A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Oct 30, 2024

I recently started this Becky Chambers novel, and I read it faster than anything I've read in a while. It's a short read, but that makes it no less amazing. I loved every moment of this, even if I was confused a little at the beginning. It's sci-fi/fantasy, that's to be expected. (This review will be spoiler free!)

This book was so cozy to curl up with in the chillier mornings of early fall. As cozy as it was, though, it was thought-provoking with the issues raised by the main character, Dex. It's tender yet believable every step of the way with Dex's internal conflict that drives the story forward. Dex is an incredibly relatable main character. Most people have experienced feeling lost in your day-to-day life. Also, the excitement about the unknown is something I know I've felt before jumping into a new adventure.

Dex confronts these feelings on their own for the first half of the book before the series gets its name of Monk and Robot. Mosscap is introduced as a inquisive robot who understands little about human life, much like how Dex knows little about robots. Mosscap helps Dex directly confront their difficult emotions in the latter half of this novel.

Dex's voice is a mature one, facing life as an adult in this different universe from the reader's in ways similar to us for a majority of the story. Yet, they are deeply challenged by their internal conflict throughout their journey. There's also the bonus of causal LGBTQ+ representation with no queerphobia at all. This specifically was refreshing to read.

There's currently only two books in this series, and one of my friends has gratiously loaned them both to me. I'm excited to dive into the next book and see where Dex and Mosscap go from the end of the first book.