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diazona's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I thought this was a fantastic story that lives up to all the hype! It started off with a rather uncomfortable scene, but it was all uphill from there; it didn't take me long at all to get invested in the plot and start relating to the main character. The book made very effective use of frequent flashbacks, essentially setting up two parallel storylines, one in the present and one in the past; as a reader, you can feel some of the uncertainty that the main character is experiencing as he tries to recover his memories, and as he does so, you get the same flashes of excitement when you (as the reader) make connections between details in his flashbacks and things that were mentioned earlier in the book. I also really appreciated the attention to detail; even the measurements and calculations are almost entirely consistent with real-world physics.
I especially thought the part where the main character and his alien buddy are learning to communicate and work with each other was quite well thought out - not 100% realistic, I'm sure, but definitely much more plausible than how that topic is usually treated in scifi.
This is taking its place as one of my favorite scifi novels.
This is taking its place as one of my favorite scifi novels.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Grief and Confinement
asperomari's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Excrement, War, and Drug use
tanvi45's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Vomit
deelynn84's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The plot of the story is interesting, and Rocky adds a sweet and endearing charm to the book. I think the constant descriptions of the scientific/mathematical process behind decisions taken by Grace slowed down the narrative. And then some plot developments or major successes were explained away too quickly! I enjoyed the read, and thought the overall story was sweet and hopeful, even though I had to really push through some of the slower bits.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Vomit
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
This book kept surprising me at every turn! I loved the characters and the snappy dialogue. It was a nice balance to the science jargon, which was easy to follow even to someone not from a STEM background.
I did enjoy The Martian a little more, writing style wise because the whole flashbacks with information that will be useful later was a bit clunky after a while. I think it sacrifices style for the sake of plot twists (of which there are plenty) which ultimately makes it 4 stars for me.
I did enjoy The Martian a little more, writing style wise because the whole flashbacks with information that will be useful later was a bit clunky after a while. I think it sacrifices style for the sake of plot twists (of which there are plenty) which ultimately makes it 4 stars for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
3eggomelet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Medical content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
jennyoli96's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Violence and Gore
sophie42's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit
Minor: Grief
hayley_11's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Drug use, and Excrement
honeyreads1066's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I think that after reading the martian I expected more than this book could give me.
Despite that, I did really enjoy it. Especially once we got to about a third of the way through the book where the story takes a slightly different turnand we learn about the aliens. I especially liked how the aliens were described and how things such as language barriers and physiology are discussed and an issue in a realistic way.
The main things I didn't like revolve around the pacing and the first third of the book. I'm not a fan of dual timelines and while some of it added some needed twists and explanations, there were other sections which I felt were unnecessary and took away from the interesting bits that were happening at the current time. Some parts felt like repeats of other things and I believe that honestly had the book only been set in the current era it would have been a lot more interesting.
Overall I'm glad I read it and it gave me a lot to think about but with how good the martian is I'm not exactly sure I would recommend this as a book to read if you liked that.
Despite that, I did really enjoy it. Especially once we got to about a third of the way through the book where the story takes a slightly different turn
The main things I didn't like revolve around the pacing and the first third of the book. I'm not a fan of dual timelines and while some of it added some needed twists and explanations, there were other sections which I felt were unnecessary and took away from the interesting bits that were happening at the current time. Some parts felt like repeats of other things and I believe that honestly had the book only been set in the current era it would have been a lot more interesting.
Overall I'm glad I read it and it gave me a lot to think about but with how good the martian is I'm not exactly sure I would recommend this as a book to read if you liked that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death