DNF - You know what they say, there's a first time for everything. And so A Psalm for the Wild-Built gets the ignominious distinction of going down as the first time ever I've given up on a novella, because I honestly can't stand to go on for another page.

There's something about Becky Chambers' writing that just doesn't work for me. How to describe it? Obviously, I know she writes cozy, so I try to align my expectations accordingly, but that's not quite it. Rather, it feels like everything is filler in service of a broader message. There's so much description and so much information, yet there is no point in knowing any of it. It's like all worldbuilding and setup, but the whole story consists of nothing but that.

Put another way, stories are normally either character driven or plot driven, and I happily accept both. But here, the characters aren't fleshed out and there's no plot whatsoever. Instead, the writing feels predominantly message driven, which I have a lot of trouble with. My mind keeps blanking out because I'm not actually reading anything of substance, so I can't retain any of it, no matter how hard I try.

It honestly pains me to finally get to an author everyone else is raving about, only to find out unequivocally that they are not for me. I have now read two Becky Chambers (her two most popular ones) and both were DNFs for me. That is about the worst I have ever done, but it is what it is. At least now I know for certain and no longer have to wonder if I'm missing out on anything.

Readaroo Rating: 2 stars

DNF - I think I started with the wrong Becky Chambers, because what in the galaxy is going on here? Or rather, not going on?

I knew before I started that this was a cozy, but I didn't realize cozies could be so low stakes as to be no stakes. So far, we've met every single resident on the spaceship, each overly friendly and sweet in their own way. We've also engaged in thinly veiled lessons on not making assumptions about other cultures and how every person can be beautiful no matter what they look like, along with an in-depth discussion about AI sentience and autonomy.

That's all great, don't get me wrong. But where is the tension, the plot, the anything? So far, my jaw's been getting a good workout from excessive yawning, but that's about it.

It's totally possible that if I kept going, this would've grabbed me eventually. But in my effort not to put myself into reading slumps, I think I'm going to call it. I'm not giving up on Becky Chambers just yet though. I'm going to move on to her novellas and see if they're more my speed.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

Before I go on, I just want to point out that I see nothing but glowing reviews for this book, so please keep that in mind. My thoughts are definitely in the minority, and I'll try my best to unpack them all here.

When it comes to literary fiction, it can be tough right out of the gate because they don't rely on plot the way genre fiction does. Instead, they draw you in with their complex characters and beautiful writing and ultimately, profound insight into human nature. So when I don't get any of that, it can be hard for me to connect with the story.

Let's start with the characters. I feel like we're always drawn to stories where the characters mirror the phase of life we're currently in. And so that was the case with April and Leo for me—they've been married for many years and have young children. This phase comes with a lot of excitement, no doubt, but it also brings unique challenges, so I was particularly curious to see how the characters would tackle them.

But almost immediately, I started having trouble. The characters don't come across as quite real. Or rather, they feel more like generalizations of what people in these situations would do and say, rather than actual individuals. There's an oversimplification and shallowness to their issues, feelings, and actions that started from almost the first page and became more and more pronounced as the story progressed, until I could no longer shrug it off.

And because the characters were stereotypes, the story followed that trajectory too. At every moment, what you think would happen does indeed happen. There were no real surprises, no actual revelations. And while I don't read a story like this for its twists and turns, I do read it for its insight, and there were none to be found here.

The writing style didn't help. Every scene of significance was followed up with tons of commentary about how the character thinks and feels, thereby telling you the reader how you should think and feel too. It is essentially telling thinly disguised as showing, and I'm not a fan. I always prefer understated writing, and this type of overwritten, overexplanatory fluff makes me feel like the author doesn't trust me enough to follow along.

When you put those sorts of characters and that type of writing together, what you end up with is a whole lot of clichés. And so as the story progressed and the stakes became higher, so did the amount of platitudes we were hit with over and over again.

This is also told via multiple points of view, and it was probably one too many. There was the central issue, which was April and Leo's house burning down along with their marriage. And then there was Deb and Billy's issue, which was really a separate storyline altogether. But by putting so many people and multiple big problems into one book, it means that there really isn't the necessary space for in-depth exploration and we get only surface level treatment across the board.

I also have to specifically call out April and Leo's marriage problems, which was at the crux of this story. I get what the author was trying to do. She was trying to show us that in a relationship, each person brings their own baggage into it and bad feelings can fester over time. But what actually transpired was just a whole lot of miscommunication. Or rather, a willful lack of communication on Leo's part, which he uses to stonewall and gaslight his wife at the lowest point of her life.

Please. The number of stories I have read in recent years in which authors try to pass off toxic relationships driven by one person as an all-parties-are-equally-at-fault extravaganza has got to stop. April, you need to run away. And Leo, you need to go to therapy. And all you readers who loved this book isn't going to convince me otherwise.

I'm looking at the sea of glowing reviews and can only imagine the problem is me. At the end of the day, I never really connected with the characters in this book. And when it comes to character-driven stories, that's pretty much the only thing that matters.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars

When you talk about elderly do-gooders sticking their noses where they don't belong and sussing out nefarious killers and ne'er-do-wells, you have to admit that Jane Marple is about as OG as they get.

It's been a bit since I've read a Miss Marple—almost seven years now—so I can be forgiven for failing to remember just how much I adore her. There is something about her fluffy mannerisms and her piercing insight into human nature that makes for a thoroughly delightful combination. In fact, even though Poirot is the most famous Agatha Christie detective, I suspect many of us secretly like Miss Marple a lot more, myself included.

Because Miss Marple is an amateur sleuth and not an official one, her stories feel a lot more organic compared to Poirot's. The mysteries unfold naturally around her, and we get to know all the players in the course of the narrative without them having to be hauled in for interviews one by one in a repetitive fashion. As such, her stories align much more with the flow of contemporary books, making them come across less dated and more timeless.

Speaking of modern, this one in particular reminds me a lot of neighborhood thrillers, just without the wacky twists and psychological melodrama you'd expect from more contemporary offerings. And just like its modern counterpart, every character in here has something to hide, and the lies and secrets pile up pretty quickly.

Agatha Christie writes with no frills. There is a simplicity and directness to her writing that belies the complex mystery underneath. After all, if everything appears straightforward, where possibly could the clues hide? And yet, she gets me good every time. No one does misdirection and red herrings quite like her, and no matter how I prepare myself, I keep falling into her traps.

Needless to say, I had lots of fun with this one and that's not just for an old book. The characters were interesting, the dialogue zippy and droll, and the situations sly winks to the predictability and folly of human nature. Agatha Christie might have written Miss Marple to be the keen observer of people, but underneath, it's really the author who is so.

Now obviously, if you've read Agatha Christie, then you don't need me over here making recommendations on books you already know. But if you haven't read her yet and you're a fan of neighborhood thrillers, let me submit this one for your consideration. It's a classic for a reason, and then you'll know what the fuss is all about.

"It is a mystery to me how anyone ever gets any nourishment in this place. They must eat their meals standing up by the window so as to be sure of not missing anything."

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

If nostalgia for young love and the lost days of summer had a name, it would be Every Summer After.

I'm always on the lookout for the quintessential summer read. There's nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect book to suit my mercurial moods during the long, lazy, too-bright days of my favorite season. And Carley Fortune has been on my radar for ages, ever since this book, her debut, catapulted her to the stratosphere of famous beach read authors. So it was with quite a bit of excitement and glee that I turned to that first page and prepared to be wowed.

But nothing happened, at least not initially. I was not pleased, nor was I displeased. It just felt like a very generic start to such a story, and there are many ones like it out there. But then, the more I read, the more I was taken in—with the characters, with the drama, but most importantly, with the feelings it evoked in me of a time gone by and the bittersweet memories it left behind.

And I think that's where this story really shines. It isn't so much that the more I read, the more I grew to love the tale, but rather, the more I was reminded of my own youth—the magical feeling of having my whole life stretched out in front me, the limitless possibilities and loves and adventures, the inevitable mistakes, and hurting the people I loved on the path to discovering who I really was.

This is a second chance romance, and I personally think those are hard to write. You have to not only come up with a strong enough love to begin with, but then you have to add in a plausible reason why such an auspicious couple cannot possibly be together, often for many years. And then after that, you have to come up with even more plausible reasons why these two sad characters can finally resolve all their previously unsolvable problems and get their happily ever after. Like phew, just thinking about all that makes me tired.

But no worries here, Fortune did a good job. She expertly interweaved the two timelines, one spanning the six years of Percy and Sam's youth, the other over one weekend twelve years later. Each brought something to the table, though it's clear the past timeline was the heart of this story. Percy and Sam's developing friendship and relationship through all the summer days of their youth, sketched through the glittering lens of Fortune's writing, captured all that is wonderful and beautiful and heartbreaking about growing up.

It's been a minute (or a few decades) since I was a teenager, and nowadays, I often have trouble connecting with stories featuring such young leads, usually finding them too immature or angsty to endure for a few hundred pages. But the ones in here were uncommonly responsible, with enough emotional depth to make them feel relatable and compelling.

While this wasn't a perfect tale, and there were definitely moments it felt like a debut author trying to find her legs or I had to suspend yet more disbelief in order to buy into the characters' actions, it did hold me in its thralls the way a good beach read should. I ended it feeling a little bereft at having to say goodbye to Barry's Bay, so I was happy to discover the existence of a sequel.

If you haven't tried Carley Fortune and you're a fan of beach reads, this is absolutely worth a gander. As for me, I've had the urge to listen to "The Boys Of Summer" this entire time. (Of course the original by Don Henley is fab, but my favorite remains the cover by DJ Sammy). So I'm going to go do that right now.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars