Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

29 reviews

julia09's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted 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

5.0

Oh boy, this was an amazing read! Project Hail Mary is yet another brilliant Sci-Fi masterpiece by Andy Weir. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the characters lovable. I really appreciated the real science involved, and, of course the not-so-real topics.

the meeting with alien life is not real (not yet…) but was also very enjoyable. Ryland and Rocky’s relationship is the best and I love how they learned each other’s languages.

 

Rocky is the best alien companion I love him <3

I recommend this book for any and all Sci-Fi lovers. The real science, however, can be a bit overwhelming sometimes but the story line makes up for it. It picks up pace about a third of the way in, but when it picks up pace it really PICKS UP PACE!

I found the ending to be so heartwarming, I really loved it and enjoyed reading this book.
5/5 for sure

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism, Cursing, and Sexual content

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Grief and Cursing

corallydeer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was absolutely fantastic. I read it in tandem with the audiobook in a book club setting alongside my husband and it was such a great time. As far as the book itself is concerned, I truly adored the whole story and was glued to it the entire time. As a note: I have not read The Martian (yet) and have only seen the movie, so I can't speak to any comparisons between the two books. I did see in previous reviews that some people felt like Grace was pretty much the same character as Mark Watney just rebranded as a

quirky school teacher

, and while I do agree with this point I don't feel like it detracted from the story at all. If anything I felt like blending that personality with someone who's

a teacher

was incredibly fitting and made it extremely relatable as someone who

works in education

.

I loved all of the directions the story took and the details; every time I felt like I had a handle on where the story was going it would throw a slight curveball and I'd be glued to my chair trying to figure out what in the world was going to happen. I adored

Rocky

so so much as a character; my husband and I both loved that

he wasn't a stereotypical humanoid alien

as well and the details describing him were incredibly well done. The relationship between the two characters was hilarious and heartfelt and left my husband and I crying in the car on multiple occasions. I strongly agreed with this one comment on a Tiktok video about the book by someone named Amanda that said:

"

The way Grace went from being forced to sacrifice himself for humanity to voluntarily doing it for Rocky [...]

"

This book truly left such a wonderful impression and is easily getting categorized into the books I wish I could read again with no memory and will easily be a reread-er for me.

As an additional review for the audiobook: I 100% recommend that everyone try out the audiobook either in tandem with the book or on its own. It's easily one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to and was so masterfully done. The way that they did

Rocky's dialogue

was phenomenal and blew my husband and I's minds. And we were blown away by the level of emotion that the narrator put into Grace's parts. It was truly an amazing part of the whole experience for us!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Suicide, Confinement, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Excrement, Blood, Cancer, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Sexism, Cannibalism, Cursing, War, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content

Confinement

(Grace is technically confined on a pretty small spaceship throughout most of the book and is also forcefully confined in a cell in a later part of the book)

| Death

(death is an extremely large part of this book since it's focused on a suicide mission)

| Grief

(Grace experiences detailed grief over the loss of his crewmates and his own impending death)

| Medical Content

(there are various bits of described medical situations including blood draws, the use of the Nannybot, catheters, etc)

| Suicidal Thoughts & Suicide

(one of the primary plot points of the book is that the Hail Mary mission is a suicide mission; the main character regularly thinks about this and it comes up in detail in a number of flashbacks)

| Alcohol

(recreational drinking is described on a few different occasions, including for celebrations)

| Drug Use

(one of the astronauts on the Hail Mary mission requests a recreational drug to use up until committing suicide upon completion of the mission)

| Fire/Fire Injury

(Grace experiences chemical burns from ammonia and fire is depicted in a few situations)

| Gun Violence

(one of the astronauts on the Hail Mary mission requests a gun for his preferred method of suicide upon the completion of the mission)

| Injury/Injury Detail

(there are a number of injuries experienced and sustained throughout the book)

| Kidnapping

(Grace is revealed to have been forced onto the Hail Mary mission and is essentially kidnapped and confined for this)

| Animal Cruelty

(the Nannybot arms on the Hail Mary are revealed later on to have been perfected through animal experimentation)

| Blood

(there are minor depictions of blood through blood draws and at the beginning of the book with the removal of the catheter)

| Cancer

(there are minor references to cancer in relation to radiation and exposure)

| Cannibalism

(it is revealed in the very last chapter that for Grace to survive on Erid the Eridians eventually learned how to clone his muscle cells and produce meat for him so he is essentially experiencing self-cannibalism)

| Cursing

(Grace pretty much never curses due to his habits as a teacher, but other characters curse a bit)

| Excrement

(there is the usual understanding of where drinking water comes from on the Hail Mary ship [recycled and treated urine] and later on there is mention of "poop" related to the waste coming from the Taumoeba cells)

| Murder

(it's revealed later in the book that Stratt forced Grace to go on the Hail Mary mission to which he accuses her of murdering him since he doesn't want to go)

| Panic Attacks/Disorders

(Grace experiences a panic attack when first exposed to zero g's on the Hail Mary)

| Sexism

(Stratt reveals during the Hail Mary astronaut selection process that she specifically put the call out for heterosexual men because she didn't want to deal with potential sexual tension on the mission, this is called out and results in a bit of back-and-forth)

| Sexual Content

(some of the astronauts that volunteered for the Hail Mary mission openly discuss their sexual escapades in relation to enjoying their finals days alive on Earth)

| Vomit

(periodically there are small bits of depicted vomit like when Grace enters zero g for the first time or experiences painfully high g's)

| War

(there is passing speculation throughout the book about the potentials for widespread war on Earth while Grace is in space trying to save the planet, but we never see any of it as the reader)

singalana's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

If you liked Andy Weir’s first book, The Martian, you’ll probably like this one, too.

Our protagonist, Ryland Grace, wakes up and has no memory of where he is, who he is and how he ended up there. The story is told in a dual timeline: in the past timeline, we slowly find out how Ryland ended up there, and in the present timeline, we follow Ryland’s struggle to fulfil his mission. And his mission is no less than to save humanity.

Project Hail Mary is science fiction, with a heavy emphasis on the science part. I found this book to be much more speculative than The Martian. But even though it focuses a lot on the science aspect, I still feel that these books are very accessible. The story felt original, interesting and, in a way, optimistic. 

Even though the plot is different, this book feels very similar to The Martian. Let’s take our main character for example: he is basically the same as the protagonist in The Martian. And the writing style and sense of humour are exactly the same. I didn’t mind too much, but I expected some growth from the author, and I don’t think I would be able to handle a third book with exactly the same protagonist and writing style.

Before we head into spoiler territory, my overall thoughts about this book were that the premise was interesting, it was easy to read and follow, and it was a relatively quick read. Sometimes, I felt frustrated because of the past timeline because I was more interested in the present timeline. 

Spoilers!

This is a first-contact story, and I think it’s quite an optimistic one at that. I found the aliens and their physiology and behaviour interesting. What I didn’t like that much was the dialogue (especially towards the end). I kind of get it because the alien learns language from the main character, but since I’m not a huge fan of the main character, it’s a bit annoying.

In the past timeline, there have been annoying stereotypes about other nationalities.

But the ending had a few things going for it: I liked the way the past timeline ended (the final reveal), and I liked the (sort of) open ending. Also, the ending had a sort of circularity, which was interesting but not the strongest point of the book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Medical trauma, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

penguinsandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I absolutely loved this book, the only thing that took away from it was a couple swears (like less than 5), but those were all absolutely in context.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing

All in context, includes 2 f-bombs and a couple minor swears, but other than that, nothing, not even damn or hell shows up more than once or twice.

carriehaley89's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely LOVED this book! It’s funny, emotional, and a page-turner. I’m always impressed by Andy Weir’s ability to make seemingly complicated science understandable in his books. I loved this book every bit as much as I loved The Martian. An easy 5/5 stars from me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Death

atomicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, and Grief

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Violence, and War

lunar_witch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Addiction, and Excrement

marioosa517's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Cursing, Alcohol, War, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement and Gun violence

bomenvernietiger'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

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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