A wonderfully crafted story of friendship, family secrets and first love.
Full of mystery, intrigue and academia.
This witty debut novel will keep you captivated from beginning to end.
Highly Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Viking for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Quite enjoyed this one although it took me a bit to get into it. I’m of an age enough with Pen that I recognized a lot of the university experience of that time. I also have a lifelong friend like Alice and Pen and the way their relationship was described was very relatable. I liked the combo of Canadian and Scottish content. The big old estate full of secrets. I didn’t figure out the connection/secret until it was confirmed in the story, which is always nice.

I received an advance copy of this book compliments of NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Without giving away any spoilers, Emma Knight's debut novel had me googling 'What is the life cycle of the common octopus?" to fully appreciate what the author intended with this strange yet intriguing title.

If you, too, are wondering, the cycle has four stages—egg, larva, juvenile, and adult. It is a unique under-sea life cycle where the male dies within a few months of mating, and the female dies soon after hatching the eggs. 

The reader, however, should not expect to meet any sea creatures on the page until you are about 85% of the way through the book (although there may be subtle hints presented earlier). Still, the title is a brilliantly well-crafted metaphor for the novel's themes of motherhood, female friendships, first love, and how one must contend with the past before embracing the future.

After visiting Scotland this past summer, I thoroughly enjoyed Knight's setting and vivid description of Edinburgh, returning to many of the sights and sounds of our trip in my imagination as Pen explores her new surroundings. I also relived my own University days and wished I'd studied abroad!

Although there are multiple storylines and characters in the novel to keep track of, each character is memorable in their own right, and Knight's strong narrative voice makes the storylines easy to follow. 

While the novel's triumph is the subject of female empowerment, I also appreciated the author's depiction of the male characters and how varied they are in their emotional range and ability/inability to express love. 

My favourite reference is when Pen imagines her father's colleagues mistakenly calling him a 'family man' when he takes her calls at work, wondering why women are not afforded a similar title, 'family woman' when they address their children's needs.

The author's mix of family drama across the span of generations, and the mysteries of the past, holds many similarities to books I've read by one of my favourite authors, Kate Morton. I highly recommend this debut novel and look forward to reading future books by Emma Knight. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for an electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  (Follow my reads on Instagram @onemorechapter_hdhamilton or HeatherH on Goodreads)

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight

Rating 3.5

The bright colours on the cover and the odd title drew me to this book. When I realized it was a debut novel from a Canadian writer, I was further intrigued. To top it off, the story takes place in two places I am familiar with, Edinburgh and Toronto.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think Emma Knight did an admirable job in creating the mood and setting in and around Edinburgh. I found there to be a lot of characters introduced at the beginning of this story, slowing down the initial dive-in. Once I had Penelope, the main character, and her university friends sorted, the story was on its way. Penelope has left Canada to continue her education in Edinburgh. She reaches out to a school friend of her father’s, who happens to be a successful writer and someone who she believes she is named after, to find out some family history. Of course, she finds out more than she bargained for. I enjoyed the details of her friendship with her girlfriends, the tension of her love interest and the underlying feeling that there was more going on than we knew about. We get a glimpse into old money and estate living, the power of family and connections that can make or break us.

Congratulations to Emma Knight on her debut novel!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC for free in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written, engaging coming of age novel. I devoured this book and did not want it to end

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2,5 stars

Thank you Penguin Random House for the review copy. I was so intrigued by this premise given that the main character is from Toronto and the setting is in Edinburgh – a city I love.

Unfortunately this was disappointing in maintaining my interest. It’s slow and feels unfocused. A lot of seemingly irrelevant tangents or observations until I realized the book felt more like two completely different stories – one where she’s with the Lennoxes and trying to find out her parents’ secrets, and one on campus with her friends dealing with some fairly serious issues with some of the men.

It’s a coming of age story, mostly following Pen – though at random times it switches over to other characters’ third person POV for a few paragraphs. I found Pen’s behaviour inconsistent and erratic. She goes through ups and downs with her friend group and, when faced with some misogynistic incidents, acts in an uncharacteristic way to how she’s been up until that point. The supposed “love interest” is built on some flimsy interactions that make it hard to believe would build to anything. Initially, I was getting Saltburn vibes with how enamoured she quickly was with this family (it does not go the way of the movie!).

A minor thing but at one point the author/character describes Toronto cold as “mostly dry” which is not really accurate as that’s maybe more descriptive of Western Canada… Toronto is very much “trapped inside your bones” cold.

Lastly, I found the ending to be a bit too neatly tied up – Pen going around to chat with each character with outstanding storylines to have a revelatory chat and closure. The book explores themes of friendship, being a woman and motherhood in all its forms at different stages of our lives – and the relevance of the title to the story does eventually get connected. I really wanted to enjoy this one more but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

This coming-of-age story, set in Toronto (my home town!) and Edinburgh, was beautifully told. I found the familial mystery that drives Pen to discover, not only herself, but her parents' secrets, propulsive. The characters too, had depth and although flawed, were very likeable. I look forward to reading Emma Knight's next work of fiction.

When I saw The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight on Netgalley, it was the gorgeous cover that attracted me and I’m glad it did because it is a beautifully written coming-of-age story. Pen, with her best friend, Alice, have moved to Edinburgh from Toronto for university. But it is not just school that has attracted Pen to Scotland. She hopes she can solve the mystery of her rather unusual middle name by meeting an old friend of her dad’s.

The pacing seemed a bit slow to me at the beginning but it soon grabbed my attention and, once it did, I found it very engaging. Pen is a likeable protagonist and the story is interesting. This is a tale of burgeoning adulthood, young love, the importance of female friendships, and motherhood, as well as a bit of a mystery. This is Knight’s debut novel and a very impressive debut it is. I look forward to reading more by her in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange fir an honest review

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a heartfelt coming-of-age story that combines mystery, family drama, and self-discovery. The book follows Penelope Winters, a first-year student at the University of Edinburgh, as she tries to piece together the truth about her parents’ past while figuring out her own place in the world.

When Pen reaches out to Lord Lennox, a famous writer and old friend of her father’s, she’s invited to his Scottish estate. What starts as a simple search for answers, quickly turns into something bigger as Penelope becomes caught up in the lives of the quirky Lennox family. She discovers family secrets, navigates her first love, and starts to see herself (and her relationships) in a whole new way.

The setting, from the atmospheric streets of Edinburgh to the grand, chaotic Lennox estate, is a character in itself. Knight does a fantastic job of blending the charm and intrigue of a literary mystery with Penelope’s struggles as a young adult. The story is full of sharp observations about growing up, family, and the many ways we define motherhood.

The title is a clever nod to the octopus, whose life is all about reproduction, a theme that runs through the book as the characters wrestle with choices about love, family, and identity. The author's writing is vivid, funny, and very descriptive.

If you like stories with a mix of mystery, personal growth, and complicated families, this book will draw you in. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a touching debut that reminds us of the importance of understanding where we come from to figure out where we’re going.

Wow! An incredible debut about friendship, family, loss and longing.
I was hooked from start to finish, and did not see that twist near the end!
This book is so beautifully written and the imagery so vivid. Loved that it was set in Edinburgh with bits of Canadiana/Toronto scattered throughout the story. Highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This is an engaging read with a very attractive cover design (I've just bought the paperback, because I think my 23-year-old daughter will enjoy the book). There are numerous strengths in writing style, but the pacing and plotting flag: conventional first-book challenges. And it's substantially longer than it needs to be to tell this particular--and not especially new or unusual--story. I wanted to like it much more than I did, but I ran into challenges: the title is misleading; the sense of time and place are not very well developed, and these are key issues for what is, effectively, a coming-of-age-in-a-foreign-land story; and the protagonist is humdrum. Very token queer representation that should have been omitted, or expanded. The multiple points-of-view is ambitious but handled poorly. I'm not going to submit a GoodReads review for this one because I'm rooting for the author, but I would be unable to give more than two stars.

This book was very sweet, I really enjoyed the plot, the characters, everything. I found it very relatable, especially as a Snow-Yank that went to Edinburgh myself. Penelope is full of life, easy to read about, and fun to watch grow over the course of the story.
There were only two things that brought this down from a five star for me. The first is that sometimes it was hard to tell which character’s thoughts/story I was following, as sometimes it switched abruptly within chapters. The second was the feminism bit. I believe it could’ve been more well integrated and not so concentrated to the end of the novel.

Character-focused, this was an intriguing debut yarn…

The premise seemed straight-forward – a young woman was heading off to university with a puzzling family mystery to solve. Her middle name just didn’t make sense and there had to be more to it than she knew. Enter a foreign university, boat-loads of funny, charismatic (yet goofy) friends and the scene was set. What unfolded was a winding tale that took unexpected turns but never failed to entertain. The plot was a bit far-fetched but the author could take it anywhere she wanted and, as it turned out, I happily enjoyed the ride. The drama and emotion that sprung from the exposed secrets – however they came to be – were worth the price of admission…

I loved a character or two, was mystified by an equal number. At the end of the story, though, I realized I really enjoyed the writing and its meandering way it took the characters – and me - from point A to B. The title was an intriguing hook, and as it turned out, a perfect truth upon which decisions were measured…

Best friends Penelope and Alice leave Canada to attend University in Scotland, motivated in part so Pen can try to figure out the secrets she thinks her parents are hiding.
I thought this was written beautifully - capturing the essence of University life, deep friendships and tentative steps into first love. That feeling of being on the cusp of adulthood and discovering more about your parents, your friends, yourself. I think it explores the feeling of invincibility you feel in your youth, but also the consequences of your choices.
Knight’s writing style is lyrical and grounded, I thought it really captured the nuance and made me feel nostalgic for this time in my own life. This is a very character driven novel, and jumps around perspectives and time. I think this is the type of book that may not speak to everyone but it resonated with me. The characters are flawed and authentic. I thought Knight did a great job of capturing a universal experience that is still uniquely personal.
Thank you Viking for the copy through NetGalley!

I soooo enjoyed this debut by Canadian author, Emma Knight that follows two Toronto friends, Pen and Alice, as they embark on their first year of university in Edinburgh. Told over the span of the year, we see Pen and Alice grow together and apart while making new friends, emarking on romantic relationships and as Pen tries to get to the bottom of her parent's divorce by tracking down one of her father's best friends from his time at University in Scotland in the 80s.

This book felt nostalgic in the best ways, was full of female friendship, female empowerment and family secrets. I loved both Pen and Alice's story lines and seeing how they grew as individuals and young women in the early 2000s. The author also explores sexual misconduct through a student-professor affair, infidelity, single motherhood and so much more.

Great on audio narrated by one of the best, Saskia Maarleveld, who does an amazing job voicing the full cast of characters. This was also a Read with Jenna January book club pick and I am so glad she chose an emerging Canadian author who will definitely be one to watch! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley and PRH, for kindly providing me with an ARC copy of this title.

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus follows the story of a young Canadian first year university student, Pen, as she attempts to navigate the challenges of moving to a different country for school, friendships, first loves, and the mystery of why her parents saddled her with such a masculine middle name, "Elliot".

The writing style for this book is quite lovely, the prose elegant and refined, and the subject matter wholesome. Although a bit slow to start, I found myself invested at the 1/4 mark. I was highly amused by certain terms of phrase, including "gobblers of aged homes" in reference to molds, moths, and rodent families. I will definitely adopt that term for myself. Overall, I found TLCoTCO a pleasant read, although there were certain writing mechanics that did not jive with me, personally.

In a word, I would have to describe this book as being a tad "disorienting". It very much feels like the makings of a fantastic story, but I feel could very much benefit from more structure and editing. Penelope is the main protagonist, and most chapters follow her perspective and POV. Suddenly at Chapter 15, we abruptly jump to the POV of Pen's best friend Alice without warning, and only return to it a couple of times within the book later. Ultimately, I found these jumps jarring and out of place, particularly because side plot of Alice's love life felt secondary, or even tertiary to the story, and I couldn't find myself caring about her motives and actions, or even desiring her unnecessary POV in the book at all. This happens in a few more latter chapters as well - we get one chapter from a matriarch, and then one from Penelope's father, which just felt disjointed and rather shoehorned in. Although I appreciate the idea of giving context to the story through characters perhaps better equipped to impart plot perspective, I found these jumps discombobulating as they were distributed sparingly throughout the book, and realized halfway through I was starting each chapter by scanning several paragraphs down, just to get the context of who the chapter narrator might be. It just kind of made for anxiety riddled reading at the start of every new chapter as I attempted to orient myself.

Overall though, I found the book heartening, and a relatable slice of life story following what it's like to be away from home for the first time. I do look forward to future projects from this author.

I had one big complaint about reading this title, and it's one that has absolutely nothing to do with the story or author, so Netgalley and/or PenguinRandomhouse Publishing, this note is for you. As someone who mainly reads ARCs on their phone, the formatting for this epub nearly made this book unreadable, and wholly unenjoyable. I am normally a devourer of books, but the font was practically microscopic and there was no way to adjust the settings for the font size, without pinch zooming my way through it, which makes for a scrolling/reading experience akin to skating over a digital ice rink. I'm a millennial in my early 30's, and I'm often delegated the joyous task of verbally imparting ingredient lists from food packaging in size .000001 font to my elderly mother (and can do so without reading glasses). Reading this epub felt very much akin to that. I eventually resorted to jumping through NetGalley's hoops to put this onto my Kobo halfway through the book, but even then the font was puny and hard on the eyes. If I, a reader of decent vision and a non-wearer of glasses struggled so much to read the text, I can't imagine how those who rely on reading glasses must have fared.

There was also no way to change the contrast to my preferred way of reading, which is dark mode. Overall this made for a unpleasant reading experience - I normally devour books in 1 - 2 days... this book took a good while, just based purely on the logistics of trying to read it. Please, please, for the sake of future ARC readers' retinas everywhere, add dark mode and font size adjustment to future ARC epubs! Thank you!

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Canadian author Emma Knight

The brilliant colours on the cover attracted my attention, and title ‘The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus’ drew me in. When Pen and her best friend Alice leave Toronto and go to Scotland to study at University of Edinburgh, I smiled because I have always been intrigued by the countryside and castles of Scotland.

I appreciate Canadian author Emma Knight’s descriptive writing style which made it easy to visualize the characters, and various settings. Christina Lennox and Pen were my favourite characters.

Although the story was a little slow to start, I enjoyed this debut novel about first love, female friendship, motherhood and a mystery surrounding the Lennox family. 3.7 stars rounded up to 4
Triggers: miscarriages and rape

Thanks to #NetGalley and Publisher Penguin Random House Canada for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus and share my thoughts of the book.

Penelope arrives in Scotland for University with her best friend, Alice, hopeful for her future and beginning to understand her past. Growing up in Toronto in the shade of her parent's divorce and many secrets, has made her intensely curious for what they are hiding. Knowing that they will not divulge the answers to her questions, she seeks out the answers through an old family friend, one she is named after, Eliot Lennox, who lives in Scotland. Partially a coming-of-age story, and a mystery, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is an intriguing debut novel by Emma Knight.

There are a lot of elements to like about this book - the characters are well written and interesting, especially the Lennox family. The narrative jumps around quite a bit, from Penelope's point of view to her best friend Alice's, and even some of the Lennox's. While it is essential for following the flow of the story, it at times can feel jumpy and as a reader I was not always sure who were meant to root for and understand. There were elements of the story that felt like filler, and could have done without. The core of my interest was the mystery of the Lennox family and how that related to Penelope's parents, and if there had been more focus on this aspect of the title, I might have enjoyed the story a little bit more. Another piece of confusion is the title, as this book has nothing to do with the Octopus and I saw another reviewer connect the title to Remarkably Bright Creatures, which admittedly is what caught my eye to the cover as well.

Overall a well written debut, and an author I would be interested in reading more from but not a story that stands out as much among other similar titles.

So, when we get to the meaning of the title, I liked all of that. Very clever and insightful.
Here are the strengths: Knight is a great writer and she has the skeleton here for an outstanding book.
But there were several things for me that never made sense. The first is that Pen -- and she is surrounded by posh-sounding tired characters -- is 18. She's supposed to be 18! And living in the 20th Century I think? Have you met an 18 year old? I have one in my house and she is nowhere near as self-possessed as Pen seems to be. The way she behaves is like a 25-year-old. Also, does an 18-year-old really care about her father? I mean, really?
In giving us a discussion, at the end, of motherhood and octopi, we really needed more of this throughout the novel. Again, an 18-year-old will not be able to give us, the reader, these wild insights as she is receiving them.
Finally, the omniscient narrator does not work here. We are being given Pen's story, and then we're throwing in these other viewpoints once in a while. Doesn't work.
This feels like, someone had some connections and got a book deal (Heather Reisman was thanked in the acknowledgements???) but we could have used a few more drafts for this one.
I am not sharing this socially. I will give 3 stars, my lowest rating, on Goodreads for it.

This book was slow, and not in a delightful way. In a "wealthy-people-creating-their-own-problems-so-they-have-something-to-do" way. There's supposed to be this intrigue and family mystery but it holds zero tension and is a little all over the place. When you finally get to how the story connects to the title it's through the least likeable character who seems to suddenly have an entire personality change. The connection between story and title seems like a stretch. I didn't hate reading it but did hit a point asking if it was over yet as it takes forever to wrap anything up.