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laynerinke's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
So fun, fast and heartwarming. I recommended it to my whole family.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Grief and Cursing
triple_m's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Highly recommend the audiobook, the voice actor is incredible and the 🎶 are delightful. Legitimately funny and I think it being in audio added to the humor.
This isn’t a book that I would normally read but I’m glad I gave it a chance. There’s definitely some science-dense sections but the author does a great job about rephrasing and dumbing down the topics so it’s easy to understand.
a really wholesome story and I still smile when I think about it.
This isn’t a book that I would normally read but I’m glad I gave it a chance. There’s definitely some science-dense sections but the author does a great job about rephrasing and dumbing down the topics so it’s easy to understand.
a really wholesome story and I still smile when I think about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Gun violence, Suicide, Excrement, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
pagesforages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sarah_amy's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-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
3.75
This was so very close to being a DNF for me as there is a LOT of maths and science involved, particular in the beginnings that were going over my head. However, I was encouraged to persist and I'm glad I did. The journey and humanity of the tale that comes strongly into the second half made it worth it - you can let the technical stuff go over your head & still get the gist. Audiobook as opposed to text almost feels like a MUST, due to a very specific element in the story. I'm sure I wouldn't have had the same experience had I read it in text. Narrator was fantastic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Medical content
Lone survivor on a space craft saving humanitybomenvernietiger's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I respect the general goal of making approachable but accurate science media, but when I set aside that appreciation for a moment and hold this book to the standard of anything else I read, it simply doesn't hold up.
There's a really interesting and well thought out plot, but it's massively dampened by the many little mistakes and plot-holes, prose that sounds like it came from a drunk text message, an overly light-hearted and casual tone that doesn't fit the story, a boring main character, events that are often way too plot-convenient, annoying humour, cheesy dialogue, and Andy Weir's stubborn unwillingness to explain or do research into anything that doesn't adhere to his highly specific personal interests. This last flaw is clear from his refusal to get into any substantial world politics even though a third of his book is supposed to be about international cooperation, and his _extremely_ half-assed attempt to conceptualise a pitch&harmony-based alien language, which contained mistakes which could only be possible if Weir did not consult a single semi-professional musician or musicologist before publishing.
This could have been an amazing hard scifi that teaches people about physics and astronomy, but it's written in such a way that the science never really matters; whenever there's a plot issue Weir's science can't solve, it's either glossed over or splattered with plot convenience sauce (aka 'xenonite'). It could have also been a nice, silly, emotionally deep, feel-good soft scifi, but the characters and the prose are way too dull for that, and anything heartfelt about the book is drowned in constant scientific explanations. Both of these ideas would have been great stories, but they were smashed together and the result is a mess.
This is extra sad considering Andy Weir can write something as good as The Martian. But looking back, the Martian already contained the cracks in Weir's storytelling which became full-on rifts
There's a really interesting and well thought out plot, but it's massively dampened by the many little mistakes and plot-holes, prose that sounds like it came from a drunk text message, an overly light-hearted and casual tone that doesn't fit the story, a boring main character, events that are often way too plot-convenient, annoying humour, cheesy dialogue, and Andy Weir's stubborn unwillingness to explain or do research into anything that doesn't adhere to his highly specific personal interests. This last flaw is clear from his refusal to get into any substantial world politics even though a third of his book is supposed to be about international cooperation, and his _extremely_ half-assed attempt to conceptualise a pitch&harmony-based alien language, which contained mistakes which could only be possible if Weir did not consult a single semi-professional musician or musicologist before publishing.
This could have been an amazing hard scifi that teaches people about physics and astronomy, but it's written in such a way that the science never really matters; whenever there's a plot issue Weir's science can't solve, it's either glossed over or splattered with plot convenience sauce (aka 'xenonite'). It could have also been a nice, silly, emotionally deep, feel-good soft scifi, but the characters and the prose are way too dull for that, and anything heartfelt about the book is drowned in constant scientific explanations. Both of these ideas would have been great stories, but they were smashed together and the result is a mess.
This is extra sad considering Andy Weir can write something as good as The Martian. But looking back, the Martian already contained the cracks in Weir's storytelling which became full-on rifts
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, War, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Minor: Cancer, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pedophilia
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