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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4 hours - I loved this even more than I expected to. The writing style is humourous but logical which appeals to me greatly. All the thought processes and science was so fascinating to me, but the characters had a sincere warmth to them as well, and I was rooting for Mark until the very end.
A bit hoaky American storyline, with many somewhat predictable plot points, but an interesting and engaging book.
adventurous
informative
tense
slow-paced
This was a book club read. Ultimately, I liked this book and I read it in 48 hours. That said, it is 100% a book by a man for an audience of men. It felt like one of those superhero movies where the entire thing is just one extended action scene. It definitely got my heart rate up but it also left me without any profound thoughts or feelings at all.
There was a lot of science (that I appreciate was written rather accessibly), a lot of explosions, a lot of soldiering on, and a lot of boy jokes. I feel 100% sure that this book would have been better if it had been written by a woman. I mean for real - Mark is trapped on Mars for 1.5 years and has not a single meaningful thought? He never once questions whether it’s worth continuing to battle the endless, hopeless, soul crushingly lonely and desperate fight to survive? He never feels sad? He never thinks about, mentions, or remembers fondly a single friend, sibling, former love interest, pet, coffee shop, local park, elementary school teacher, steak restaurant - ANYTHING from his former life on Earth? The closest we get is him mentioning a very lackluster letter from his mom, and admitting that he’s so desperate for sex that he’s fantasizing about a green Martian goddess.
He has PLENTY of leisure time in between catastrophes. There is no way that he spent a whole year and a half watching the same 70s TV reruns and listening to the same disco music albums and never once spared a moment for self reflection or grief about his situation. Also, he would have gone categorically insane during this time. If Andy Weir had spent even a fraction of the amount of time he spent learning astrophysics in preparation for this book on a basic psychology lesson (or, even better, consulted a female editor), this book would have been much more interesting and satisfying.
All of that said, it was entertaining and I liked it for what it was!
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A