The Jellyfish Problem

 

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang
6/2/26; 384 pages
Berkley Publishing Group 

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang is a highly recommended interpersonal drama, mystery, and science fiction monster tale all mixed together with magic realism in this debut novel.

Marine biologist Dr. Josephine (Jo) Ness loves jellyfish and desperately grieves the loss of her best and only friend, Aldo, who died seven months earlier in a diving accident. Jo is working at a small aquarium while trying to finish the jellyfish guide she and Aldo were writing. After not hearing from her for eleven years, Jo is surprised to have college friend and crush Nadia contact her asking for her help. Nadia tells her that a giant jellyfish is terrorizing the small island of Shattering Point, off the coast of Maine and she sends a video of the glowing red creature. The video looks fake, but Jo flies across the country to help.

Once she manages to get on the island, she discovers Nadia is gone, her husband Roger seems dismissive, and the locals are various degrees of elusive. Eventually, Jo meets Tony at the local B&B, learns from a child that they jellyfish is named Clementine, and discovers that Clementine, who appears every full moon, changes everyone who sees her. All of this while also repeatedly encountering the dive-suited ghost of Aldo. Once Jo sees Clementine, she understands what the locals didn't want to tell her and she looks for an answer to the problem.

This is certainly an interesting, well-written, genre-bending debut novel. I was hoping for the straight-up sci-fi tale of a giant jelly fish terrorizing the island. What I received was something enjoyable, but quite different. While there are sci-fi aspects, interspersed with jellyfish facts, this is all liberally mixed with relationship issues, a ghost story, folklore, and magic realism. it is really more of an even-paced interpersonal drama exploring human connections, grief, friendship, relationships, with marine science and jellyfish facts.

The character development is a key component to the novel. Jo is a complex fully realized individual with strengths and weaknesses who is neurodivergent. She is awkward in social situations and can be blunt and confrontational, but she is also deeply grieving the loss of Aldo and searching for connections to other individuals. All the supporting characters are equally unique individuals. 

The narrative follows Jo in the present day. Each chapter opens with a selection from the jellyfish guide she was writing with Aldo but is now trying to finish alone. At the side of the selection are notes written by Aldo and a few from Jo. (This didn't translate very well on my review copy for the Kindle, so it took a minute to figure out what was going on. I'm sure it will be obvious in the finished book.) These little notes give insight into Aldo and their relationship.

While being a unique novel, it's not perfect. It was almost too much genre jumping for me. Perhaps it was due to my expectations, but I could have done without the relationship pining/love story. Building new friendships and connections would have sufficiently sufficed for the purpose of the plot. There was enough going on with Jo's grief, Nadia missing, and Aldo's ghost, while discovering and solving the jellyfish problem. I also wasn't a fan of the discovery that led to the solution, but will not spoil the ending. Yang gets a point, up from 3 to 4 for the uniqueness of her plot and the many jellyfish facts.

The Jellyfish Problem would be a good choice for those who can appreciate a genre-bending interpersonal drama with hints of science fiction. Thanks to the Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.