain @jlhammar @JulesG @julieclair @Kangaj1 @Addison_Reads @AmyG @batsy @Bkclubcare @Bklover @Kitta @Julsmarshall @BookBosomed1 @BookNAround @Books_et_al @Bookwormjillk @Caroline2 @CarolynM @Catlass007 @CatMS @Cbee 1y

squirrelbrain @TrishB @YourFavouriteMixTape @ChaoticMissAdventures @Chelsea.Poole @Christine @Cinfhen @Cseydel @Cuilin @Dabbe @Kempfme @Kimberlone @Kristy_K @LaraReads @Larkken @Laughterhp @Leniverse @willaful @KarenUK @Monalyisha 1y

See All 47 Comments

squirrelbrain @LeticiaToraci @Lizpixie @Magpiegem @Merelybookish @Meshell1313 @MicheleinPhilly @MittenGirlPeach @Oryx @Peaknit @quietjenn @RaeLovesToRead @Read4life @youneverarrived
@RebelReader @rockpools 1y

squirrelbrain @Ruthiella @SamAnne @Sapphire @sarahbarnes @sblbooks @Soubhiville @Suet624 @Susanita @Tea_and_Starstuff @TEArificbooks @TheAromaofBooks @TheBookHippie @TheKidUpstairs @BeckyWithTheGoodBooks @E.Bolhafner @sbolhafner @JoyBlue 1y

julesG Neffy and the child going out to try meeting the neighbours should have been the end, in my opinion. What that last bit is telling us is that the child survived and made memories she wants to revisit. But that reminded me of the stupid memory thingy. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 1y

Leniverse I hated the ending. Not just the Nina ending, but the whole end part. And especially the baby part. I haven't been that annoyed with a book baby since the Hunger Games, and in The Memory of Animals getting purposefully pregnant and having a baby at that point in time just seems like a spectacularly bad idea. 1y

BarbaraBB I agree @julesG that should have been the ending. Now I am not sure if Fuller wanted to end it with a hopeful ending? Seems weird, knowing her child would be the last child on earth - as far as we know. 1y

julesG @Leniverse I wanted to write that I would have been fine with the whole thing ending with Neffy driving into the sunset. Open end. Instead we get the baby. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 1y

merelybookish I did not hate the book but the ending was terrible! It felt cheap. Like here's hope for humanity's survival without getting into the nitty-gritty of survival. So don't worry folks! It'll be okay. 1y

julesG My words were stuck in my brain earlier, a bit like an octopus trying to escape its tank. 🐙 1y

Megabooks @Leniverse I loved the hunger games baby when I read that, but I felt way more invested in Peeta and Katniss‘s stories than Neffy‘s. It just felt lazy here. Agree @merelybookish (edited) 1y

Megabooks @BarbaraBB was she the last child on earth? It was weird leaving that open ended. I truly hated this ending!! 😡 1y

GatheringBooks I think I just finished the book out of respect for #CampLitsy23 plus I am simply a completist, but this must be the worst book I‘ve read of all times. Hated everything, so I wasn‘t too surprised that the ending was like huh? Baby? Huh? Turkey baster? Umm, ok. 1y

Kitta I think it either should have ended with them getting to the house and setting up a community or with them finding other survivors and deciding whether to trust them. I didn‘t like the baby ending and making it end with her baby doing a revisit seems particularly weird. It made me feel like the entire book was a memory from someone who wasn‘t there. It made no sense. 1y

CBee The ending was a bit meh. I would‘ve liked Neffy finding other survivors and maybe having that fleshed out a bit more. I‘m not sure I would‘ve been so keen to have a baby in the midst of such a deadly pandemic either….. a bit irresponsible. 1y

Bookwormjillk Having them all die and the baby was all just a big huh to me. What was that? I thought this book was okay up until then but the ending really annoyed me. 1y

CBee Thanks to @squirrelbrain @Megabooks and @BarbaraBB for a great time at camp! 💚💚💚 1y

squirrelbrain Yes, I wondered a similar thing too @Kitta - I thought maybe the whole book was a memory of the baby. But then my brain hurt so I stopped wondering! 🤣 I‘m not keen on books with an open ending, unless they‘re really well done. 1y

ChaoticMissAdventures @BarbaraBB are we supposed to find the last baby on earth hopeful?? I guess so but to me it was just utterly depressing and pointless. I agree with many above end with her driving off or with them just setting up the community. Though I don't understand why she would want to continue living with these people, I didn't like any of them and I don't think Neffy did either! 1y

squirrelbrain Oh dear @GatheringBooks - but your comment did make me laugh! 🤣 Plus I‘m a completist too so I hear you. (I feel the same way about Pod as you did about this but I *had* to finish it) 1y

Leniverse @Kitta @squirrelbrain What's his name, Luke, said that eventually they might be able to put somebody into someone else's memory. That was the goal. So maybe Nina was reliving Neffy's memories. Which, gross, what with the sex scenes and all 🤪 But also, who the hell continued developing that machine?! 1y

Kitta @leniverse ohhh good point, I didn‘t remember that. Weird she‘d be remembering her revisiting? Like memory in a memory? 1y

Soubhiville I feel ambivalent about the ending. On one hand I do think it‘s hopeful that there was another house with smoke coming from the chimney, that there were other survivors and maybe immune folks. On the other as @ChaoticMissAdventures said, Neffy didn‘t like or trust these people, would she want to continue living with them for the rest of her life just so she has companions? I don‘t quite buy that. 1y

julesG @Leniverse I was thinking about this "visiting another person's memory" idea but then hit the same question, who's going to update the machine? The new neighbours? 1y

Soubhiville Overall I enjoyed reading the book enough to give it a soft pick, but it does have a lot of flaws. I‘m not sure I‘d read another by Fuller. 1y

julesG Maybe it's atonement? It was a weird decision and I honestly hoped Neffy would load the ambulance and just drive off. @Soubhiville @ChaoticMissAdventures 1y

Soubhiville @julesG yes I was thinking the story would go that way too given the discovery of the others in the vax trial. I would have supported that ending. In continuing to live with them she‘s forgiving an awful lot! Which is hard to believe. How to ever put trust in any of them again? 1y

Soubhiville Maybe she had to forgive them in order to forgive herself for not being able to save her dad/ not being with her boyfriend at the end/ putting the woman across the street in danger/ etc. 1y

sarahbarnes I agree with @julesG that going out to meet the people living nearby should‘ve been the ending of the book. I would‘ve liked that a lot better. All that to say, I liked this one but didn‘t love it. I‘ve loved other books on the same topic much more. Thank you for being such good hosts this summer @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @Megabooks! 1y

Megabooks @Soubhiville I really enjoyed this by her. 👍🏻👍🏻

Unsettled Ground

Meshell1313 I kind of loved it. I loved the idea that the entire book could have just been memories instead of being told in real time. A nice surprise. Any other ending would have felt repetitive and cliche. I love when a book can make me say out loud “what?!?” 1y

TheKidUpstairs I didn't hate the ending, but I didn't love it either. I liked the idea that she was experiencing the memory of the story through the Revisitor, but didn't like the baby. It seemed unnecessary (and scientifically questionable) to rush that in. I like that she was woken from the revisit by a sound from outside, and I liked the open-endedness of that: are there other people out there? Are they healthy? Will she go out to meet them? 1y

batsy Agreed @merelybookish that was my issue with it. The ending also felt like a bit of a cop out. Of course the idea of humankind persevering with a new generation is nice to think about, but it lacks imagination. OK, there's a baby. So life goes on? What about the world that existed where everyone just died? Ugh. I don't know. 1y

jlhammar Yes to so much of what you all have said here! I'm guessing that the whole having a baby to continue humanity thing was supposed to be hopeful, but I found it terrible and irresponsible. We have no idea if “Shall we go and say hello?“ actually means there was a living human there. And we're supposed to believe that the revisitor still works like a dream 50+ years later? I took that ending to mean Nina is alone and is revisiting memories w/Neffy. 1y

jlhammar Thanks so much, Helen, for leading our discussions this month! It's been so fun to read and discuss these books with everyone. 1y

BarbaraBB @Megabooks @GatheringBooks I interpreted the ending that way, that she had a kid but I was wondering who that kid could grew up with since there were no people left as far as I knew? So no not hopeful but very depressing! 1y

Deblovestoread I had to go back to the end of the book after reading @julesG comment. Somehow I stopped at the page where Neffy opens the door to go meet the neighbors. That‘s the better ending. There‘s hope there for the survival of mankind. But even that doesn‘t save this book for me. My first Fuller, not sure if I will try a second. 1y

DebinHawaii I don‘t think Fuller “stuck the landing” for sure. I would have been good with leaving it at Neffy & the baby going out the door to find the other people from the smoke-the hope that there are other survivors. I reread the final pages a few times & remain confused. That being said, overall I liked the book & found it interesting. It kept my attention & I‘ll give it a pick but it‘s in last place for me if I look at all 6. Still thinking what my ⬇️ (edited) 1y

DebinHawaii …1st place pick will be! 🤔 Again thank you to our #CampLitsy23 hosts—I really enjoyed being a part of it this summer! @BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain 💚 💚💚 (edited) 1y

squirrelbrain I‘m looking forward to finding out our #camplitsy23 winner too! @DebinHawaii 1y

Hooked_on_books Like so many others, I would have preferred her going out to meet the neighbors to be the ending rather than Nina as an adult using the Revisitor. That just felt tacked on to me. I didn‘t mind the having the baby then everyone else dies part. I thought those events fit the story. On another note, did anyone else find it kinda gross that she was screwing her stepbrother? I didn‘t like that choice. Especially her mom winking at her about it. 1y

DebinHawaii @Hooked_on_books Yes, the wink especially seemed a little gross even if they weren‘t related by blood. 🫣 1y

ChaoticMissAdventures @Megabooks Unsettled Ground is the only one of hers I have read too, and I really enjoyed it. I think it was a Women's Prize long list book. 1y

Christine THANK YOU, @squirrelbrain , @BarbaraBB , and @Megabooks for these wonderful discussions! A lovely summer tradition. 1y

squirrelbrain @Hooked_on_books - yes! That was a real WTF moment for me - I had to go back and re-read a few pages to see if I‘d got it wrong. And odd that it wasn‘t really addressed in any way within the book - why did it need to be her stepbrother? 1y

squirrelbrain You‘re welcome @christine @DebinHawaii @jlhammar @sarahbarnes @CBee - it‘s the campers that make this so special though - such great insights and discussions! 1y

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squirrelbrain

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

#camplitsy23

What do you think of the author‘s writing style? Are there differences between empathy and sympathy demonstrated in this book?

If you‘ve read any of the author‘s other books, how does this one compare in style?

Megabooks, BarbaraBB

See All 31 Comments

julesG As a very blunt person (that's what I think of myself) I get that quote. To me empathy is feeling with others, sentimentality is wallowing in feelings. The book is not wallowing in feelings, it feels rather 'blunt' to me - I'm thinking of the childbirth description right now. We get the facts, we don't get "oh, it was such a shame they weren't there to help, see the baby, see her first steps,... Woe be me, I'm so alone." 1y

merelybookish I find it hard to define sentimentality. I just know it makes me cringe when something feels like it's sentimental. Wallowing is a good way of putting it! @julesG Maybe sentimentality, also feels simplistic? Like if something is sad, it's really sad, and that's it. I would not say this book felt sentimental. I've only read 1 of her other novels. I have a thing for books about absent/missing mothers so liked

Swimming Lessons

merelybookish Also, isn't empathy just part of what we expect from most novelists? 1y

Megabooks I agree with Day. This is the third Fuller I‘ve read this year, and I agree with this for her writing overall. 1y

TrishB I‘ve liked her other books, but didn‘t like this one. Have never found her sentimental. 1y

Kitta I thought the memories/revisiting and the letters seemed sentimental but the actual plot and current things happening lacked sentimentality and was more blunt, as @julesG said. So I‘m not sure I completely agree about the whole book lacking sentimentality. Just my opinion though 🤷🏻‍♀️ 1y

GatheringBooks I think I will pass reading another Claire Fuller novel at this point. I found neither empathy nor sentimentality; just a hodge podge of ideas thrown together without coherence. Again, this may just be me really. 1y

CBee This didn‘t seem sentimental to me - Day maybe means sentimentality to be the cheesy, cloying kind and I didn‘t get that at all. Maybe I‘m wrong in interpreting her meaning though. I haven‘t read any of Fuller‘s other books, but would like to as I enjoyed this one! (edited) 1y

Bookwormjillk @GatheringBooks agree 1y

ChaoticMissAdventures Sentimental for me is where someone is led more by emotions than rational thought - wallowing is a good way to put it when the person is looking back, and I think Neffy is a sentimental person (releasing the octopus and writing to it) but Fuller writes the book with and overarching empathy that does not cross the line. Maybe b/c we spend 1/3 of the time in the present which is very stark and filled with unlikable characters. 1y

julesG @GatheringBooks Right there with you 1y

squirrelbrain @CBee - I liked this one. Still a bit weird and dark, but more coherent than Animals.

Unsettled Ground

Soubhiville I read Swimming Lessons and really disliked it. I may even have bailed on it. So I was surprised to like this one even though I do see faults with it. 1y

Soubhiville @julesG I like your definitions of empathy and sympathy. I think you‘re pretty spot on. 1y

CBee @squirrelbrain I like weird and dark 😂🤪 Thanks for the rec! 1y

Meshell1313 Oh that‘s interesting actually. I can see that is there is level of detachment that comes through while all of these horrific things are going on. I think even using the revisitor adds to that level of detachment. Not wanted to invest emotionally in the present but instead escape. 1y

TheKidUpstairs To me, sentimentality in novels is trying to force the reader's emotional experience, where empathy is giving/writing the character's emotional experience. I get frustrated with sentimentality, if you want me to feel sadness, tell me a sad story, don't tell me why I should be sad. This one was definitely not sentimental, although it didn't feel particularly empathetic either. But I think that was because Neffy herself had a hard time (cont'd) 1y

TheKidUpstairs ...empathizing with other people, so that level of disconnect worked for me with this story. I really enjoyed Fuller's writing style, I think it was why I enjoyed this one despite it's problems. I'm interested to check out more. 1y

jlhammar Yeah, I think that blurb is apt, I don't find Fuller's writing sentimental. I first read Our Endless Numbered Days years ago and really liked it. Then I read Swimming Lessons and didn't really get on with it. My third Fuller was Unsettled Ground which I loved. I haven't tried Bitter Orange yet, but might eventually. I'd definitely be open to read whatever she writes next. 1y

batsy I agree in that I do think Fuller is an interesting writer (hence I'm willing to try her other books) and she didn't really lean into being sentimental in how she describes things, but I felt the Revisitor plot thing was a sentimental way of structuring the book, and it rubbed me the wrong way. So idk lol. Like @merelybookish says, novelists should ideally be empathetic because how else are you going to depict a character 🤷🏾‍♀️ 1y

Deblovestoread I do think the author was trying to build empathy for Neffy so we‘d be rooting for her in the end. Typically you‘d appreciate a character who wanted to release a wild creature back to his natural habitat, someone who wanted to go back and revisit their loved ones, who wouldn‘t turn away the unlikeable other characters. 1y

squirrelbrain I love everyone‘s comments here on the difference between empathy and sympathy; it‘s really enlightened things for me. 1y

DebinHawaii I have not read any of her books although I have had Swimming Lessons on my TBR for ages from #BOTM but I find the quote to be mostly true for the writing in this book. Fuller wants us to understand what Neffy has been going through but as others have said, not to “wallow” in it & she mostly describes what is happening to us as observers so we understand with compassion, but aren‘t spending time pitying Neffy or the other characters. 1y

Hooked_on_books Yes, I definitely agree with the quote. Sentimentality in writing is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me—I don‘t want to have anything to do with it. And I didn‘t get that from this book at all. But I feel like she built empathy for Neffy by showing her as deeply human and flawed, like all of us. I think anyone could find something about her to relate to. 1y

JamieArc I‘m going to have to do some thinking on this. I somehow missed along the way that sentimentality is a bad thing, because I‘m pretty sure that I‘m at least a little bit of a sentimental person 🫣 1y

squirrelbrain @JamieArc is sentimentality such a bad thing though? We seem to have picked up on the negative connotations as a comparison with empathy, but there‘s a fine line, I think. 1y

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squirrelbrain

The Memory of Animals: From the Costa Novel-winning author of Unsettled Ground | Claire Fuller

Welcome to our final week of #camplitsy23 questions! It‘s sad 😢 to be getting to the end of this year‘s summer camp but we‘ve had such a good time, haven‘t we?

What did you think of Neffy‘s thoughts around octopuses and her treatment of them? And why octopuses in particular do you think? They seem to be everywhere in literature at the moment! 🐙🐙🐙

Megabooks, BarbaraBB

See All 51 Comments

julesG I'm not sure whether the octopuses added to the story. The facts were interesting, but, in my opinion, the book could have done without and Neffy's letters could have easily been addressed to a different (human) friend. And the cynic in me says the octopuses were only added because they are the rage right now. 😬 1y

Oryx If anything, I want more octopuses. 😉 1y

Soubhiville It has been a terrific summer at #CampLitsy! What great councilors we have leading us! (edited) 1y

Soubhiville @julesG @Oryx I agree with both of you! While I do love cephalopods and I‘m very happy to see them getting attention, the aquarium and octopus line in this book seem detached from other parts of the story. It does seem that Fuller had a lot of small ideas and decided to jam them all into one novel. 1y

merelybookish I felt like the octopus was intended to be significant to the story and I never quite grasped why. 🤷 1y

Leniverse I'm with @Oryx Octopuses are great so I'm only surprised it has taken literature so long to cotton on. 😄 I'm not a scientist, but I thought the research parameters were strange. If they wanted to study arm regrowth, shouldn't they try to make the environment as natural as possible? Idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ 1y

Soubhiville It seems a little strange that Neffy would go into the aquarium career not being aware that she‘d be taking care of captive animals. I can relate to wanting them to have more fulfilling lives, but why go into the job if you can‘t handle the idea of captive creatures? (Being who I am I might also have wanted to release all the animals. But I was always the girl who wanted to buy the lobster and release it in the sea.) 1y

julesG @merelybookish That thought crossed my mind too. Made me feel stupid. 1y

Leniverse I noticed that Neffy denied the charge of anthropomorphism. She seemed to think octopuses were superior in many ways and we should be more like them, and if anything was "cephalomorphing" herself. 1y

julesG @Oryx @Leniverse @Soubhiville I like cephalopods. I am happy to see and read more of them. But as Leni pointed out, the research felt off. And just like Soubhi I think Neffy went into her career a bit naively. 1y

BarbaraBB I am with @merelybookish I thought the octopuses were important but looking back I don‘t think they were 1y

BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain I am sad we‘ve reached the end of our #CampLitsy23. I‘ve really had such a good time with @Megabooks, you and all the awesome campers who joined us in reading some great books 💖 1y

merelybookish Yes, where did the summer go?! Thank you to all the hosts and organizers! It's such a fun communal reading experience! 1y

Megabooks @BarbaraBB yes, I‘ll miss camp @BarbaraBB and @squirrelbrain !! Already looking forward to next year! 1y

Megabooks I did think it was strange that she went into research and aquaculture not wanting animals to be captive. She had that early experience in Greece, so it‘s not like she didn‘t understand her position already. Although as a veterinarian, I will say working in clinics before I was a DVM euthanasia was a lot easier. (Like being a pet nurse/tech.) when I was the doctor completely responsible for the experience of the animals and their humans ⬇️ 1y

Megabooks It just sits differently. 🤷🏻‍♀️ it‘s hard to explain. But I think she definitely knew how she felt when she started work at the aquarium, so that was a bad idea. And I‘m going to use that word now @leniverse !! 1y

Megabooks I will say I stopped eating octopus when I read this, but I really liked eating them. 😬😬 it‘s weird to draw a line though. Although I don‘t eat any meat or fish now.

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Leniverse @Megabooks ? Took me a while to work out how to spell it. Maybe it should be "cephalomorphising". 1y

Kitta I‘ve worked at marine research facilities and we had one octopus escape, it tried to squeeze down a drain pipe with outflow back to the ocean but there was mesh and it died. It was heartbreaking for us. We had to add bricks to their lids afterwards. I understand her feelings, loving them and working with them is hard, but she should‘ve known what the research entails. I liked the octopus facts, they were correct from my understanding (not my area) 1y

SamAnne Many thanks to @squirrelbrain and @barbaraBB for being fabulous hosts! I skipped this book. Was traveling for the month and my library didn‘t have an ebook or audio, and based on initial reviews I didn‘t want to buy it. But I love octopuses! Bring on the cephalopods! 1y

Kitta I felt like the letters gave an explanation into how she ended up being in the trial in the first place. Getting fired, her conviction to do something she believed in, etc. I thought it could have been integrated better, at first I thought they were letters to her father. 1y

SamAnne When I watch them in aquariums they seem like intelligent, otherworldly creatures. Like they must have come from outer space! 🐙🐙🐙👽👽👽🛸🛸🛸 1y

ChaoticMissAdventures @Kitta oh my that is so sad!! They are so crafty which seems to lead to many mishaps. I wish something had been said by Neffy about the difference between field and lab research, like how she had intended to do field research but the jobs were not available. 1y

CBee @Soubhiville SAME 🙋‍♀️ 1y

ChaoticMissAdventures I took her letters to H more as a diary entry type letter. I felt she was addressing the octopus but not seriously, more of a way to get her explanation of how she got to where she was now out on paper. The three competing timelines -current day, youth& family, and her career if they were all needed I liked how they were separated it helped me keep track of where and what was going on. 1y

GatheringBooks Thank you to the #CampLitsy23 counselors for such an awesome time this year. I am so glad I was able to join y‘all. Apologies to this book crew, but I found the parts about the octopus so unbelievably boring and like @julesG and @Soubhiville noted seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with the storyline at all. What a mess of a novel! 1y

CBee I liked the octopus storyline 🤷🏻‍♀️ I can see how some felt like it was disjointed and maybe didn‘t add to the story, but my take was that octopi connected Neffy to her mother and father in different ways, and maybe that was a big part of her attachment to them? Her letters to H were love letters - similar to her mother “falling in love” with an octopus too. 1y

squirrelbrain @julesG @merelybookish - I felt there was some kind of metaphor / analogy with the octopuses that I couldn‘t quite see. I get the ‘being trapped‘ comparison but why octopuses in particular? 1y

squirrelbrain Love that word @Leniverse ! Although I can never say anthropomorphising properly (I can spell it fine! 🤷‍♀️) so I probably won‘t even try pronouncing that one! 1y

Bookwormjillk I kind of thought her inability to help her Dad in time paired with letting the octopus go were the reasons she joined the trial, and maybe even later helped all those annoying people she found herself with. I wasn‘t really sure though. It didn‘t really come together for me. 1y

squirrelbrain @kitta I felt like she went into the trial because she couldn‘t save her Dad, not because of the 🐙, so the letters, and the whole octopus strand of the story, felt a bit superfluous. 1y

squirrelbrain @Bookwormjillk - I think we posted at the exact same time! 😃 1y

Kitta @squirrelbrain I guess so, although I felt it explained more of the financial aspect. She lost her job, wasn‘t able to get another, so the trial would have provided money. It also showed her conviction of deciding to free the octopus was similar to her decision to enter the trail. She wouldn‘t be swayed against it. Although this was mostly explained without the letters so not sure they were necessary. I just like reading about octopuses. 1y

Kitta @chaoticmisadventures it was really sad 😢. And yes, field research is really different! Our institute did a mix of both but mostly catch, study, & release, if possible. So he would have gone home eventually which makes it worse. 1y

Kitta Fwiw I think she freed the octopus because she couldn‘t save her dad, so they‘re definitely connected. @squirrelbrain @Bookwormjillk 1y

Meshell1313 I love everyone‘s thoughts! For me, it just served as some kind of metaphor for being held captive and not being allowed to be free. Wether that represents her parents or her relationship I‘m not sure. I think it also relates to her decision to sign up for the trial in the first place. Maybe? 🤷🏼‍♀️ 1y

jlhammar Hmmm, I think octopuses are amazing (especially after reading The Soul of an Octopus), but I can't say it was bringing a lot to the table for me here. I agree with others that it seemed like she had these interesting disparate ideas (pandemic, octopus, revisitor), but the elements didn't quite come together for me. I mean, I thought it was fine, I liked it well enough to read the whole thing in an afternoon, but I guess I was just hoping for more. 1y

TheKidUpstairs I think that Neffy had a hard time connecting with people, and the octopuses were a sort of stand in for her. They have enough intelligence to feel that there is a connection, but she was able to imbue the connection with her own mess of emotions and not have to worry about adding other people's feelings into the jumble. Any time she had to consider other people's emotional lives she would enter fight/flight/freeze mode. 1y

batsy I agree with @julesG I think octopuses are super fascinating, but they have become a sort of literary trend (bless the octopuses) and in this book I felt like it was just added in because, wow, cool. In contrast an octopus that showed up in another novel and really gripped my imagination, to the point that I still remember the octopus years later, is in this one:

The Lightkeepers: A Novel

Deblovestoread I kept waiting for the letters and the rest of the story to intertwine and since it didn‘t, it felt like another device to get our attention since Octopi are hot in literature right now. 1y

Deblovestoread Adding my thanks to our counselors and my fellow readers for a fun camp! 📚🏕️ 1y

Cinfhen Shoutout to another wonderful summer of #CampLitsy!!!!! Thanks so much @BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain for hosting & leading wonderful discussions!!!! 1y

DebinHawaii Yes, a big thanks to all of our counselors at #CampLitsy23 @squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB !!! 🏕️🎉 Camp was so fun! I was okay with the letters & the 🐙 I chalked it up to her trying to help the 🐙 when she couldn‘t help her dad & then being an imaginary penpal & writing eased her feelings of isolation when she was trapped with a bunch of unknown & fairly unlikable people.🤷🏻‍♀️ I do think the book was disjointed & not all of it came ⬇️ 1y

DebinHawaii … together as well as I would have liked but I found it interesting. Also I am in the bring in the 🐙 🐙🐙 camp. 😉 1y

Hooked_on_books Like many others here, I thought the letters to the octopus were an odd addition to the book. It never quite made sense to me why they were there, though it was fun to read about an octopus, cuz they‘re cool. Thanks to all our counselors for another fun year at camp! 1y

Christine While I really enjoyed this book overall, I was a bit bummed to discover the octopus element, as I have several other of the hot octopus books (funny phrase to type 😆) on my TBR that I‘ve been eager to try and didn‘t want to get octopus burnout. But reading the comments here reassures me that there‘s never too much octopus content! 1y

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