And yes, the cut is too quick. I see two options right now: figure out a way to completely remove Rey grabbing the book, or remove Merry’s line that is off in the background. Because the way it is worded implies to me at least that he is taking about the galaxy at large, not just the Resistance.
Honestly, if you just cut the whole “Rey retrieving the book” part and just cut from her leaving to Poe and Leia talking, then have her show back up with the book, it could possibly be seamless.
However, I can’t really say for sure without having the footage in front of me. Maybe someone can have a go at it?
I can absolutely create that visually, but it isn’t going to have sound. The problem is that there isn’t enough space for the first half of Poe’s line to play because most of it happens off screen when Rey is grabbing the book.