Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Martian

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Martian by Andy Weir

59 reviews

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Project Hail Mary, I was curious to read Weir's other work. I had somehow escaped the Martian craze back when it first came out and was made into a movie, but recently have been getting into sci-fi and felt like I should continue to dip my toe in with another of Weir's novels.
First, the audiobook is great. The fast paced, quick narration style and Wil Wheaton's narration made this a win for listening to on a long car ride. It keeps your attention and it's hard to "put down" because one chapter just flows into the next and there's constant action.
Martian and Project Hail Mary are similar in many ways, including the fact that it feels easy to confuse the two protagonists. While I don't mind when authors have a "type" it does make me wonder if Weir can only write the snarky/sarcastic, big ego, middle aged dude type. Despite that, it does work - Weir is talented and brings you right into the seat of the action every time.
This book flew by and I wish there was more of this epic adventure!

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drtx_bwt's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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woolen_pigeon's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative 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

4.5

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atalea's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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thebookgiraffe's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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andrewhatesham's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

3.5

The Martian by Andy Weir: Too much science, not enough fiction.

While it's cool that the scientific elements are pretty accurate to real life, most of the other elements lacked a lot for me. As a predominantly fiction-reader and a person who doesn't know much about science, this book was a bit difficult to connect with and enjoy. I have read other sci-fi books that I liked a lot, but they didn't have a heavy focus on scientific accuracy.

I wouldn't say the technical jargon made the book hard to read, because I found that I didn't need to completely understand the science to follow the plot, but for me, the plot lacked the level of emotion and character development that I hoped for. I also wished there was a bit more of a philosophical element because the plot had plenty of potential for that sort of thing.

Instead of philosophy and character introspection, much of the plot and main character hinges on humor. Unfortunately, the style of humor did not click with me at all. It was a bit of a turn-off. I didn't find the main character very likeable either. To be frank, I found myself not caring about whether or not he survives. I think his survival is the whole point of the book, so that was a big problem for me.

On the bright side, this was mostly fast-paced, so I was able to get through it quickly regardless of how I felt about the plot and characters! I'm not a fan of slow paced books so this is a huge plus for me.

Overall, I'd say this was not for me, but I can see why people like it. I would recommend it to people who are very interested in science and space and people who like dry/sarcastic humor.

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epeolatrist's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Incredible… I read this for extra credit but I was surprised by how much I loved this book. I am NOT a science person, and not particularly interested in space either, but it wasn’t too complex to understand. It was downright hilarious and an overall incredible story.

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