Member Reviews

I love absolutely everything from Becky Chambers! Her work always hits the spot for warm, cozy feelings.

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Really enjoyed Chamber's first book and this was good second installment. Best way to describe it is a nice warm hug wrapped in a blanket!

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A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a phenomenal end to a fantastic duology. The Monk and Robot story is a warm hug between the covers of this book (within a beautifully illustrated cover!). I was completely and utterly absorbed in the world Chambers imagines may exist when an inevitable Climate Apocalypse changes our world. Add a dash of science fiction, sentient robots, and you suspend your disbelief along the journey. I dream of cups of tea served by a gentle traveling monk.

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Another delightful offering in the Monk and Robot series, full of joy and unconditional love and acceptance. The friendship between Moscap and sibling Dex is so wholesome and mutually beneficial and I enjoyed seeing more of the world in this second installment. Overall, this is a great short read for anyone who just wants a bit of faith in humanity (and robots) restored.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This was a pleasant continuation of the adventures of Sibling Dex and Mosscap. As a fan of the Wayfarers series, it was a challenge to adjust to the different universe and vibe of "A Psalm for the Wild-Built." Knowing what to expect in this follow-up, I accepted what Becky Chambers is trying to do and I'd say she succeeds.

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Becky Chambers can do nothing wrong in my opinion. Every book they write is both comforting and expanding of the mind at the same time.

The Monk and Robot series continues this trend. Peaceful yet thought-provoking in the best possible way. This novella is a short breath of fresh air amongst the heavy sci-fi books that are out there, and I highly recommend taking a day to read this novella. Then wait a few months and reread the series again.

Becky Chambers will always be an auto-read author for me, and this second book in the series does not disappoint! I am ready for the next book now, please.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

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A very quiet little novella. It's fun to revisit the characters from Psalm of the Wild-Built and to get to see a little more of the expanded universe and how people have adapted. Very hopeful--it's nice to see a version of the future that has some faith in humanity.

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This book and its predecessor are sinply two of the loveliest books I’ve ever read. I would love a long series of these, just calm, philosophical cozy fantasy.

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Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers is the second book in the Monk & Robot series and picks up where A Psalm for the Wild Built left us. Sibling Dex and Mosscap are heading back towards civilization to allow Mosscap the chance to ask humans what it is they need. The friendship Sibling Dex and Mosscap have built over the course of their journeying takes on new dimensions with the inclusion of more people vying for Mosscap’s attention and Sibling Dex takes a moment to look back at their life and what it is they want from it all the while embracing what they do have.
***
I love Becky Chambers, the author has given me so many things I didn’t even know I wanted or needed in books. There is a comfort in their books that makes me feel seen or noticed and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy was no exception in making me feel like that. I have cried in every single Becky Chambers book I have read, mostly happy tears btw. There is just something so beautiful and intimate about their writing.

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Becky Chambers can do nothing wrong and has continued the Monk And Robot series admirably.

AI characters are my favorite and while this series is low stakes, its cozy and atmospheric.

It transported me a thousand years into our future and the ending was so poignant that I cried.


What do humans need? Love and companionship.

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Mosscap and Sibling Dex return in this warm hug of a novella, and I riveted following their journey through the human world. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy poses the question, what do you need? And whether in the philosophical or the practical sense, Mosscap and Sibling Dex do their best to answer that; these two beings do their best to navigate and understand the world around them and remind us all that sometimes the answer might still be out of reach, but that our connections to family, partners, community, and friends is enough to keep us afloat on the quest to find it. Absolutely phenomenal, hopeful, and heartwarming.

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I'm so sad that this is only a duology! I would love to follow Monk and Robot through plenty more adventures. Thought-provoking, funny, and just full of kindness, this book was fantastic.

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While it did not hold me as close as A Psalm for the Wild Built, this second installment was still most excellent. Here we follow Sibling Dex and Mosscap as they travel Panga to meet with other groups so Mosscap can ask what they need.
Mosscap learns about currency in this world, doing things for others; we have a harrowing moment involving Mosscap (where I was about to boycott the book!), and an ending of sorts.

I think overall I missed the connection Mosscap and Dex had in the first book; there was a deep companionship that I felt was missing, but I also understand why it was missing.

All in all, it was a lovely duology, one that I will have to re-read next fall when I need a warm and fuzzy book series!

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A continuation to the first, ("A Psalm for the Wild Built"), a human leads a robot through their world, explaining life along the way. Ostensibly about the robot learning human traits, this does more to explain the sense of Otherness in general. Lovely follow-up novella to the exciting first title in the series. Easily recommended to fans of Martha Wells.

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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

A Psalm for the Wild-Built was one of my favourite books of 2021. It was a book that stayed with me for many months and that I thought about many times. It was introspective, insightful and very relatable. However, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy fell short in all these matters.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is, just like its predecessor, a sci-fi novel and an adventure book, but it is overall a character-driven book that is supposed to make us reflect and grow. Nevertheless, this book didn’t achieve that with me. Where book one had long conversations and paragraphs about purpose, this book didn’t. To me, this book felt like it is a mere transaction to get to book three: in this novel I didn’t see any character growth, especially when it comes to Dex, who only felt bitter and lost instead of in search of their purpose…

Some things I did like about the book were Robot, who I think takes the spotlight away from Dex in this one; and some of the themes: community, boundaries and family. But it just didn’t hit like book one did.

I was disappointed and sad with this book. It is due perhaps to the fact that I love Becky Chamber’s books and so far they had all surpassed my expectations. I did still enjoy this book and it isn’t necessarily bad, it just is the author’s book I’ve liked the least.

In spite of all this, I will keep buying and reading all of Becky Chambers books and I am still looking forward to more Monk and Robot adventures.

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I appreciate the coziness of this series but the pacing is really too slow moving for my tastes. It's comforting but the lack of action is a deal breaker for me.

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Even better than the first in this series! Both A Prayer for the Crown-Shy and its predecessor are the ultimate comfort reads. It's thought-provoking and says a lot about the nature of humanity. I will read anything Becky Chambers writes.

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The hug keeps going!! I loved the first Monk & Robot book, for its warmth and kindness and also the way it didn't flinch from complicated questions about existence and our role in the universe -- and this one just keeps it all going, making sure that the evolution of both Mosscap and Sibling Dex feels real and honest and, well, human. I wish everybody would read these books; I think it'd do the world some good.

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So sweet! Becky Chambers never fails to tap into the nuances of what makes us human in the most tender and fantastical ways. Really enjoyed this installment, and it was great to return to familiar characters.

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