Scan barcode
A review by caughtbetweenpages
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sometimes you're having a quarter life crisis and you decide to pick up a silly little book about a silly little robot and human becoming traveling therapists and accidentally make yourself cry and stare at a wall until a piece of you reaches tremendous catharsis. And by you, I mean me, and by sometimes, I mean when I read this book.
I didn't go into this book with any expectation except maybe that it would be feel-good, because a close friend of mine loves Becky Chambers books for that reason, so I didn't expect to feel seen by this narrative. I think that especially after The COVID Times (and possibly since even before, eg. the disillusionment that the Tr*mp presidency brought about when I was fresh out of HS) a lot of young people feel more lost, directionless, etc. than ever. Despite knowing logically that we've been given a tremendous level of privilege and that we've got familial and platonic and even romantic support systems who do their best to understand us, there's something so deeply broken and missing and wrong with how we're wired and built that we may just not be for this world. So we try to make the best of ourselves and pour all the good we can into the world given our gifts and when that still doesn't feel like enough, the guilt becomes crushing and overwhelming and we need to just... run. or stop. or do anything to not feel like ourselves anymore (and by us and we, I mean me and I; this entire review is just projection).
And then Becky Chambers puts a little robot in a book, who loves the world how we used to and wants to see and appreciate and love everything, and sees the mess of broken bits and says "hey that's good too actually, but let's help you fix yourself so you're not so sad about it" and you just lose your mind for 150ish pages.
I could talk about how cool the worldbuilding of this story is, from the gods to the cities to the wild lands beyond human reach (it all fucking rules), or about the individual complexities of all the characters on page and how they feel quite fleshed out even if they take up very little page time since it's a novella that needs to get to a point (they also fucking rule), or how neat it is that Chambers said "brown people and queer people get to exist in the future, actually, and nobody's a dick about it" (that fucking rules). But self centered and shitty as it is, I love this book because it's a kind mirror for me where I am now, and it's easier to love the reflection than it is to try to do it for the real thing, but maybe the practice will help me get there, eventually. Also, fucking love autistic robots. They fucking rule.
I didn't go into this book with any expectation except maybe that it would be feel-good, because a close friend of mine loves Becky Chambers books for that reason, so I didn't expect to feel seen by this narrative. I think that especially after The COVID Times (and possibly since even before, eg. the disillusionment that the Tr*mp presidency brought about when I was fresh out of HS) a lot of young people feel more lost, directionless, etc. than ever. Despite knowing logically that we've been given a tremendous level of privilege and that we've got familial and platonic and even romantic support systems who do their best to understand us, there's something so deeply broken and missing and wrong with how we're wired and built that we may just not be for this world. So we try to make the best of ourselves and pour all the good we can into the world given our gifts and when that still doesn't feel like enough, the guilt becomes crushing and overwhelming and we need to just... run. or stop. or do anything to not feel like ourselves anymore (and by us and we, I mean me and I; this entire review is just projection).
And then Becky Chambers puts a little robot in a book, who loves the world how we used to and wants to see and appreciate and love everything, and sees the mess of broken bits and says "hey that's good too actually, but let's help you fix yourself so you're not so sad about it" and you just lose your mind for 150ish pages.
I could talk about how cool the worldbuilding of this story is, from the gods to the cities to the wild lands beyond human reach (it all fucking rules), or about the individual complexities of all the characters on page and how they feel quite fleshed out even if they take up very little page time since it's a novella that needs to get to a point (they also fucking rule), or how neat it is that Chambers said "brown people and queer people get to exist in the future, actually, and nobody's a dick about it" (that fucking rules). But self centered and shitty as it is, I love this book because it's a kind mirror for me where I am now, and it's easier to love the reflection than it is to try to do it for the real thing, but maybe the practice will help me get there, eventually. Also, fucking love autistic robots. They fucking rule.