What do readers think of The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang? Write your own review.

I'm not a fan of the blurbs at the top on chapters. I like to read a story without commercial breaks. But, that's my preference. The story itself was a cute story about an extraordinary jellyfish that has the ability to keep everyone who sees it trapped on the island. It revolves around a marine biologist who studies jellyfish and has just lost a friend who worked with her. The guilt she has surrounding Aldo's death weighs heavily on her and in the end his spirit comes to help her. It was interesting how the characters played off one another and finally came together in the end. I was surprised at how it all worked out.

This was an intriguing book with a concept unlike anything I've read before. It follows Jo as she navigates her grief after the loss of her best friend, as she unexpectedly comes into contact with the most exciting opportunity of her professional life on a remote island.

I do enjoy magical realism, but this took things almost too far with the instant acceptance of the fantastical elements of the story without any prior worldbuilding that would have supported such an instant and complete reversal. It is rare for me to say a book should have been longer, but in this case, I would have liked to see a more gradual shift from disbelief to complete acceptance, even if that meant another chapter or two.

Still, I would definitely recommend this book as it told a very unique story and was also very informative about the wide world of jellyfish.

I received this as an advanced review copy before publication. My review was optional.

The Jellyfish Problem is a unique story of a woman who is grappling with loss, both through the death of her best friend and the estrangement of a lover.

While some of the writing felt odd and forced to me, I did enjoy the way the main character was forced to confront her painful experiences and move through them instead of just past them.

This was not my favorite overall, but I'm glad I read it.

I went into The Jellyfish Problem expecting something grounded in science and human connection, and while I did find both of those things, the book ultimately leaned much more heavily into science fiction than I had anticipated.

At its core, this is a story about grief. Jo is a compelling protagonist, and I connected with her—particularly in how she navigates the loss of Aldo. Her expertise, her relationships, and the quiet ways her grief shapes her decisions all felt authentic and well developed. I also appreciated the reconnection between Jo and Nadia, which added emotional weight to the story, even if some aspects of that relationship left me with lingering questions.

Where the book lost me was in its more surreal elements. The jellyfish, Clementine, was often confusing and frustrating for me as a reader. I understand that there may be a metaphorical layer at work, but I struggled to fully engage with it. The story pushed further into speculative territory than I was comfortable with, and that made it difficult for me to stay immersed.

That said, there is a lot here to appreciate. The scientific aspects were accessible and genuinely interesting—I learned quite a bit about jellyfish, and the lab scenes in particular were well done. The island setting was also incredibly effective; this story couldn't exist anywhere else, and the sense of isolation added to the overall atmosphere. Characters like Margo stood out as well, bringing resilience and texture to the community.

The pacing was strong, and the ending felt emotionally consistent with Jo's journey, even if its open-ended nature wasn't entirely satisfying for me.

Overall, I think this will really resonate with readers who enjoy science fiction blended with emotional, character-driven storytelling. For me, the balance tipped a bit too far into the speculative—but I can still appreciate what the author was trying to do.

This was an interesting book to read. For the first third, I felt as if the author was trying to decide what kind of book it should be. A missing person story, a fantasy about giant sea monsters, a tale of an insular community, or perhaps a story of friendship, love and human connections. I think it contains all of these elements in differing degrees which makes it an interesting read.

I found a great deal of passion for jellyfish, of course. But also passion for community, friendship and unity in the face of adversity. This passion holds the threads of the story together.

The characters were interesting and sometimes mysterious. Their individual stories are revealed as you read.

Finally I learned a great deal about jellyfish . I've always loved watching them. Their grace and beauty are mesmerizing.

This book was a terrific mystery filled with Jellyfish facts and plenty of quirky characters. The concept was truly unique and I could not guess what was going to come next. It was a fun ride and sweet to see the characters relationships form over time. There were quite a few heavy themes, almost too many, and multiple different types of mythology woven in which made it hard to follow at points and hard to understand what the author wanted the message of the story to be. It was still a fun read and the annotations left by the characters in their draft manuscript were my favorite part.

Not a fan of jellyfish? Not to worry — you will be by the end of this novel. While I wasn't as enamored of Clementine, the giant red bioluminescent jelly at the heart of this novel, as I was of Marcellus in "Remarkably Bright Creatures," I nonetheless cared about her and enjoyed learning about the species. (Each chapter opens with a paragraph about one scientific or biological feature of jellyfish from a manuscript the central character, Jo — a research scientist passionate about jellyfish — is writing.)

   However, I felt the novel depended too much on Japanese folklore about yokai, supernatural sightings, and strange happenings. Although the author skillfully ratchets up the tension for most of the book — what exactly is happening on the isolated island of Shattering Point? what is Clementine doing? who will prevail in the best way to deal with Clementine, the islanders or Jo? will Jo figure out her love life? — suddenly everything is wrapped up too quickly and neatly at the end.

   I wanted to like this book more than I did, because it has a strong environmental message: we don't know everything yet about the world under the sea, so we should be careful about what we do to our oceans, and what assumptions we make about the creatures who live there. I'll remember Clementine and her glowing tentacles, and maybe that's enough.

Thank you to BookBrowse and Berkley for an advanced reader's copy of The Jellyfish Problem. I'd not heard of the book prior to BookBrowse's First Impression program and thought it sounded intriguing.

I found the atmosphere and some of the secondary characters compelling. I thought about them when I wasn't reading the book and wanted to get back to it to see what they'd been up to. I also enjoyed the excerpts of the jellyfish book that started each chapter (the book was an in-progress manuscript written by the main character and her now-deceased best friend). I learned about jellyfish and I enjoyed the banter between the two characters in their manuscript notes; even though the notes were quite limited, I thought it gave good insight into their personalities and friendship.

In other ways, the book didn't really work for me. In the book blurb, it mentions a tale of vibrant human connection. By the end, I get what that refers to, but it wasn't the type of connection I was expecting and I felt like the explanation was rushed and didn't really make a lot of sense to me. There was also quite a theme of a mysterious creature of Japanese folklore running throughout. I found this both too much and too little. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, other than I felt like - for me - the book was a bit messy and didn't hang together.

Additional thought, which I will try to keep spoiler free - there was info towards the end that should have resulted in consequences for someone, but in the wrap up, there was no mention of any consequences for that person. It seems like a pretty big thing to just go with a vibe of "oops, my bad… moving on…".

Even though this wasn't my favorite book, I did enjoy reading it and was glad for the opportunity. I think that there will be readers who love this book, including those who enjoy or have experience with diving, who have spent time on small isolated islands (and either loved or hated the experience!), who enjoy thinking about how people and nature are connected, those with an interest in marine life (especially jellyfish), who have an interest in magical realism, who have an interest in signs or the possibility of loved ones making contact/sending messages after death.

Thank you again for the ARC.