Weird Is Beautiful: The ultimate octopus-inspired self-care bible to motivate you to live wild, weird and free

by Liz Marvin

Think like you’ve got nine brains, feel like you’ve got three hearts, and hug as though you have eight arms.

Wisdom begins in and there is no creature so weird and wonderful as the octopus. Wise, compassionate, strong yet adaptable – and with Houdini-like vanishing tricks – octopuses are the most fascinating creatures on the planet. They provide a masterclass in self-care and there is so much we can learn from them. With the help of Weird Is Beautiful you will

When to be strong, and when to be flexibleHow to sift through the flotsam and jetsam of your life to find the pearls you should cling toHow camouflage can be self-care, but when you should let your true colours shine!How to multi-task, even when you don’t have eight armsWhen to allow the currents of the ocean to sweep you along, and when to stick your tentacles to the rocks and resistHow to live wild, weird and free
Who said life above water can’t sparkle?

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

128 pages, Hardcover

Published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Rachel Oates]

Ridiculously cute! Basic but lovely octopus facts, stunning watercolour illustrations and a nice hopeful message about how we can all be a little more like octopuses which is what I’ve been saying for years! ☺️

[Charlie Horrell]

bit weird, not sure who it is aimed at. Childish games yet swearing and adult jokes

[Regan Gambier]

Surprisingly fun little book. I particularly liked the octopus version of famous poems. The illustrations were also adorable.

[Executionereniak]

The illustrations in the book really are gorgeous, as others say; vibrant watercolor minimalism always works, period. The content, though, lacks depth (haha). You don't really learn anything new unless you're six or been living under a rock in a crevasse (haha). The motivational mess is just that, a mess. The parallels presented are stretched. A lot. Unless you're that one phony girl in middle school who reads coelho only and is a walking ad for why makeup isn't gonna help you one bit however hard you try, this isn't gonna help you in any way. You're not special.

[Emma Ashley]

This was a fun and cute little book. The facts about octopuses was interesting and the pictures were cute. I definitely recommend it.

[Melitta Jackson]

2 out of 5 stars, and that's mostly for the art and the idea of this book.

Otherwise I found this hard to follow. Is this self help for adults or kids? Otherwise I didn't like the tonality of the book. Liz Marvin was speaking for Octopuses, example "They're not tentacles, but rather arms, and the octopuses are rather annoyed with this common misconception." ...uhm, OK. I get wanting to correct folks, but do it in a way that's not so high and mighty. I felt this tone through out the whole book and therefore had a hard time getting through it. Not to mention the accessibility issues of the black font on a dark background.

If you're looking for a soul searching book with Octopuses as the focus, I highly suggest Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery.

[Kate]

This is a cute little handbook of sorts with all kinds of facts about octopuses (not octopi!) as well as insights into how you can adopt the "philosophies" of an octopus in your daily life. The octopus is one of my favorite animals, and I'm an artist, so the content and its *beautiful* illustrations won me over instantly.

You could easily read this in as little as an hour, and it would be a cute book to have in a classroom or therapy setting, just a little something to pick up as-needed for a little bit of info and inspo. I plan to put it in my own classroom for those very reasons.

This would make a great gift!

[Tibbara's Den]

Love the artwork and the fun facts. I liked how the author used different facts about octopuses to give little inspirational bits of wisdom on how we can live as humans. Some of the puns and silly things like book/song titles being changed to octopus ones were not to my taste. It also got a little bit repetitive at times with some of the facts, but it really is a cute book and a fun way to learn more about the octopus.

[Roi Jaho]

Highly recommend. I started in 16th and finished 17th of February, but took me only 1 and a half hour to finished. Who wants to read new facts about Octopus and see the common weirdness is perfect book to start. The book had a lot of illustrations which make you enjoy reading, also you have some games to practice as an octopus!

[Andrea Brado]

This book is perfect for someone who is obsessed with octopuses. Gorgeous art. Wonderful quotes. Mindfulness and self awareness exercises grouped with facts about these amazing creatures. There is some slight cheesiness to a couple of pages.

I loved this book and can see myself wandering through it consistently.

[Cheryl Smith]

I genuinely loved this little book. It’s cute, clever, funny, informative, and uplifting ❤️🐙 I read it fully within an hour and felt happy and lifted my spirits (and knowledge on octopus behavior too!)

[Nicholas Fagen]

A quick & easy feel good book that educates the reader on the many incredible talents of an octopus!

[Katie Starling]

Cute. Enjoyed the artwork. But I won’t be keeping it. It turned up in the little free library and it will be shared back out in the same manner!!

[Phoebe]

Cute. Beautifully illustrated

[Claire]

Love the facts about octopus. Such amazing creatures. The art here is beautiful as well.

[Nick McGovern]

2.5/5
Good little book about octopuses, very factual. I learnt quite a lot of new information, not my cup of tea really though.

[Cathy]

Great facts about octopus in a “self help”
Book about staying true to yourselves and channeling your inner-octopus

[Clare]

The information about octopuses and the illustrations are what made it a 3 for me. The other cheesy stuff could’ve been left out in my opinion. It’s a good bathroom book.

[Rebecca Saunders]

This was a sweet little book. I'd give the text a 3 but the artwork is a 5.

[Kylee Macdonald]

What a lovely book! I sure love octopuses they are fantastic intelligent creatures! It was a very humorous book that kept me learning page by page!

I will pass the book along to others to enjoy!