Welcome back to Reading Between Deadlines, the podcast where we devour books with the same chaotic energy we bring to deadline week. This week, Rachael Johns and Anthea Hodgson dive tentacle-first into The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus—a debut novel full of moody university students, Scottish castles, emotionally unavailable parents, and yes... actual octopus metaphors.

Written by Emma Knight (co-founder of a fancy Canadian juice company and mysterious woman of few bios), this book swept us away with its atmosphere, aching honesty, and a twist that actually delivered.In this episode, we cover:

🏰 Old houses and young women—why that combo will always get a “marry” from Anthea

🧬 Is this a book about secrets, or a dissertation on emotionally constipated boomers

🪞 The Octopus Metaphor™: profound, heartbreaking, or too slimy to think about?

💌 Alice, the sidekick: necessary subplot or just a lice-fuelled distraction?

💘 Fergus, the awkward love interest with great banter and deeply average timing

🧠 Trauma, parenthood, and why sometimes a Scottish university is the best place to confront your origin story

And, of course, we rate it: Kiss, Kill, or Marry?

⏰ Timestamps

03:10 – This week’s book: The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight

08:30 – The “young woman + ancient castle” trope gets us every time

11:42 – The family mystery that actually pays off (for once!)

15:03 – Fergus: Hot mess, lovable larrikin, or octopus bait?

19:55 – Motherhood, sacrifice, and whether we’re all secretly cephalopods

27:20 – The octopus metaphor: beautiful or slightly haunting?

33:50 – Is Alice’s storyline needed? Plus: the most awkward lice scene in fiction

38:18 – White shadowing, university nostalgia, and other tangents you didn’t ask for

41:40 – Final verdict: KISS, KILL, or MARRY?

👉 Listen now, subscribe, and tell us—would you go to Scotland to solve a family mystery, or just for the castles and drama students?

Get full access to Reading Between Deadlines at readingbetweendeadlines.substack.com/subscribe