This was a disappointment - I live in Aberdeen and Stonehaven is practically on my doorstep so I was excited to read this - but the plot was so flimsy and made leaps from here to there that were so big I had to flip back to make sure I’d not skipped a page or two. As for the setting, I was surprised to get to the author acknowledgements and find the author had actually lived in Scotland as the writing felt more googled than lived experienced.

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is presented as an exploration of motherhood and womanhood but is mostly just an awkward centred on posh students in Edinburgh. The ‘revelations’ about motherhood seem forced, disjointed, and are told to us right at the end by a character that had only been introduced a few pages earlier.

I almost didn’t finish this one. A part of me always wants the full experience before passing judgment, but I could have stopped halfway and not missed much. It wasn’t a miserable read, just not all that appealing either. I haven’t read this exact story before, but it felt like I had. There are dozens of books in this style that are indistinguishable from each other. A few moments made me feel something: a few sexy scenes, some heartwarming bits, even heartbreaking ones. But none of it stood out enough for any genuine excitement. Honestly, I doubt I’ll remember a single detail in six months. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special either.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for access to the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an Advanced Reader Copy of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus.

A Canadian university student studying in Edinburgh grapples to understand the breakdown of her parents’ marriage while forging her own future.

As a Canadian woman of similar age to the character in the year the book is set, I thoroughly enjoyed the culture references. A very relatable Pen attempts to discover the meaning of her namesake, and the famous Scottish author’s part in the destruction of her parent’s marriage.. The setting was immersive, and Pen had my empathy as she sought to unravel her parents’ mistakes as to not repeat them. The character’s voice and ambitions kept me turning the pages and the poignant conclusions Pen reaches set my heart glowing.

I did find the story trying at times. The plot seemed to splinter off in to tangents and secondary characters that held little relevance or interest for me. I found some coincidences and behaviours unbelievable and at times exasperating. Overall this was a well-written and intriguing debut. I enjoyed the voice of the author and will seek out her next work.

I went into this book completely blind. I think it grabbed my attention right away because of the campus life angle set in Scotland. Two Canadian girls embark on an educational adventure by choosing Edinburgh as their spot to attend university. While there are duo POVs, Pen held your attention which was intentional. I do wish there was a little bit more from Alice's POV. 

Pen is trying to uncover secrets her family is hiding from her and it turns out, the answers are in Scotland. She finds herself amongst an almost "found family" type of situation and catches the attention of Lord Lennox. Alice is on her own journey with a TA that has caught her eye while she follows her passion for acting. 

Both girls are on a path of self discovery and sexual awakening. Though some of this journey is together, they really have to stand on their own a bit to make decisions that will shape their lives.

Bonus points for such a clever title.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book tagline: A witty, warm and brilliantly told debut that is at once a love story, a story of female friendship and motherhood, and an irresistible mystery surrounding an extraordinary British family.

The title, the cover, and the hype were the three reasons I sought out this title. Once I started reading I enjoyed that the main protagonist, Pen, was a Canadian like me. The story was set in Scotland, a country that I have visited and love to visit in a literary sense as well. The mystery of the wealthy Lennox family and their ties to Pen's parents who were now divorced was interesting. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of other happenings in the book( romance, friendships, and #Metoo) that somewhere in the midst of all of it, I forgot that central plot line. When Pen finally finds out all the answers to her questions, it doesn't quite have the exploding climax that I had anticipated. On the other hand, learning the significance of the title made for a good scene.


Maybe it is just me, but this one failed to make an impression.





Publication Date 07/01/25
Goodreads Review 22/01/25

Nostalgia inducing book set during college years in Edinburgh, Scotland following two best friends as they navigate their friendship, loves, and empowerment.

In THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE COMMON OCTOPUS Penelope Winters is headed to Scotland for her first year of university. Penelope writes to Lord Lennox who is an old school friend of her father’s. Hoping to unearth some family secrets Pen gladly accepts an invitation to visit Lord Lennox and his family.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE COMMON OCTOPUS is an enjoyable read with themes of romance, coming of age and a bit of mystery. I think it is an excellent debut novel with a wonderfully unique title.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced digital edition of the novel.

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…