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aehrig's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
mea9an's review against another edition
1.0
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was this... bland. It was just so boring. All of the characters ultimately blended together because none of them had an interesting personality. They were just cardboard cutouts of the same person with a slightly different story.
The writing was even worse. Meg Howrey writes as if she’s explaining the story to you in a conversational way and not in the movie-in-your-head way. It’s almost like she’s writing to an idiot and I’m the idiot. I can assure you, I’m not stupid so you don’t have to tell me something over and over because I’m not going to like it. Also, it’s perfectly fine to have complex characters and I don’t think she understands that.
The only thing I can say I like about this book is the plot, but even that couldn’t hold my interest for longer than three pages before I had to put it down.
This book could’ve been something but all it is is a textbook with some people in it. I honestly can’t say there is anything good about this. I tried so hard to find one character in this book that I liked in any way, but I just couldn’t. I wanted to like this book, I really did. The premise is so interesting and books about astronauts have so much potential, but the author shouldn’t have even tried.
Meg Howrey has so many options on how to write this and in the end she just didn’t execute the plot the way it should’ve been written.
The writing was even worse. Meg Howrey writes as if she’s explaining the story to you in a conversational way and not in the movie-in-your-head way. It’s almost like she’s writing to an idiot and I’m the idiot. I can assure you, I’m not stupid so you don’t have to tell me something over and over because I’m not going to like it. Also, it’s perfectly fine to have complex characters and I don’t think she understands that.
The only thing I can say I like about this book is the plot, but even that couldn’t hold my interest for longer than three pages before I had to put it down.
This book could’ve been something but all it is is a textbook with some people in it. I honestly can’t say there is anything good about this. I tried so hard to find one character in this book that I liked in any way, but I just couldn’t. I wanted to like this book, I really did. The premise is so interesting and books about astronauts have so much potential, but the author shouldn’t have even tried.
Meg Howrey has so many options on how to write this and in the end she just didn’t execute the plot the way it should’ve been written.
peheje's review against another edition
Got around mid-way. I was listening to it as an audio-book, and as always with audio-books I really depends on the speaker/story-teller. For this instance, the audiobook narrator wasn't a fit for me. I might pick this up later as a book.
For Ursula Le Guin it happened the same with "The Left Hand of Darkness" where I just could not stand the narrators pronounciation and cadence, whereas I ended up really liking the book.
Anyways - I want to re-visit this as a book at some point maybe.
For Ursula Le Guin it happened the same with "The Left Hand of Darkness" where I just could not stand the narrators pronounciation and cadence, whereas I ended up really liking the book.
Anyways - I want to re-visit this as a book at some point maybe.
jilly7922's review against another edition
3.0
Meg Howrey is a well established author who has also written "The Cranes Dance" and "Blind Sight." This book is about three astronauts who are in a 17 month simulation isolated from the rest of humanity. They are training in a simulation for a future trip to Mars.
Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. This book was well written. The characters in this book are extremely well developed as well as all the relationships between them and their family. Although I did like Helen she did get on my nerves a bit due to her perfectionist personality. This was a story of human relationships and how far ambition will take a human into accomplishing one's dreams. Following the thread between real and unreal was a bit ambiguous at times and made the book difficult to follow. But this was such a deeply written story that seemed all too real because of how well the author developed her characters and their relationships.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Howrey, and Penguin Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
For more book reviews come and read my book blog at: http://turnthepagereviewsbyjill.blogspot.com
Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. This book was well written. The characters in this book are extremely well developed as well as all the relationships between them and their family. Although I did like Helen she did get on my nerves a bit due to her perfectionist personality. This was a story of human relationships and how far ambition will take a human into accomplishing one's dreams. Following the thread between real and unreal was a bit ambiguous at times and made the book difficult to follow. But this was such a deeply written story that seemed all too real because of how well the author developed her characters and their relationships.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Howrey, and Penguin Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
For more book reviews come and read my book blog at: http://turnthepagereviewsbyjill.blogspot.com
abrooklynbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I really didn’t love this book, and actually came quite close to abandoning it partway through, which isn’t really something I do all that often. This is more I guessss like a 2.75.
To me, everything just felt like it was trying so hard to be poignant and meaningful. The story was written as though each character was supposed to be going on some kind of personal evolution, but it didn’t feel like a journey at all. It felt like from the get go, I was being told everything I was supposed to think, know, and feel about them. And it was all the same—the astronauts are supposed to be these perfect people, but shocker, look at what’s really going on behind the curtain. And their family? All kind of crazy too. It was so predictable and boring, and after a while it felt like it couldn’t go anywhere past that, that’s all it was. Look at how messed up these people really are.
I also feel like Howrey took on too many characters, and as a result of focusing more heavily on some than others, I felt like I didn’t know the hierarchy of who I was “supposed” to care about. The characters I did end up caring about then didn’t have any satisfying resolutions, and I didn’t know why they’d been included in the first place.
And on that note, while the end was the part that I liked the most, I felt like overall the story didn’t really come together and conclude in a way that was satisfying for me as a reader who had just invested so much in this story.
So overall, idk, to me it was just an unsatisfying read that was trying too hard. But that could just be me.
To me, everything just felt like it was trying so hard to be poignant and meaningful. The story was written as though each character was supposed to be going on some kind of personal evolution, but it didn’t feel like a journey at all. It felt like from the get go, I was being told everything I was supposed to think, know, and feel about them. And it was all the same—the astronauts are supposed to be these perfect people, but shocker, look at what’s really going on behind the curtain. And their family? All kind of crazy too. It was so predictable and boring, and after a while it felt like it couldn’t go anywhere past that, that’s all it was. Look at how messed up these people really are.
I also feel like Howrey took on too many characters, and as a result of focusing more heavily on some than others, I felt like I didn’t know the hierarchy of who I was “supposed” to care about. The characters I did end up caring about then didn’t have any satisfying resolutions, and I didn’t know why they’d been included in the first place.
And on that note, while the end was the part that I liked the most, I felt like overall the story didn’t really come together and conclude in a way that was satisfying for me as a reader who had just invested so much in this story.
So overall, idk, to me it was just an unsatisfying read that was trying too hard. But that could just be me.
teresaalice's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Although I enjoyed the personality studies of the astronauts Helen, Yoshi, Sergei and their families, I am not fond of books where you have to decide for yourself what actually happens. I just want to be told.
especiallysarah's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
megadeathvsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This one followed three astronauts undergoing an intensive 17 month simulation of a trip to Mars. It was, like many books, more about their relationship to each other and their family than the simulation itself. I really enjoyed it.
abitofmoxie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
fracturing's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the heart of this story. It feels like we’re so close to actually being able to send people to Mars; this whole mission felt so realistic and within reach. The logistics and considerations were really fascinating. And the details seemed realistic, as far as I can tell.
I loved the conflicted relationship between Helen and Mireille. The letter Helen wrote at the end hit so close to home in a very upside down way for me and was especially poignant reading it with my mom sleeping in a bed next to mine.
I didn’t like the Yoshi/Madoka arc, aside from the beautiful letter Yoshi wrote. Sergei/Dmitri fell completely flat with me, especially Dmitri‘s portion. And I actively disliked the Luke/Mireille portion. I feel like Luke only served one purpose, a (possible?) reveal at the very end...and it wasn’t worth the investment of time spent with him.
The writing was beautiful and poignant. I recommend this book.
When you’ve read it, let’s talk about a spoiler. What do you think about what Sergei saw?!?!?!
I loved the conflicted relationship between Helen and Mireille. The letter Helen wrote at the end hit so close to home in a very upside down way for me and was especially poignant reading it with my mom sleeping in a bed next to mine.
I didn’t like the Yoshi/Madoka arc, aside from the beautiful letter Yoshi wrote. Sergei/Dmitri fell completely flat with me, especially Dmitri‘s portion. And I actively disliked the Luke/Mireille portion. I feel like Luke only served one purpose, a (possible?) reveal at the very end...and it wasn’t worth the investment of time spent with him.
The writing was beautiful and poignant. I recommend this book.
When you’ve read it, let’s talk about a spoiler. What do you think about what Sergei saw?!?!?!