5/5
A sci-fi fantasy was a warm heart.. Becky chambers is like a cup of tea. You can’t help but find comfort and joy in her books.

I'm a dummy who didn't realize this was a sequel. Adding to my TBR for after I read the first book! I've heard incredible things about the series!

Becky can do no wrong in my book. I love this series, I love these characters and I'm so invested in what they do next. In a post-covid world, this quiet idealized world is a drink of cold water.

Well of course I adored this second book in the Monk & Robot series. My favorite part was learning the way they manage "money" in Panga. It was such an interesting concept, and I'd be so curious to see how that might play out in real life.

I can't wait for the next installment! Becky Chambers is an absolute must read author for me.

This novel, along w A Psalm for the Wild-built, are maybe the most delicious nutritious books I’ve read. No bad guys! No big gloom! Affection, comfort, curiosity & self-reflection. I’ve loved all her books & this one did not disappoint. Thank you, Becky, for creating & sharing this world. I would live there if I could.
Full review on YouTube

Becky Chambers can do no wrong! I adore her writing and cozy science fiction. I would recommend this to everyone. Especially those who currently like the “cozy fantasy” trend.

Becky Chambers can do no wrong! This is a quiet, reflective novel that continues the story from the first book. They definitely should be read in order.

ARC from Netgalley.
Reviewed and still bought a copy! This is the kindest series that I have read, and ideal for 2022, sadly. Very necissary. Not nearly as good as the first book (gave a 5, which I almost never do), but still quite good.

Hey. Hey, you. Did you know that “cozy” as a genre descriptor no longer applies to Just Mysteries? That’s right, we’ve got cozy romances now, we’ve got cozy fantasy, and even, incredibly, cozy sci-fi by the incredible and inimitable Becky Chambers. The only flaw about this book is that it’s so short, and also I guess that it’s a sequel. But it’s one that I’ll be curling up with to comfort me in the future. The audiobook narrator was also very very good. Five stars.

A PRAYER FOR THE CROWN-SHY by Hugo Award winning author Becky Chambers is the second in the Monk and Robot series where the main characters are on a quest to determine what humanity really needs. These relatively short works (160 pages each) have received very positive reviews, both from professional sources (starred reviews from both Library Journal and Publishers Weekly) as well as from several readers/listeners with whom I spoke. I had downloaded the audiobook through NetGalley, but I am having trouble accessing it so I am going to give this title a rating of 4 based primarily on the comments from others – I am excited to have discovered this series and aim to purchase print copies for our school library.

I didn't love this quite as much as I did the first book, but I still loved it a lot. I wanted a little bit more plot from this rather than them just wandering around. But, as the book says, it is enough to exist.

Absolutely perfect. This is the coziest existential crisis I've ever read, and so hopeful. I'll definitely be reading Monk and Robot books any time I need a gentle presence in my life. These books are a gift.

Just a lovely, delight of a book. If you want cozy, futuristic, and thoughtful--this is for you. Chambers continues the story from "Psalm" with another quiet story. I enjoyed this! I do not think my students (6-8 grades) will be into it, but adults and older teens will!

An incredible follow up to A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Like, I’m writing this three weeks after I read it and while I don’t remember as much about it, I can still talk about all the things I loved about it.

For starters, Dex and Mosscap. They both grow so much in this book. Thinking back to the first book, they have a lot of conversations about what it means to be human and to need things, but they really expand on those conversations and take it in directions the first book didn’t go. And they’re beautiful, lovely conversations that are inherently very relatable.

Secondly, the world building. I loved the world building. We find out little nuggets more about the world. In particular, pebs. The system of currency is a stroke of genius and every week I have found myself wishing that we could switch to pebs. (I’m sure that Becky Chambers didn’t invent the idea of a customer-based currency like pebs, but I’m still giving her credit here because this book deserves it.)

Thirdly, the side characters. There’s so many interesting people Dex and Mosscap meet. Leroy such a sweetheart and I love Dex’s family. And now I’ve forgotten the name of the person they meet in that town they get to that doesn’t like robots, but they were great too.

Lastly, Em Grosland does a fantastic job narrating this. I read the first book with my eyeballs but I’m so glad I listened to this one. He really adds so much to this book by how he tells it. There’s several parts where I laughed out loud because the narration was so spot on and perfect. If you have the option of listening to this book, DO IT.

Y’all. I love this series so freaking much.

I really like this series by Becky Chambers. I listened to the first book when it came out last year, and was excited to listen to this audiobook. I love the narrator - they do a great impression of Mosscap, who is a fantastic character. The world that Becky Chambers builds is subtle yet rich in detail. This book is quiet in action but loud in observations and insight -- not too much goes on in terms of action (unlike a lot of other SFF, there is not some world-ending apocalypse: that already almost happened, and now we get to witness the aftermath) -- but what does happen is no less impactful.

This is a great series, and I look forward to more of Sibling Dex and Mosscap!

Thank you to Becky Chambers, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for a free advanced reader copy of "A Prayer for the Crown-Shy: A Monk and Robot Book" for a honest review.

I could to resist reaching for this book the moment I saw it in the archive of choices in Netgalley. I'd recently finished 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' on my annual read-through of all the Hugo Nominations, where I fell madly in love with this new novella (while saying a fond farewell to her last book of the Wayfarer's Series, nominated in the novel category, as well as this one in the novellas).

Everytime I tell people about both of these books, it's all about how they feel like curling up in your favorite chair, in your favorite clothes, and having a cup of tea. These books are so soothing and so hopeful, setting a brand new record about what can be accomplished in Science-Fiction, mandating that this genre doesn't just have to be gritty war and science facts. (I love those, too, but I am so open to this new burgeoning realm being added to it, as well.)

I have fall in love so deeply with Sibling Dex and Mosscap, with the ways they slowly learn each other, and how they ramble through the world trying to find answers to some of the biggest questions in the universe out there, and how the answer is sometimes different for everyone, because they are as unique as each star as well.

I've been anxiously awaiting this next installment in the monk and robot story, and I wasn't disappointed. Each page was like a sip from a warm mug of tea. It warmed the soul and makes you think, while you fall in love with the sweetness and gentleness of these characters all over again. If you want an interesting read, with good representation, and characters that will make you examine your place in the world, pick up this book!

I loved the audiobook narrator of this story. I think it was so important to find just the right voice actor to bring the monk and robot to life, and yet still maintain their seriousness and warmth. It was a perfect job! The additional touches of music and pauses wrap the reader in love!

The charming, fable-like, thought-provoking novella picks up where Psalm for the Well-Built, the first book in the Monk and Robot series, left off. Chambers serves up both folksy wisdom and large societal philosophy as Sibling Dex (“they”) an impoverished monk, bicycles his cart from town to town offering well appreciated home-brewed tea and comforting conversation along with robot Mosscap.

Decades have passed since Robots have absconded to the woods after coming to sentience and escaping their factory work for Humans. As a result. all the villagers and city dwellers as they travel about have endless curiosity about the robots in general and Moscsap in particular. Mosscap inspires such curiosity and crowds of humans wherever they go, that Dex actually stops offering his comforting tea service in order not to vie for attention.

To each person encountered, Mosscap asks, “What do you need?” He then proceeds to try to help people with their needs, which often veer to the mundane and manual labor. But in asking the question Mosscap is actually trying to ascertain the state of humanity since the robots departed working the factories and trying to ascertain this via asking a wide sampling of people.

But the most interesting moments of the novella center on Dex and Mosscap conversations with each other, such as talking over the uses of “pebs” by human in the place of currency to acknowledge and reinforce the need both for societal contributions to others and what each want to contribute or get from that cultural paradigm. After much debate, both decide they were happier in isolation in the woods, continuing their emotional growth together. Dex realizes that in experiencing burnout, it’s okay to take a break and that productivity does not equate to identity. Mosscap explores what it means to make individual choices, rather than group robot think, for the future.

This audio book is fabulously narrated!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I have read almost all of Becky Chambers' works. This, and its predecessor, are very short and sweet.

This story continues to follow Dex and Mosscap and their continuing journey. As they come into a town, more characters are introduced, which add a fantastic new layer to their story (Leroy in particular).

More queer and non-binary characters are weaved in with ease. Chambers' always does a fantastic job diversifying the norm in their books.

I think I actually enjoyed this one more than the first!

4.5 Stars

This was the most marvelously sweet, charming, and funny novella. This is my third novella by Becky Chambers and I have loved every ounce of them. I hope she continues to write as I will need to continue to read! This series absolutely needs to be continued as well, I find it so incredibly calming and soothing and have no doubt I will be rereading. I wish I lived in this world! The narrator was FANTASTIC- absolutely loved the different voices she did, especially for Mosscap. I had quite a few laugh out loud moments with this one and I definitely think her narration style added to some of the humorous scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!