4 Stars
Cecaelia is an octopus with a mission: Revenge! Gruesome, bloody revenge.
A very fast paced read told from several POVs, Hoffmann makes no secret of the fact that the first half of this novel is basically Jaws. Only thing is, most of the protagonists think they’re in Jaws, too, believing themselves safe just outside of the water. But an octopus can reach places a shark can’t.
At around the 60-70% mark, Cecaelia leaves Jaws in the dust, as a different horror-subgenre gets introduced (don’t worry, no spoilers) and suddenly all bets are off.
While it is not refined literature and the dialogue could be improved somewhat (most characters bicker the whole time, no matter the urgency of the situation), Cecaelia is a fun read, great for a summer holiday (you didn’t really want to go into the water anyway, did you?) and does genuinely entertain.
Word of advice though: barely any of the subplots get resovled. This is part 1 of a series and the ending will leave most questions unanswered as a standalone, so be prepared for it all to continue in the future. I am, however, very excited for the next book, as the subgenre change introduced one of my guilty pleasures and I suspect that will be the main focus of the sequel.
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