Death plays a big part in this book, making it slightly bittersweet. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that it's charming as hell. Tova is a widow who spends her nights cleaning an aquarium. Having lost her son 30 years earlier, Tova has no family left, so she relies on her friends—one of those friends being the giant Pacific octopus, Marcellus. Marcellus has been in captivity for about four years and is aware that his life is almost finished. However, he's not ready to give up yet. He certainly won't stop his nightly escapes to wander around the aquarium. It's one of these nightly escapes that the pair become friends. Marcellus has no interest in humans until he meets Tova. When he discovers a secret linked to Tova's past, the octopus must do everything possible to reveal the truth to her. It will take all of his intelligence and cunning to get the message across. Will the cleaner figure out what the cephalopod is doing before it's too late?

The story is told from 3 points of view. The first is Tova, a widower who took the night cleaning job following her husband's death. She's facing up to the fact that she's got no family to care for her in her final years. Then there's Marcellus who looks back on his year in captivity and the life he left behind. Finally, there's Cameron who has recently started working at the aquarium. Following an accident, he takes over Tova's role as cleaner and gets introduced to Marcellus. Each of the narrators is missing something and trying their best to get through the days. Tova has been trying to keep busy since the death of her son years earlier. She never believed that he took his own life but she had no other explanation for his disappearance. Cameron was abandoned by his mother as a baby and raised by his aunt. He moved to Sowell Bay following the break up of his relationship. He's looking to find out more about where he came from. Marcellus starts to remember parts of his past that might link to Tova's son but just what can he tell her about his death?

This is as sweet a book as it sounds. Obviously it talks about death a lot but not in a morbid way. The human narrators are fine and I did enjoy their stories. However, we all know that Marcellus is the most engaging character here. I understand the book couldn't just be from his perspective because it's limited. Still, I would have liked to hear more from him. His voice was unique and I loved hearing his opinions on the humans who visited him so often. It would also have been great to hear more about his past. His sections tended to last about a page or two, which definitely feels too short. Tova and Cameron seemed a little too formulaic and stereotypical. They couldn't compare to the cephalopod's voice. Cameron, in particular, doesn't have a great deal of depth. He has a few emotional moments later in the book but it never develops. I would have liked to explore his character further.

I can't say that the various twists in the story are shocking because it's obvious where we're going. It's pretty a formulaic plot but it's told in such a lovely way that it doesn't really matter. Although, I will say that there is a lot of build-up. It means the inevitable reveal is dragged out way too long and quite repetitive. We don't get a lot of time to discover the fallout. For me, the pacing is all over the place. It starts slow and then rushes to the end. I would have preferred a shorter build-up and more time to savour the ending. It would also have been good to spend more time with Marcellus at the end of the story. It did feel a little disappointing after the time we'd spent just getting nowhere. Suspend your disbelief a little because people's actions don't always make sense. Certainly, Cameron's story feels old-fashioned because he didn't need to travel across the country. It just feels a bit contrived in places.

Still, this was a charming book. It's quick and easy to get into. I started reading the paperback but moved to he audiobook because of how slowly it moved. The audiobook was good but narrator was pretty awful. I don't understand why you'd hire someone who can't do a Scottish accent and then make them keep doing it? Either hire someone who can do it or don't include the accent? It was painful listening to these sections. Thankfully, the Scottish character didn't turn up to often.