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language: English
country: USA
year: 2025
form: novel
genre(s): science fiction, romance
dates read: 30.4.26
I just don’t really have that much to say about Rascal Hartley’s Dear Stupid Penpal, I fear. it’s an epistolary novel about a reluctant astronaut talking to his space agency-assigned penpal. there is an underdeveloped cosmic horror element, derailed because the novel is much more interested in the romance it sets up. I can’t say much more about the plot without spoilers.
I found the plot itself, well, predictable, except for one development in the third section, which I thought was kind of bad and threw a wrench in the emotional and narrative arcs of the novel.
I will say, I think the epistolary format is well-used here — that’s the highlight of the novel. there’s some play with form in the third section, in particular, which doesn’t compensate for the plot arc but was at least nice to see in its own right.
but I just found the characters kind of unbearable, lol. Finch (his real name is Atticus) sounds like a tumblr user from 2014 but without the fandom references and Aku’s self-consciously poetic diction just felt contrived. their relationship is fine, I guess; it kept me engaged enough that I finished the novel in what amounts to one sitting (it’s not a long book). but I must say the word that keeps coming to me is “inspid”. I think, objectively, that that’s a little too aggressive, but there you have it.
c’est la vie. if you’re more interested in what ends up being pretty much just an epistolary romance you may enjoy this more than I did.
moods: dark, hopeful, lighthearted, reflective