I really, really wanted to love The Soul of an Octopus, and had no expectation that I wouldn’t before reading it. However, as much as I wanted to, I could not get past what I felt was cruel treatment of a young octopus named Kali to immerse myself in the author’s wonder at these intelligent, fascinating animals. Much more appealing to me was the documentary film My Octopus Teacher, which still conveys wonder, but not at the expense of the animals themselves.